The new office administrator at the United Way of Freeborn County knows a lot of people.

Anyway, that’s what her husband says.

Lynnette Rasmussen began her new part-time job Monday. She replaces Corrine Applegate, who got her master’s degree in clinical counseling last spring and left at the end of February. She still resides in Albert Lea and commutes to the Twin Cities to work.

Rassmussen will be the face and voice many people hear when they seek assistance in Freeborn County.

“She is the person on the front line, answering the phone,” said United Way of Freeborn County Executive Director Ann Austin. “They will get to know her, if they don’t know her already.”

Many people around the Albert Lea area know her already because of the various places she has worked and because she and her husband, Mark, have lived in Albert Lea for nearly 34 years.

She most recently worked part-time at Farmers Mutual Insurance in Manchester. Before that she worked for six years at the Freeborn County Courthouse, first with the department for veterans and environmental services, then in the county administration.

Rasmussen has worked as a teller at various banks around Albert Lea, mainly in the 1990s. These include Metropolitan Federal, Security Bank Minnesota and American Bank.

Back in the 1980s, she was employed by Albert Lea Medical Center. One of the two stints there had her working in data processing.

All of those skills will come in handy, Austin said, because Rasmussen will need to learn the software program Intuit QuickBooks, to learn about all of the United Way agencies and to learn how to post items to the United Way’s website, among other new things. She does data processing at the United Way, which is in the basement of the US Bank building, and she will record minutes at meetings.

She works five hours a day for five days a week. For the most part, she spent Monday in training with Austin.

“I am excited about getting to know Ann better. She has a bubbly personality,” Rasmussen said.

And she said she is looking forward to being more involved in the community and having a position that gives her a sense of accomplishment.

Rasmussen has been involved at Grace Lutheran Church. She was on the church council in the 1980s. She also has been a Sunday school teacher and a youth group leader.

She graduated from Alden High School in 1969.

In her free time, Rasmussen likes to spoil her five grandchildren. She likes to sew and loves to travel. She and her husband have been to Disney World, Colorado, Indiana, Ohio, Texas, Michigan, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, New York, Illinois and near-to-home places in Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota, such as the Amana Colonies, Itasca State Park, the Wisconsin Dells and the North Shore of Lake Superior, among others.

She said the trip to New York was to Niagara Falls, and crossing to see the falls from the other side was the only time she went to Canada. The trips, she said, were often with the family in a camper and quite fun.

She hopes she can take a trip soon to see the East Coast and places such as Martha’s Vineyard. She never has been to the West Coast, but someday hopes to go see its sights, too.

Rasmussen and her husband, Mark, are seen walking around the lake frequently. She said she hopes to get into bicycling more, as one of her sons enjoys it.

Lynette Rasmussen likes to plan and really enjoyed planning the wedding of her daughter, Sara, at Grace Lutheran Church and the reception at the Elks Lodge.

She also is proud to have raised four children successfully and the couple stays quite active in the lives of their kids.

“They are our lives in a lot of ways,” she said. “We have a very close family.”

Lynnette Rasmussen
Age: 60
Address: 2021 Grand Ave., Albert Lea
Livelihood: office administrator
Family: husband, Mark, 62; sons Tim, 40, Kenosha, Wis., James, 37, Austin, Rob, 34, Albert Lea; daughter, Sara Stieler, 30, Apple Valley; five grandchildren
Interesting fact: She and her husband have visited Mackinac Island in Michigan five times.