Ardyce Marie Brechtel, 101

Published 11:37 am Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Ardyce Marie Brechtel, 101

Ardyce Marie Brechtel, age 101, of Austin, Minnesota, passed away on May 16, 2025 at St. Mark’s Assisted Living of Austin, Minnesota.

Ardyce was born on March 11, 1924 in Bemidji, Minnesota to Julius and Alfrieda (Theilke) Zachgo.  She was the fourth of eleven children.  Her family moved to Crookston, Minnesota when she was in high school.  She moved to Austin, Minnesota with her sister for her senior year and graduated from Austin High School in 1942.  She always remembered sitting in class when the announcement of the bombing of Pearl Harbor came across the intercom.

She went to work in the office of the Hormel Co. after graduation.  Her good friend invited her to come down to the lake and that’s when she met Harry, the love of her life.

They married on October 31, 1943 at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Austin, Minnesota.  They started their life farming north of Rose Creek for Edna Fleming.

When they decided to work for themselves, they decided to buy a grocery store in Lyle, Minnesota.  Running a store was not in Harry and Ardyce’s future.  They decided farming is what they wanted, so they sold the store and purchased a farm south of Adams where they raised their three children.

Ardyce and Harry were a great team with many great friends and neighbors.

Ardyce decided when the kids were old enough she would go back to school for cosmetology and graduated from Austin Vo-Tech in 1966.  She found her calling as she loved making her customers even more beautiful.  She was able to study hair design and technique in places like Toronto and Paris through her supply vendors.

After retirement, Harry and Ardyce sold the farm and moved to North Carolina for a time to be close to their son, Jack.  However, they eventually got homesick and returned to Austin.

Ardyce was preceded in death by her husband, Harry; her parents and all of her ten siblings.

Ardyce is survived by her son and daughter-in-law: Jack and Paulette Brechtel of Asheboro, N.C; daughters and sons-in-law:  Karla and Ed Hatten of Stacyville, IA and TerryAnn and Ed Yarbrough of Canton, TX; grandchildren and their spouses:  Rodney Brechtel, Susan (Hatten) Niven, Pamela (Hatten) Greenwald, Lydia (Hatten) Guthmiller and Jacob Kiefer; 13 great grandchildren; nieces and nephews.

A memorial service and interment will be announced at a later date.

Clasen-Jordan Mortuary is in charge of arrangements.