Helen Geraldine Kasin

Gerry Kasin, age 90, Wallace, the widow of Horace Kasin, died on April 16, 2011 in the Prairie Lakes Hospital at Watertown. Funeral services will be held on Thursday, April 21, 2011 at 10:30 AM in the Calvary Lutheran Church at Wallace with The Reverend Scott Dempster officiating. Burial will follow in the Telemarken Lutheran Cemetery near Wallace. The active casketbearers will be her grandchildren, Noelle, Carmen, Corey, Autumn & Jeremy and the eldest great-grandchild, Malik. The honorary casketbearers will be the great-grandchildren. The organist will be Dorothy Anderson with Jacki Myers singing. She will sing "His Eye is on The Sparrow" and "Precious Lord, Take My Hand". The congregation will sing "Great is Thy Faithfulness" and "Lift High the Cross". Visitation will be held on Wednesday from 5-7 PM at the Furness Funeral Home in Clark and after 9AM at the Church on Thursday morning. She was born, Helen Geraldine Bottum, on June 22, 1920 at Huron, SD, the daughter of Sheldon and Ellen (Ladd) Bottum. On April 3, 1921 she was baptized at the United Methodist Church at Burdette, SD, near Tulare. The family lived near Burdette and that is where she attended country school. After the eighth grade, she moved into Redfield, living with an aunt, and attended and graduated from Redfield High School in 1938. After high school, she and a friend from Minnesota attended the Stewart School of Hairstyling in Sioux Falls. She and this friend returned into Minnesota after school and Gerry began working for the Glenn Kasin family at Worthington, MN. That is where she met her future husband, Horace Kasin, a brother of Glenn. On June 21, 1941 she was united in marriage to Horace Kasin, at the home of her parents near Tulare. The couple moved to a farm near Wallace where they lived and farmed the next 36 years. In 1974 they moved into Wallace and she has continued living in her home until recently. Horace died in 1995. As an adult, on November 14, 1948, Gerry was confirmed in the Lutheran faith at the Telemarken Church near Wallace. Church has been a very important part of Gerry's life for many years, serving as the Church organist for some 54 years. Not only did she play for the Church and its many activities, she played for countless weddings, funerals and the choir. She also was an accompanist for many over the years even at school functions. She was a member of the Church circles and the WMF - Women's Missionary Federation, the Coffee Cup Club and the Wallace Senior Citizens. Besides her love of music, Gerry will long be remembered for her beautiful embroidery, baking, lefse making and her Nellie Austin Cake. Around the farm in early years she helped in many ways from gathering eggs to other farm chores. She was a fabulous cook, baker, gracious host to many and enjoyed following her grand and great-grandchildren at their various events. Whenever Gerry thought something was a bit too much, her famous "Mercy!" will be remembered by many. Preceding her in death were her parents, husband, a grandson, Leif Anenson, sister, Alice (William) Kaye, sister-in-law, Marlene Bottum, brothers-in-law, John Trongard, Glenn & Ernest Kasin and Alvar Gustafson. Grateful for having shared in her life are her children, Judith (David) Anenson of North Richland Hills, TX, Harris (Nancy) Kasin of Wallace and Patsy (Rick) Flatten of Clark. She also leaves siblings, Donald Bottum of Redfield and Mildred Trongard of Grafton, WI. Her grandchildren Noelle, Carmen, Corey, Autumn, Jeremy and great-grandchildren, Emma, Noah, Kaia, Malik, T.J., Hannah, Emily, Olivia and Avery also survive as well as two special sisters-in-law, Clarice Kasin and Viola Gustafson. Arrangements are with the Furness Funeral Home at Clark where there is an on-line registry at www.furnessfuneralhome.com