Phyllis Jean Dykeman, 88

Published 9:45 am Wednesday, July 1, 2015

Phyllis Jean Dykeman, 88, of Austin, Minnesota, died Monday, June 29, 2015, at The Cedars of Austin.

Dykeman

Dykeman

Phyllis Jean Ford was born at Riceville, Iowa, the daughter of George and Maym (Whisler) Ford. She graduated from Austin High School in the class of 1943. Jean was married to Willard Holmquist on April 29, 1944, in New York City, New York. They later divorced. She was a longtime employee of the Hormel Foods Corporation, retiring in 1985 after 38 years of service. Jean was married to Dean W. Dykeman on Dec. 8, 1956, at the Little Brown Church in Nashua, Iowa.

In 1945, she became a member of St. Olaf Lutheran Church. She was a member of the St. Olaf Quilters, worked at the St. Olaf Diner at the Mower County Fair and at the Scandinavian Day Festival. Jean worked in the coffee shop at St. Olaf Hospital and the Austin Medical Center/Mayo Clinic Health System, Austin for 23 years and was the manager for 18 years.

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Jean enjoyed crocheting, was an avid gardener, did a lot of canning and liked to cook. She was a loving and nurturing mother, making sacrifices for her family and providing them with stability and a mother’s love in time of laughter and times of tears.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband Dean Dykeman; son Gary Holmquist; great-grandson Tadd Holmquist; brother Daryl; and half-sister Georgina.

Jean is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Steve and Susan Holmquist, St. Cloud, Minnesota; daughter and son-in-law, Jody and Thomas Nygaard, Albert Lea, Minnesota; daughter-in-law, Mary Holmquist, Lolo, Montana; nine grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren; sisters-in-law, Alice Moldenhauer, Austin, Minnesota, and Carol Baumgartner, New Brighton, Minnesota.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, July 3, 2015, at St. Olaf Lutheran Church with the Rev. Paul Lutter officiating. Interment will be at Grandview Cemetery. Visitation will be at Clasen-Jordan Mortuary on Thursday from 4 to 7 p.m. and at the church on Friday for one hour before the service.