Clare Ann Vande Velde, 81, Kenneth, died Thursday, May 30, 2019, at the Sanford Luverne Hospice Cottage.
A funeral Mass was Tuesday, June 4, at St. Catherine Catholic Church in Luverne, with burial at the Kenneth Cemetery.
Clare Melcher was born at home in a blizzard on March 31, 1938, to Fred and Laura (Feyereisen) Melcher in Woodstock. Clare attended grade school in Woodstock and graduated from Pipestone High School in 1956. She then attended Mankato State University.
After working five years at Prudential Insurance in Minneapolis, Clare returned to Kenneth and married Charles Vande Velde at St. Martin’s Catholic Church in Woodstock on May 20, 1961. She worked at the State Bank of Kenneth for more than 30 years where she was vice president. After retirement she worked part time for the Kenneth Post Office, as a card rep for Hallmark Card Co., and at the I-90 Visitor Center.
She was a member of St. Anthony’s Catholic Church in Lismore for 50 years and was a past officer of CCW. Currently she was a member of St. Catherine’s Catholic Church in Luverne. Because of her interest in music, she was a member of Jasper Blowhards Community Band and the New Horizon Band of Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She was a charter member of the Rock County Friends of the Library and served as the first secretary. She was also a board member of the Rock County Library. The Rock County Historical Society was another of her main interests. Her hobbies were reading, traveling, and making her homemade Clare’s Cheepo Card Co. greeting cards for friends and family.
Clare is survived by four children, Susan (Brad) Skattum, Luverne, Monica (Jerry Crevier) Cross, Lennox, South Dakota, Greg (Connie) Vande Velde, Luverne, and Paul (Amy) Vande Velde, Lead, South Dakota; nine grandchildren, Tanner (Haley) Skattum, Dylan Skattum, Chelsie Aanenson, Isaac (Stephany) Aanenson, Elliot (friend, Seanna Farrow) Aanenson, Allyson (Nick) Van Belle, Taylor Vande Velde, Wyatt Vande Velde and Walker Vande Velde; three great-grandchildren, Aubrey and Brecken Van Belle and Charles Aanenson; one brother, Al Melcher, Minneapolis; a sister-in-law, Mary Ann Melcher, Minneapolis; nieces and nephew and many good friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Charles, on Sept. 3, 2006; two sisters, Frances Reed and Rosemary Pedersen; and a brother, Norman Melcher.
Arrangements were provided by Dingmann Funeral Home of Luverne, www.dingmannandsons.com.
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