Margaret Ann (Rasmussen) “Marge” Carlson, passed away Sept. 25, 2024, at Fairway Pines senior living center in Sauk Centre. She was 87 years old.
She was born on a family farm located between Pine City and Rock Creek July 30, 1937. She was the youngest child of Danish immigrants Jorgen and Marie (Mikkelson) Rasmussen. She attended the nearby one-room school through eighth grade before attending Pine City High School and graduating in 1955.
Upon graduation, Marge briefly worked as a clerk at the local farmer’s cooperative. She then worked as a switchboard operator for Northwestern Bell Telephone in Pine City for eight years. It was there she met her future husband, Ronald “Zig” Carlson. They were married Nov. 18, 1961, and lived in Pine City until Ron was transferred to Cambridge in 1965. Two years later, he was transferred to Sauk Centre, where they raised three children and remained for the rest of their lives.
In 1976, Marge returned to work as an operator in Sauk Centre. Three years later, she went to work for Bell in St. Cloud as a service dispatcher. She and Ron retired from what became U.S. West in 1993, and then traveled the country in their motorhome and wintered in Apache Junction, Arizona. They did charitable work with the Telephone Pioneers and participated in the Family Campers group. Marge was also part of the Quilting Ministry and Ladies Circle at First Lutheran Church in Sauk Centre.
After Ron passed away in 2014, Marge sold the “country” home north of Sauk Centre and moved into a house in town, continuing to spend winters in Arizona until 2022. When living alone became too difficult last year, she moved into an apartment in Fairway Pines. She remained there until passing away.
Marge had a great, if subtle, sense of humor. She was proud of her all-Danish heritage, a skilled cribbage player, always willing to lend a hand, and very fond of chocolate. She will be greatly missed by family and friends alike.
Special thanks go out to the caring staff at Fairway Pines and Centra Care Hospice who ensured Marge lived out her final days in as much peace and comfort as possible.
Marge is preceded in death by her husband; parents; sisters Lillian (Walfred) Dahlstrom and Sylvia (Clark) Raudabaugh; and brothers Theodore “Ted” (Anna and Marlys) Rasmussen and Robert “Bob” Rasmussen.
She is survived by daughter Cindy Ann Carlsson (William “Lane” Phillips) and sons Brian Mitchell Carlson and Scott Jay Carlson.
A memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Oct. 12 at the First Lutheran Church in Sauk Centre. Visitation will begin one hour prior, at 10 a.m. A luncheon will follow. Private inurnment in the Kandota Township Cemetery near Sauk Centre. If you wish to offer a memorial, in lieu of flowers, please make a donation to your favorite charity or to the Quilting Ministry at First Lutheran Church in Sauk Centre.
Arrangements are entrusted to the Hamilton Funeral Homes – Rock Chapel in Braham. Condolences may be posted at www.hamiltonfhs.com.
