Elton Jorgensen

The funeral services for Elton (Bud) Jorgensen of Albert Lea will be held at 1 P.M. on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2009, at Salem Lutheran Church, Albert Lea. Visitation will be at the church one hour prior to services. The Rev. Jay Dahlvang will officiate, and interment will be at Graceland Cemetery. Bud died on Friday, Jan. 9, 2009, at Thorne Crest Retirement Community in the Care Center. He was 86. He was born in Albert Lea on July 12, 1922, the son of Marinus and Andrea (Jensen) Jorgensen. He was baptized and confirmed at Trinity Lutheran Church, Albert Lea, and was a 1940 graduate of Albert Lea High School. On January 6, 1950, Bud married Helen Nelsen in Mason City, Iowa. Bud served mainly in Manila, the Philippines, as a medical technician during World War II. His military service was a source of life-long pride, and he was a life member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He was also a member of the American Legion and the local Danish Brotherhood Lodge. Bud was also proud of his Danish heritage. As a younger man, Bud was employed as a sheetmetal and furnace worker. Later he worked for many years as a custodian at Central Junior High School and then at Hawthorne Elementary School, where he was building head and boiler operator. Bud valued his family, home, and dogs above other things. He also liked the outdoors and wildlife, and had been an avid deer hunter. He loved going to northern Minnesota, especially to Gunflint Lake, near Grand Marais, for yearly vacations. Bud is survived by his son, Richard (Rick) Jorgensen, of Albert Lea; his sister, Bernice Anderson, also of Albert Lea; and several nieces and nephews. He was preceeded in death by his wife, Helen, in 2002; infant son, James Brian; his parents; stepmother, Lena Larson Jorgensen; mother and father-in-law, Alma and Peter Nelson; brother, Harding; and sisters, Marion Bishop, Ellen Derewenko, and Helen Lunstrum.