Lois Boehne

Lois Boehne, age 92, of Alexandria, died peacefully surrounded by her family on Monday, April 28, 2025, at Grand Arbor, under the care of Hospice of Douglas County.

A celebration of life service will be held at 11 a.m., on Saturday, May 10, 2025, at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Parkers Prairie with Rev. Kirk Lee presiding. Private family interment will take place at Lakewood Cemetery, Minneapolis.

The visitation will be one hour prior to the service.

Lois Ardean Riedel was born at home in Minnesota’s rural Otter Tail County to Elda and Bob Riedel on May 15, 1932. She was baptized at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church on June 12, 1932 and confirmed at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Parkers Prairie in 1946. After graduating as the valedictorian of Parkers Prairie High School’s class of 1950, Lois spent a few years working in Minneapolis and South Carolina. Lois later worked for United Airlines in Chicago where she met and married her first husband, Arnie Tysdale on December 31, 1953. They traveled between sites of Arnie’s Rent-a-Trailer-System in Kansas City, Missouri, Oakland, California, Portland, Oregon, and Minneapolis before starting their family in 1957.

After Arnie’s death in 1961, Lois moved back to Parkers Prairie with her three young children. There she met and married Norman Boehne, a widower with five children. Lois and Norm married in Minneapolis on December 10, 1962. After adopting each other’s children, Lois and Norm raised their blended family on a farm just west of Parkers Prairie, at Park Ridge Resort on Lake Miltona, in San Diego, California for almost a year, and then back in Parkers Prairie for many years. As a busy mom of eight, Lois filled her days volunteering at school and church, playing bridge, cross stitching and making latch-hooked rugs, and avidly cheering on her kids on various Parkers Prairie Panther sports teams as well as rooting for her favorite quarterback, Fran Tarkenton of the Minnesota Vikings. She later fulfilled a lifelong dream by graduating from Alexandria Area Vocational School in 1977 to become a certified lab technician. For several years, Lois also owned and operated The Store in Parkers Prairie.

Lois and Norm retired to Ocala, Florida in 1988 where she worked part-time for an inventory company. They moved back to Minnesota in 2000 where they enjoyed living at the Senator in Alexandria for several years. After Norm’s death, Lois moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado for 14 years. She volunteered for Academy School District 20 in many different areas, but she especially loved tutoring 1st grade students in reading at Mountain View Elementary School. Lois played lots of bridge, was a lifelong reader, enjoyed being a member of the Colorado Springs Lois Club, spent many early mornings water-walking at the Y, and expanded her sports world to include both the Denver Broncos and the Colorado Rockies.

Lois later moved into Bonaventure Senior Living where she enjoyed an ever-changing view of Pikes Peak from her 4th floor deck. She delivered the newspaper to several Bonaventure friends early each morning, and she was one of the three Bonaventure Ladies at St. Luke’s Lutheran Church. Lois traveled to Abu Dhabi and Dubai in 2008 with two of her children to visit her youngest son; there she memorably rode a camel and lost (and found!) her purse in the souk.

Lois moved back to Alexandria, Minnesota in 2019 where she resided at Grand Arbor. Lois loved the Lord, and she enjoyed spending time with her family. Her greatest joy in life was being a mom and grandma! Romans 8:28: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.”

She was preceded in death by her husband Arnie Tysdale; husband Norm Boehne; parents; older sister Lorraine Streff; daughter-in-law Deb Boehne; and many dear friends and family members.

Lois is survived by her eight children, Joanne (Don) Wilke of Alexandria, Bruce Boehne (Elaine Tigue) of Greer, South Carolina, Jim (Diane) Boehne of Alexandria, Naomi (Curt) Lahman of Parkers Prairie, Ted (Meg) Boehne of Edina, Tom (Eileen) Boehne of Nolensville, Tennessee; Teresa (Dave) Watt of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Richard (Jeannie) Boehne of Crystal Beach, Florida; 18 grandchildren; 27 great-grandchildren; younger sister Carol (Nelson) Majors of Lemoore, California; sisters-in-law, Pat Boehne of Bloomington, and Marilyn Ranta, Grand Rapids; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Urnbearers are her grandchildren, Steven Wilke, Beth Brungardt, Heidi Jacobson, Phillip Boehne, Molly Boehne, and Kate Dusto.

Memorials are preferred to Hospice of Douglas County and the Lake Miltona Lake Association.