Sonia Swanke Orseth Passes Away
Sonia Anne SwankeSonia Anne Swanke Orseth was born May 18, 1933, at Lakota, North Dakota, daughter of Alvin and Borghild (Bjorge) Swanke. She grew up and graduated from high school in Lakota. Sonia went on to graduate from North Dakota State University in Fargo, with a degree in Home Economics.
Sonia taught in Grand Forks, North Dakota. She married Melvin Orseth June 2, 1956, in Lakota, North Dakota. They moved to New York City for one year. In 1960, they moved to Saudi Arabia where they lived until 1978. Melvin died in 1978. Sonia moved to Fargo, where she raised their family.
Sonia died Monday, February 5, 2007, at her home in Fargo, under the care of Hospice of the Red River Valley.
Sonia is survived by three daughters, Betsy (Guy) Buchanan, Hudson, WI; Kara (Jeff) Sturgill, Waseca, MN; and Kirsten, (Jeff) Munighan, Moorhead, MN; a sister, Jackie (Matt) Ettl, Lakota, ND; and three grandchildren, Jade, Jared and Brit.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Melvin; and a son, Mark, who died in 1997.
Memorials are preferred to St. John Lutheran Church Foundation, Parish Nurse Fund at St. John, or Hospice of the Red River Valley.