March 24, 1932 – December 21, 2024
Gert K. Thorstenson, 92, of Mobridge passed away Saturday, December 21, 2024, at the Walworth County Care Center in Selby. Funeral services will be held in the spring of 2025. Kesling Funeral Home of Mobridge is in charge of arrangements.
Gert was born March 24, 1932, at Selby to Edmund and Martha (Stadel) Mauch. She was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran Church. She grew up on her parents’ farm north of Selby and graduated from Selby High School.
June 25, 1950, she married Cal Thorstenson at Bethany Lutheran Church, northwest of Selby and they made their home on a ranch 24 miles east of McLaughlin. They dearly loved ranch life. They had three children, Cindy, Craig, and Collin and three grandchildren. Cody, Cyle, and Amy.
Redeemer Lutheran Church in McLaughlin was their church home for many years. Gert was a past president of Women of the Church and also served on Church Council. In later years, she became a member of the Lakeside Bible Church of Mobridge.
Gert was clerk in charge at Kenel Rural Branch Post Office for seven years and an insurance agent for 21 years; her office was in McLaughlin. She was a member of Aberdeen Life Underwriters Association. She was awarded state and district awards during her insurance career. She enjoyed the constant contact with people in the community and in her insurance extended area.
She served as local manager and sec-treasurer of McLaughlin Housing Development Corp. from the time of origin until 2000 with help of four loyal board members. She referred to this as her public service job.
While other people golfed, Gert enjoyed the great outdoors on her riding mower and took pride in trying to have a nice yard. She was a member of the 20th Century Club at Mobridge after her retirement. Her favorite entertaining was to have coffee guests and she was a very gracious hostess.
Tragedy struck in July of 1991, when husband Cal lost his life in a sudden accident. She was always grateful for the caring and support of the whole community at that very sad time in her life. She continued to manage and operate the ranch for the next seven years with the help of hired hands. She sold the ranch in 1998, retired and continued to live in the home they had built at the ranch and spent some time during the winter at Tip O-Texas RV Park at Pharr, TX with other retired insurance agent friends. Later in life she moved to Mobridge and then to Selby.
She is survived by daughter Cindy Dresow of Florida Keys; son Collin of Scottsdale, AZ; three grandchildren, Cyle, Amy, Cody (Meg) Thorstenson; great-grandson Collin Thorstenson of Arizona; one sister Annette Schuetzle of Herreid; two sisters-in-law, Dee Thorstenson of Nevada and JoElla Thorstenson of Selby; and numerous nieces and nephews.
Gert was preceded in death by husband Cal, son Craig, her parents, her mother-in-law and father-inlaw, and several sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law.