Evelyn Lee

Evelyn Lee, age 79, of New Richland, died on Monday, October 28, 2019, at Seasons Hospice House in Rochester, MN from complications of ovarian cancer. Funeral Services will be at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, November 2, 2019, at First Lutheran Church in Ellendale, MN. Rev. Richard Sliper will officiate. Burial will take place at First Lutheran Cemetery, Ellendale.

Visitation will be on Friday, November 1, 2019, from 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. at the First Lutheran Church in Ellendale and one hour prior to the services on Saturday.

Evelyn was born on April 10, 1940, in Waseca, MN, the daughter of Alwin and Leona (Scholljegerdes) Helms. She grew up on the farm and learned to enjoy working outside with her family. She attended country school and Waseca Central High School, graduating in 1957. She then attended Wartburg College in Waverly, IA, graduating in 1961.

She spent the next four and a half years working as a Regional Parish Worker for the Board of American Missions of the American Lutheran Church. She worked in 20 towns in the western US, helping build new congregations in 8 states, stretching from New Mexico to Alaska.

On August 6, 1966, she married Jerome Lee and spent the next 49 years working with her husband on the Lee family farm near Beaver Lake. Evelyn was a long-time member of First Lutheran Church in Ellendale and was involved in many activities over the years.

She is survived by her children: Jodie (John) Tvedt of Byron, MN, Eric (Snow Wang) Lee of Sunnyvale, CA, and Krista (Larry) Hardyman of Belmont, WI; and her four grandchildren:  Anna Hardyman, Logan Hardyman, Sophia Lee, and Caleb Tvedt. Evelyn is also survived by her sister, Ethel Nodland of Waseca, MN; as well as many nieces, nephews, extended relatives, and friends.

Evelyn is preceded in death by her husband, Jerome; her parents; an infant brother, Harold; six brothers-in-law and seven sisters-in-law.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to the First Lutheran Church Youth Director Fund or the Ellendale Food Shelf.