Gladys Hemme
Gladys Evelyn Hemme, 88, Luverne, died Tuesday, July 24, 2018, at the Good Samaritan Society – Mary Jane Brown Home in Luverne.
A memorial service was Saturday, July 28, at Grace Lutheran Church in Luverne. Burial followed at the Jasper City Cemetery in Jasper.
Gladys Bakke was born Sept. 14, 1929, to Lewis and Bethre (Bim) Bakke on a farm in Springwater Township in Rock County. She was baptized in October 1929 and confirmed in 1944. Gladys graduated in 1947 from Jasper High School in Jasper. Upon graduation she moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and was employed at Morrell’s.
On Sept. 10, 1950, Gladys married Arlyn Hemme at the Jasper Evangelical Lutheran Church. Following their marriage, the couple moved to Minneapolis, where she worked at Lutheran Brotherhood. In 1952 the couple moved to West Virginia. During this time, Gladys worked with the justice of the peace in Dunbar, West Virginia, and after several years she and Arlyn built their home in Cross Lanes, West Virginia, where they raised their children.
Gladys was an accomplished artist and she shared her love of painting through teaching at home and at various craft stores. Gladys was particularly skilled in painting with oil and acrylic. She also taught an occasional art class in her retirement years in Luverne.
In West Virginia, Gladys and Arlyn were members of St. Paul Lutheran Church, where Gladys was active in women’s circle, council and taught as a Sunday school teacher.
In 1992 Gladys and Arlyn partially retired and spent summer months at Lake Cowdry near Alexandria, Minnesota. In 1996 they invested in property that became their full-time spring and summer home on Lake Mina, and Gladys volunteered at the Runestone Museum in Alexandria. In 2006 Arlyn and Gladys returned to Luverne and joined Grace Lutheran Church. In January 2014 Gladys became a resident at the Mary Jane Brown Home in Luverne.
Gladys is survived by her husband, Arlyn, of Luverne; four children, Diane of Ladera Ranch, California, Dwight (Audrey) of Chaska, James of Cross Lanes, West Virginia, and Douglas (Jenny) of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; five grandchildren, Adam, Jonathan, Claire, Morgan, and Connor; two siblings, Bernice (Bob) Cragoe of Riverton, Wyoming, and Dennis (Rita) Bakke of Alexandria; and one sister-in-law, Marilyn Bakke.
She was preceded in death by an infant daughter, Deborah Hemme; two brothers, Lloyd Bakke and Alan Bakke; and her parents.
Arrangements were provided by Hartquist Funeral Home of Luverne, www.hartquistfuneral.com.
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