Funeral Services for Violet Mae Gilbertson, age 92, of Lemmon, will be held at 10:30am, Saturday, May 15, 2010 at Calvary Lutheran Church in Lemmon. Pastor Kenneth Miller will officiate with burial in Greenhill Cemetery. A family service will be held at 7pm on Friday evening at the Evanson-Jensen Funeral Home in Lemmon.


Special music will be provided by Marilyn Willey, Jarid, Lara, and Louisa Kvale.


Serving as casketbearers are Jarid, Jade, Jordan Kvale, Dale Kvale, Rod Peterson, and Heath Hetzel.


The Five Counties Nursing Home Staff are considered Honorary Bearers.


Violet Mae Arden was born February 5, 1918 in Lodgepole, SD to Hollingsworth and Ethel (Meyette) Arden. She attended King School. In order to attend Hettinger High School, Vi would catch a ride with the mailman and worked for her room and board. The Arden family was very musical and Vi enjoyed playing the piano and accordion.


She married Charles Gilbertson on June 2, 1936, and their marriage was blessed with one daughter, Delores. Their first home was a sheepwagon, and they later lived on the Arden homestead east of Lodgepole and then the Taylor Place.


In 1948, Vi and Charles moved to Lemmon to a 8x33 trailer and later built a house. She worked in the Lemmon Bakery until 1955, and they continued farming on shares. Charles and Vi went into the carpentry business in 1958 and built many homes in the area, including their home on Question Mark Hill. In 1968, Charles passed away and Vi was left to make her own way. She continued to build homes, but found it was difficult to earn a living as a female contractor.


She began to sell insurance for Service Life in 1970 as the first female insurance agent hired by the company. She later traveled the countryside selling cancer insurance for AFLAC.


Vi worked very hard maintaining a beautiful yard, taking care of the trees and meticulously keeping up her landscape. The interior of her home was filled with homemade crafts including clocks and original artwork. When it came to woodworking, she was truly a craftsman, enjoying the challenge of intricate scrollwork. She was also an avid bowler and seamstress, making all her own clothes.


Vi passed away on Tuesday evening, May 11, 2010 at Five Counties Nursing Home in Lemmon.


Vi is survived by daughter, Delores (Albert) Colgrove of Lemmon, SD; grandchildren, Charlotte (Tim) Kvale of Lemmon, SD Sandra Colgrove of St. Paul, MN, Trudy (Richard) Wells of Midland, MI and Tony (Kelly) Colgrove of Waukesha, WI; great-grandchildren, Jarid (Lara) Kvale, Jade (Louisa) Kvale, Jordan Kvale, Zachery Wells, Andrew Wells, Matthew Colgrove and Erin Colgrove; great- great grandchildren, Ben and Annika Kvale; sister, Virginia Sharp and brother, William Arden, all of Billings, MT; and sister-in-law, Lillian Arden of Toston, MT.


Vi was preceded in death by her husband, Charles Gilbertson; her parents, Hollingsworth and Ethel Arden; two brothers, Lawrence and Chris Arden; and three sisters, Margery Gosney and two infant sisters.


A memorial has been established to Calvary Lutheran Church in Lemmon.


Visitation will be Friday from 1:00 to 7:00 pm at the Evanson-Jensen Funeral Home in Lemmon and on Saturday one hour prior to services at Calvary Lutheran Church in Lemmon.