Jose Luis "Pepe" Gaytan 67, of Casa Grande, Mexico, formerly of Litchfield, died June 18, 2009 at Hospice Family Care. A funeral service took place on June 22 at Simes Mortuaries Floreence Chapel with burial in Florence Cemetery.

Adeline Danielson, 88, of Dassel, died Saturday at the Lake Ridge Care Center in Buffalo. A funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Dassel. Visitation will be from 5-8 p.m. Tuesday evening at the Johnson Funeral Home in Dassel and one hour prior to the service at the church.

Lydia Brynildson, 87, passed away on June 22 at Green Valley, Ariz. In lieu of a service the family asks those who wish to celebrate her life to perform a quiet and random act of kindness.

Charles Richard Erickson, 70, died June 20, 2009 at the St. Cloud Hospital. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at Stockholm Lutheran Church. Visitation is one hour before the service at the church.

Janice R. Winter, 62, of Sparta, Wis. died Sunday at Franciscan Skemp Healthcare in Sparta. A memorial service will be at 6 p.m. Thursday at Trinity Lutheran Church in Sparta with visitation at 5 p.m. A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. at Zion Lutheran Church in Litchfield on Saturday with visitation from 1-2 p.m. at the church. Online condolences may be offered at www.lanham-miller.com.

Neil D. Konietzko, 66, of Roswell, GA, formerly of Litchfield, passed away May 31, 2009. A Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10:30 a.m. at St. Philip's Church, 821 E. 5th St., Litchfield, on Saturday. Family and friends will gather one hour prior to the service at the church with rosary at 9:30 a.m.

Lyle R. Ufer, 88, of rural Truman will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Waverly Lutheran Church in rural Trimont, Minn. Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m. Monday at the Kramer Family Funeral Home in Trimont and one hour prior to the services at the church. Kramer Family Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Evelyn Mickelson, 87, of Litchfield, died Saturday ast the Emmanuel Home in Litchfield. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Grove City. Visitation will be from 5-8 p.m. Wednesday at the Johnson-Hagglund Funeral Home and will continue one hour prior to the service at the church. Johnson-Hagglund Funeral Home & Cremation is in charge of arrangements.

Meeker County commissioners discussed a proposal to record their proceedings during a meeting about a month ago.

At that time, Commissioner Jim Swenson — who proposed the audio recordings as a backup for County Auditor Barb Loch, who keeps the official minutes — and Loch were assigned to a committee to investigate the idea.

Here’s hoping that Swenson and Loch don’t stop at an audio recording. Though any recording is better than none, video recordings of the County Board’s meetings would be the best solution.

Editor’s note: Litchfield High School’s tradition of having student speakers address their classmates during commencement ceremonies continued Sunday. Following is the speech given by Tony Skaggs, son of Scott and Felicia Skaggs.

By Tony Skaggs

Congratulations, Class of 2009. We’re all here.

Editor’s note: Litchfield High School’s tradition of having student speakers address their classmates during commencement ceremonies continued Sunday. Following is the speech given by Zachary Fredman, son of Leland and Brenda Fredman.

David W. Anderson, 55, of rural Litchfield, died Wednesday at Rice Memorial Hospital in Willmar. Memorial service will be at 11 a.m. Monday at First Lutheran Church in Litchfield. Visitation will be one our prior to the services at the church.

USDA Rural Development is accepting applications for grants and loan guarantees for farmers and rural small businesses to install renewable energy systems, make energy efficiency improvements, or conduct feasibility studies. The funds are administered through Rural Development's Rural Energy for American Program.

The deadline for applications is July 31 and can be sent to Lisa Noty, USDA Rural Development, 1400 West Main St., Albert Lea, MN 56007. Electronic applications may be submitted through www.grants.gov.

Marion (Kurzhals) Rueckert, 87, of Litchfield died Friday at the Dassel Lakeview Ranch in Dassel. A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Friday at the Litchfield United Methodist Church in Litchfield. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the church. Arrangements by Johnson-Hagglund Funeral Home, Litchfield.

Margaret Johnson, 84, of Litchfield, Minn. died Sunday at the Emmanuel Home in Litchfield. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Thursday at the First Lutheran Church in Litchfield. Visitiation will be one hour prior to the service at the church. Johnson-Hagglund Funeral Home & Cremation is in charge of arrangements.

Patrick Shoutz, 45, of Rosendale, Minn. died Thursday at his home. Funeral services will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Rosendale United Methodist Church. Visitation will be from 4-7 p.m. Tuesday at the Johnson-Hagglund Funeral Home and will continue one hour prior to the service on Wednesday at the church. Johnson-Hagglund Funeral Home & Cremation is in charge of arrangements.

Myrtle Pherigo, 89, of Litchfield died Tuesday at her home. Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday, May 27 at the Litchfield United Methodist Church. Visitation will be from 4-8 p.m. Tuesday at the Johnson-Hagglund Funeral Home and will continue one hour prior to the services at the church. Johnson-Hagglund Funeral Home & Cremation is in charge of arrangements.

Dietta Mattson, 95, of Dassel, died Monday at the Lakeside Health Care Center of Dassel. A funeral service will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday at the Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Dassel. Visitation will be from 5-8 p.m. Thursday at the Johnson Funeral Home in Dassel and one hour prior to the service at the church on Friday.

William Weninger, 75, of Litchfield, formerly of St. Paul, died Monday at the Emmanuel Home in Litchfield. A memorial service will be at 12:00 noon Thursday at the Fort Snelling Memorial Chapel in Fort Snelling, Minn. Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m. Wednesday at Johnson-Hagglund Funeral Home and will continue one hour prior to the service on Thursday. Johnson-Hagglund Funeral Home & Cremation is in charge of arrangements.

Gary Lindell, 70, passed away April 20, 2009 at his home in Sun City Grand, Surprise, Ariz. A memorial Mass will be held at St. Ann's Catholic Church, 323 N. Van Buren, Stoughton, Wis. at 1 p.m. on Monday, July 20 with visitation at 12:00 noon. For more information visit http://Gary-Lindell.virtual-memorials.com

Marie Boline, 80, of Cokato, Minn. died Tuesday at the Cokato Manor in Cokato. Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Ostmark Lutheran Church, Forest City Township. Visitation will be from 6:30-8 p.m. Friday at the Ostmark Lutheran Church and will continue one hour prior to the service at the church on Saturday. Johnson-Hagglund Funeral Home & Cremation is in charge of arrangements.

Richard Euerle, 42, of Hutchinson, Minn. passed away Saturday at his home in Hutchinson. Funeral services were Thursday at the Lamson Evangelical Free Church in Dassel. Dobratz-Hantge Chapel was in charge of arrangements.

Funeral services for Eloise Mattheisen, 58, of New Hope, Minn., formerly of Litchfield, will be Saturday at 11 a.m. at Timothy Lutheran Church, 7814 Minnetonka Blvd., St. Louis Park, Minn. Visitation will be Friday from 5-8 p.m. at Gearty-Delmore Funeral Chapel, 3888 W. Broadway, Ronbbinsdale, Minn. and one and one half hour prior to the service at the church.

Bernice Alfson, 85, of Litchfield, died Sunday at her home in Litchfield, Minn. Memorial service will be Thursday at 3:30 p.m. at the Litchfield United Methodist Church. Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m. Wednesday at the Johnson-Hagglund Funeral Home and will continue one hour prior to the service at the church on Thursday. Johnson-Hagglund Funeral Home & Cremation is in charge of arrangements.

John E. Noyed, 74, of Cokato, passed away Sunday. Funeral service was Friday at Cokato Evangelical Lutheran Church. Arrangements were by Swanson-Peterson Funeral Home in Cokato.

By Brian Wilson
Litchfield

Last week’s Opinion page included “A challenge to citizens committee,” including a call for a comparison of current costs and dollar values to those of 1960. I am prepared to stand corrected, but I would like to add what I hope to be viewed as a friendly amendment to the questions raised.

Please include the following items in the financial comparison of 1960 to present school budgets, funding, requirements, etc:

— Technology budget (including a comparison of technology installed in the average household and in the workplace);

Frank Sabacky Jr., 89, of Litchfield, died Monday at Meeker Memorial Hospital. A memorial service will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday at the First Presbyterian Church in Litchfield. Visitation will be 4-8 p.m. Thursday at the First Presbyterian Church and will continue one hour prior to the services at the church. Johnson-Hagglund Funeral Home & Cremation is in charge of arrangements.

Doris Bohn, 92, of Litchfield, died Saturday at the Emmanuel Nursing Home in Litchfield. Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday at St. John's Lutheran Church, Cedar Mills Township, Minn. Visitation will be from 4-8 p.m. Tuesday at the Johnson-Hagglund Funeral Home in Litchfield and will continue one hour prior to the service at the church on Wednesday.

Floyd R. Fjerstad, 97, of Litchfield died Wednesday, April 22, at Meeker Memorial Hospital. Funeral will be 1 p.m. Saturday at Johnson-Hagglund Funeral Home in Litchfield. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service. Burial will be in Lake Ripley Cemetery, Litchfield. Arrangements are with Johnson-Hagglund Funeral Home.