Services for Yvonne M. George, 82, of Fairmont, MN, will be 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, January 8, 2014, at the St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Fairmont. Burial will take place in the Ft. Snelling National Cemetery in Minneapolis, MN. Visitation will be two hours prior to the time of service from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, January 8, 2014, at the St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Fairmont. Yvonne passed away Friday morning, January 3, 2014, at the Lutz Wing of the Mayo Clinic Health System in Fairmont. The Lakeview Funeral Home and Cremation Service of Fairmont is assisting the family with arrangements.
Yvonne Mary (Elsinger) George was born on September 7, 1931, in Dell Rapids, SD, the daughter of Lawrence G. and Prima M. (Ginsbach) Elsinger. She attended school in Dell Rapids and graduated from St. Mary’s Academy in 1949. Yvonne then attended Creighton University in Omaha, NE. Following her education, Yvonne moved to Long Beach, CA, where she worked at Seaside Memorial Hospital for one year before returning to South Dakota and working for McKennan Hospital for three years.
On April 4, 1956, Yvonne was united in marriage to Melvin R. George at the St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Dell Rapids, SD. Together the couple made their home in Dell Rapids, Coleman, and Franklin before moving to Marshall, MN, in 1965. Their travels didn’t stop there as they also lived in Dawson, MN, and St. James, MN, before moving to Benson, AZ, where they opened a nursing home and resided for three years. They then returned to Minnesota and lived in Rochester and Milaca. In 1997, Yvonne and Melvin moved to Fairmont, MN, to be closer to family
Left to cherish her memory is her husband, Melvin George of Fairmont, MN; children, Mary Ann Forster and her husband, Darell of Maple Grove, MN, Stephen George and his wife, Renee of Fruita, CO, Paul George and his wife, Reba of Choctaw, OK, Roman George and his wife, Linda of Cold Spring, MN, Kateri Wellman and her husband, Roger of Fairmont, MN, and Phillip George and his wife, Cheryl of Byron, MN; thirteen grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; one sister, MaryAnn Nelson of Worthing, SD; brothers, Father Francis Elsinger of Hong Kong, Japan, and Gerald Elsinger and his wife, Sharon of Dell Rapids, SD; one sister-in-law, Jean Elsinger of Wilmont, SD; as well as many nieces, nephews, extended family and friends.
Yvonne was preceded in death by her parents, Lawrence and Prima Elsinger; mother-in-law and father-in-law, Clare and William George; brothers’, Ken Elsinger, and Roger Elsinger; and an infant granddaughter, Gabriel Linda George.