Elna M. Gunderson

ArsenalElna Gunderson, age 96, of McIntosh, Minnesota; formerly of Fosston, Minnesota and the Forest Lake area, Minnesota, passed away on Thursday, February 16, 2023 at McIntosh Senior Living. A visitation will be held from 5:00 P.M. to 7:00 p.m. with a 7:00 p.m. prayer service on Tuesday, February 21, 2023 at the Carlin Funeral Home in Fosston.

A funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 25, 2023 at Mattson Funeral Home, 343 North Shore Drive, Forest Lake, Minnesota.  Visitation one hour prior to the service at the funeral home.  Interment at Sunrise Cemetery, North Branch, Minnesota.

Elna Mae (Mostrom) Gunderson was born on March 16, 1926, in Pennington County, Minnesota to parents Alfred and Johanna (Hanson) Mostrom. She was born two months premature at home and weighed only four pounds two weeks after birth. She was kept warm in a shoe box by the oven or hot irons. She was the youngest of nine children and grew up on the farm in Hickory Township.

Elna was baptized in April of 1926 and confirmed in 1940 by Pastor Floodgard at Nazareth Lutheran Church, rural Trail, Minnesota. Elna left home at the age of 16 with two of her sisters and picked potatoes in Hoople, North Dakota and worked for a railroad in Minneapolis when she was 18.

On May 24, 1947 she married the love of her life, Gunder Archie Gunderson in Minneapolis. To this union, four children were born, Galen, Bev, Sandi, and Debbie. The family lived in various places in the suburbs of the Twin Cities.

Elna did bookkeeping for Archie’s construction businesses and did payroll for the workers. She also had other careers, including at Control Data (Cambridge), Arsenal in New Brighton during the Vietnam war, and others.

She was living in Rush Lake, Minnesota when her husband, Archie, passed away. Then she lived with her daughter, Debbie, in Ham Lake, Minnesota for a few Years. She then lived in Stacy, Minnesota for 7-8 years before moving to Fosston. She lived with Sandi in Fosston for 7 years and then entered McIntosh Senior Living where she lived for the final 10 months of her life.

Elna was a certified firearms instructor. She enjoyed adventure; loved camping, fishing, and hunting. She enjoyed old-time music, country music dancing, and going to the casino. She was President of the McIntosh V.F.W. Auxiliary in the 1980’s for a couple of years.

She loved being in Arizona in the winter months with her daughter, Bev, and summers in Fosston at Sandi’s. Above all she enjoyed smiling and laughing…just being happy!

She is survived by three children, Galen, Sandi, and Debbie; 9 grandchildren and 18 great grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband; her daughter, Bev; and all of her siblings and in-laws.