Geraldine “Geri” Guerard, South Milwaukee, WI, formerly of Thief River Falls, passed away peacefully at the age of 86 on Thursday, August 13, 2020 at Sanford Hospice House, Fargo, ND.
A private family service was held outdoors at her home farm on Sunday, August 16, 2020 on what would have been her 87th birthday. A graveside service was held in Cudahy, WI on Friday, August 21, 2020.
Geraldine Mae Torkelson was born August 16, 1933 in Thief River Falls at the farm home of her parents, Melvin and Helen (Wiken) Torkelson as the little sister of two older brothers, Marion and Wallace. She was baptized and confirmed at St. Pauli Lutheran Church in rural Thief River Falls.
As the oldest daughter of what would become nine children in the family, Geri was a great source of help to her mother, keeping house and caring for her younger sisters and brothers. There were also gardens to tend, berries to pick, canning to be done, clothes to be washed and mended, lunch to bring out to the fields, and other numerous chores – all done without the help of electricity. This meant wood to split, fires to tend, and cooking and baking all done with a wood cookstove even in the midst of summer heat.
Geri’s parents rented various farms until the mid-1940s, which meant that Geri and her siblings attended several one-room schools – Smiley, Rosehill, Washington – and then Lincoln High School in Thief River Falls. Her lifelong friend, Doreen (Weiner-Haugen) Dargon, a classmate from Smiley school days, recalls that Geri could run like the wind.
When Geri was nine or ten, she contracted scarlet fever that turned into rheumatic fever. After spending several days in the hospital, her parents set up a bed for her in the living room and it was here she spent the next several months, carried outdoors when the weather was nice to sit in the sun and enjoy the fresh air. She ended up missing most of a school year and was held back a grade to give her time to catch up on her studies.
As a teenager, Geri made up for this lost time and celebrated life and health by going to dances around the area. In the summer between her junior and senior year of high school, she worked in South Milwaukee where her older brother Marion was living. At the shoe factory she dyed the edges of soles but found it didn’t pay enough to pay for room and board, so she went to Ida’s Restaurant where meals were included!
It was at Ida’s where Geri met the love of her life, Theodore Leon “Ted” Guerard, who was home on leave from the Air Force. At the urging of a friend, Ted came into the restaurant and asked Geri out for a date. She refused. He said, “I’m not leaving until you say yes.” After at least fifteen cups of coffee, she finally agreed. He was serious in his courtship, driving to Thief River Falls for Christmas that year and driving up again for her graduation from Lincoln High School in 1952. It didn’t hurt that he was handsome and an excellent dancer to boot.
Geri and Ted were married on June 21, 1953 and settled in South Milwaukee. Geri’s years of helping her mother raise younger siblings paid off because she and Ted had eight children: Vicki, Kayla, Jan, Mitch, Nadine “DeeDee,” Todd, Linnae and Tyler.
Geri was an excellent housekeeper and also refinished and reupholstered furniture, crocheted, tatted, and sewed quilts. After the children were grown, she worked until retirement in the office at Kohl’s department store near their home.
Ted passed away in 1996 and two years later Geri bought a home in Mesa, AZ. She loved spending six months a year there where she danced at least three times a week. Still an outstanding dancer, she was never at a loss for partners. In fact, one year she and a partner won the Wisconsin Polka Dance Contest.
After a series of strokes left Geri with serious memory loss, she spent her last winter at Mesa in 2018, yet remained optimistic and upbeat, always saying, “I am so blessed. My memory is shot, but I can still walk and talk.”
Geri suffered a serious brain hemorrhage on August 7, 2020 while staying with her sister Faye on the home farm near Thief River Falls. She had been so happy to see her brothers and sisters, visit with her friend Doreen, and be at the farm where she grew up for what she guessed would be her last time. After being airlifted to Fargo, ND, doctors determined that surgery had a limited chance for success and her children decided that she should be allowed to pass away peacefully, which she did under the care of staff at Sanford Hospice House with three of her children at her side.
Left to mourn Geri’s passing are her children: Vicki (Rodney) Ivkowic of Big Bend, WI, Kayla Pizzo of Hales Corners, WI, Jan (Rick) Dinkelman of Beaumont, TX, Mitch (Virginia) Guerard of Greendale, WI, Nadine (Dennis) Lynch of Beaumont, TX, Todd (Renee) Guerard of Nederland, TX and Linnae (Robert) Lecher of Pewaukee, WI; grandchildren: Jason Gonzales, Jerod Hughes, Ty and Aleena Dinkelman, Alexandra Guerard and Jade Guerard; and great-granddaughter, Justine Schumaker; brothers, Wally and Marv Torkelson of Thief River Falls; sisters: Wahna Smith, Faye Auchenpaugh and Ivette Garrett, all of Thief River Falls, and Pamela (Kevin) Kittridge, of Maplewood; sister-in-law, Terri Torkelson; and many nieces and nephews.
Geri was preceded in death by her parents, Melvin and Helen Torkelson; husband, Theodore Guerard; brothers, Francis Marion Torkelson and Willis Torkelson; and son, Tyler.