Theda Skundberg

Theda A. Skundberg, age 101, Ortonville, MN, passed away Wednesday, February 21, 2024, at Fairway View Neighborhoods in Ortonville.

Funeral Services will be Saturday, March 2, 2024, at 2 p.m. at Holden Lutheran Church in rural Beardsley, MN, with Minister James Rach officiating, and Pam Chase as organist.

Burial will be in the Holden Cemetery. In lieu of flowers family requests memorials be given to the Holden Cemetery Association.

Pallbearers will be:  Ryan and Josh Boots, Dale and Brian Wentland, Harley Zacher, and Garrison Boots.

Theda Alma was born August 5, 1922, in Wybelsum, West Germany, to Jan and Anna (Saueressig) Dorenbusch.  She was baptized on December 25, 1922, and confirmed April 3, 1938, in Wybelsum.  Theda had two older brothers, Habbo and Evert, and three younger sisters, Etta, Anna, and Almut, who all stayed in Germany.

Theda's father taught her to value a garden and to be honest, and her mother taught her the value of working with her hands by teaching her to bake and sew.  Theda's Uncle Pete, her mom's brother, had a vegetable farm, and was paid 75 cents/day to pull weeds.  Pete would send vegetables home with her at the end of the day.

Theda attended school until the 8th grade.  During the 6th/7th grade, she was asked to teach the 1st/2nd grade class because her teacher had a medical issue, and Theda discovered she really liked teaching.  At age 15 she took a sewing class.  However, she was only able to attend three months because her family could not afford the cost.  She learned a lot in that time and was able to make money sewing for many people.

Theda's first job at age 16 was being a housekeeper/nanny. Her second job was at a bakery in Emden, which was a half-hour ride by bicycle. This was during WWII, and she had to be at work at 4 a.m. She tried not to use her carbide light on her bicycle so she wouldn't be seen. It was hard watching the bombs and riding a bicycle to/from work.  She ended up in bomb shelters many times when sirens would go off; this meant Hitler was bombing.  You didn't see Theda mad very often, but when you brought up Hitler's name, it brought out a whole different side of her.

Theda's next two jobs were working for a teacher and a shipyard millionaire.  Later she attended business school at night.  That ended in 1943 when both places were destroyed by bombs.  During this time she took over her brother Evert's milk testing job (by going to all the farms and taking milk samples); because his wife was going to have a baby and he was called off to fight the war.  He was captured in Africa in 1942. He was a prisoner of war in France two years and in Canada for three.  Her older brother Habbo died in Russia in 1940.  Her Dad (Jan) and older brother (Evert) became prisoners of war and did not return home from the war until 1946.

On December 28, 1949, Theda was united in marriage to a U.S. soldier named Rickus ("Rex") Johnson Boots at her parents' home in Logumer Vorwerk, Germany.

With prayers, courage, and the help of the Lord's guidance, on June 30, 1950, Theda immigrated on a ship to the United States.  Rex and Theda made their first home in Johnson, MN, and raised the first two boys, John and Donald.

In 1952, they moved to a ten-acre farm north of Odessa, which became the home for six more children, Frank, Margaret, Anita, twins Deborah and Barbara, and Gary.

Theda obtained her citizenship in 1957.  Theda's husband Rex passed away August 27, 1961.  When Rex passed away, she had to learn how to drive.  Pastor Going, (Trinity Lutheran Church, Odessa) could count on the last pew to the right being filled just before the service began each Sunday with the Boots family.

After the children were all in school, Theda worked at the Canning Factory in Big Stone City during corn season, Theatre of Seasons Café in Ortonville as a waitress and cook, and Club 7-75 in Odessa as a cook, waitress, cleanup person, and babysitter.

In 1968, she met Russell Skundberg while working at a Farmers Union banquet that he attended at Club 7-75 while she was waiting tables.  On March 16, 1968, they were married, and the family moved seven miles south of Beardsley, MN, to Russell's parents' farm.

Beginning 1974, Theda and Russ vacationed as snowbirds from November to Spring in several places in lower Texas.  They enjoyed the warmer weather and enjoyed buying and selling at flea markets.

In 2015, Russ and Theda moved to a home in Ortonville.  In 2017 they moved to Independent Living at Fairway View, and in 2018 they became residents at Orton's Crossing wing of Fairway View Nursing Home, both in Ortonville, MN. Russell passed away January 1, 2019.

Theda is survived by her children, John (Betty) Boots, daughter-in-law Julie Boots, Frank (Pamela) Boots, Margaret (Cliff) Steinlicht, Anita Cox, Debbie (Gary) Wentland, son-in-law Paul Khoury, and Gary (Christy) Boots; 21 grandchildren; 32 great-grandchildren; 20 great-great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews.

Theda is preceded in death by her first husband, Rex Boots (1961); second husband, Russell Skundberg (2019); son, Donald Boots (2013); daughter, Barbara (Boots) Khoury (2022); grandson, Lonnie Boots (1973); granddaughter, Christina (Cox) Roberts (2006); great-granddaughter, Amanda Meissner (2003); parents, Jan and Anna Dorenbusch; brothers, Habbo and Evert Dorenbusch; and sisters, Anna, Etta, and Almut.

All family members wish to thank everyone for helping us celebrate Theda's life.