Geraldine Elva Brooks Kersting of Aberdeen passed away Aug. 17, 2013, at HCR Manor Care, Aberdeen, at the age of 105.
Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 22, at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Aberdeen, followed by services at 7 p.m.
Mass of Christian burial will be at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Friday, Aug. 23, at 10:30 a.m. with the Rev. Fr. Jonathan Venner officiating.
Pallbearers will be her grandsons and great-grandsons: Arvin and Kelly Kersting, Wade and Brad Coultas, Cader Stokes and Ryder Carey.
She will be laid to rest at Mount Calvary Cemetery in Cogswell, later that day at 3:30 p.m.
Geraldine was born Oct. 13, 1907, to Andrew and Mary (Stein) Brooks at the farm home near Brookland, N.D., south of Cogswell, a little railroad settlement named for her father and his two brothers. She attended country schools and graduated from Cogswell High School in 1927. She attended Valley City Teachers College for the summer term, and then taught at a country school for one term. After that, she pursued her dream and graduated as a registered nurse from St. John's School of Nursing in Fargo, N.D., in 1932.
She and Henry Kersting (who migrated from Waubun, Minn.) were married in Our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church in Cogswell, N.D., Oct. 17, 1933. They began their farming career of 40 years, after which they moved to Cogswell. In 1987, they moved to Groton. Mr. Kersting passed away in 1997, at the age of 100. Geraldine stayed in Groton for a few more years and then moved to Aberdeen to live with her daughter.
Geraldine was involved in many activities, in addition to helping raise their family of four children. She was a member of our Lady of Mercy Catholic Church of Cogswell and of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic in Groton. She was a charter member of the Modern Homemakers Club, a member of the Sodality at Our Lady of Mercy Church, a member of the American Legion Auxiliary. Occasionally, she helped the local doctors with nursing duties. She was a foster mother. She was a member of the Senior Citizens clubs both in Cogswell and Groton.
Geraldine loved to read, crochet, knit, make quilts, do crossword puzzles, "computering," watching the Twins and spent her last years enjoying those hobbies, as well as helping care for two great-great-grandsons.
She is survived by her four children: Leo (Fern) Kersting of Groton, Alice Houghton of Aberdeen, Doran (Ruby) Kersting of Cogswell, N.D., and Jane (Hal "Buck") Coultas of Elko New Market, Minn. Also surviving are 14 grandchildren; 28 great-grandchildren; 13 great-great-grandchildren; and eight nieces and nephews.
Preceding her in death were her parents; her husband; six brothers: Gilbert, Leo, Donald, Clarence, Walter and Chester; two sisters: Iva Klinkhammer and Bernice Lewis; one daughter-in-law, Barb Kersting; and one son-in-law, Leo Houghton.
An online guestbook and obituary is available at pricefuneralchapel.net.