The funeral service for Irene (Hanson) Folkestad, of 801 Luther Place, Albert Lea, will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday, April 23, at the First Lutheran Church in Albert Lea. The Rev. Steve Delzer will officiate. Interment will be in Graceland Cemetery. Visitation will be one hour before the service at the church.

Irene (Hanson) Folkestad, age 94, passed away on Wednesday, April 17, 2002, at St. John’s Nursing Home in Albert Lea.

She was born on Aug. 19, 1907, in Freeborn County to Iver and Rose (Boe) Hanson. Irene attended rural schools and graduated from Luther Academy in Albert Lea in 1925.

Irene was married to Raymond E. Peterson in 1926. He passed away in 1933 in St. Cloud. In 1949 she married Omer J. Folkestad and he passed away in 1975. She is also preceded in death by four brothers, one sister, four half-brothers and one half-sister.

Irene was employed for 35 years by the Department of Employment and Security, retiring in 1968 as assistant manager. During this time she was a 50-year member of the Albert Lea Business and Professional Women’s Club, holding many local and state offices. She was nominated “Woman of the Year” in 1956. She was a volunteer worker at Naeve Hospital for 11 years and a member of the Hospital Legion Auxiliary, a volunteer worker at First Lutheran Church and the bloodmobile, active in the Senior Friends at First Lutheran Church.

She is survived by her son, Thatcher D. Peterson and his wife Gerry (Parks) of St. Paul; a daughter, Rosemary and her husband Conrad Anderson of Rochester; five grandchildren: Charles Peterson and his wife Debbie (Anderson) of Columbia Heights, Minn., Catherine and her husband Michael Creal of St. Charles, Ill., Carol and her husband Bill Brunn of Blaine, Minn., David Anderson and his wife Jennifer of Rochester, and Karen and her husband Mike Arleo of San Diego, Calif.; 12 great-grandchildren; and two half-sisters, Ruth Werner and Ethel Peterson.