Margarete Sonja Luitjens, 91, Luverne, died Saturday, June 27, 2015, at the Sanford Medical Center in Luverne.
A funeral service will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, July 2, at the First Presbyterian Church in Luverne. Burial will follow at the Garden of Memories Cemetery in Worthington. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, July 1, at Dingmann Funeral Home in Luverne and also one hour prior to the service at the church on Thursday.
Margarete Prem was born May 13, 1924, to Johann and Hermine (Filustek) Prem in Unterretzbach, Austria. In 1946 Sonja met her future husband, LeRoy William Luitjens, in Hallein, Austria, where he was serving with the U.S. Army 42nd Rainbow Division.
On July 9, 1947, she married LeRoy Luitjens at the Salem Presbyterian Church in Reading. After their marriage they moved to Graettinger, Iowa, and later to Worthington, where Sonja worked as a waitress at several restaurants. In 1961 they moved to Luverne where she worked as a salesclerk at Nelson’s Department Store and Leuthold Clothiers.
She was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Luverne, where she had served as a deacon; the Luverne American Legion Ladies Auxiliary; life member of the Luverne VFW Ladies Auxiliary; and a flag bearer for the Department of Americanism Committee. She enjoyed flowers and baking cookies.
Sonja is survived by her husband, LeRoy Luitjens, Luverne; two sons, Guenther Peter Luitjens, Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Roy Henry (Rosemary) Luitjens, Bloomington, Illinois; 11 grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; six great-great-grandchildren; and a sister, Elisabeth Landmann, St. Pantaleon, Austria.
She was preceded in death by her parents; a brother, Johann Hansel Prem; and two sisters, Antonia Thaller and Hermine Linke.
Arrangements are by Dingmann Funeral Home of Luverne, www.dingmannandsons.com.
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