Funeral services for Herdis Eggen, age 94, of Watertown, SD, will be at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, October 10, 2011, at Lutheran Church of Our Redeemer in Watertown.  Rev. Bob Hansen and Rev. Gary Westgard will officiate.  Music will be provided by A.J. Sherrill as organist with congregational singing.  Herdis passed away on Wednesday, October 5, 2011, at Jenkins Living Center in Watertown.  She was the widow of Marvin Eggen.

     Burial will be at Mt. Hope Cemetery in Watertown.  Honorary pallbearers will be Herdis’ great-grandchildren: Tosha Shelden, Jessica Keimig, Kyle Duke, and Sierra Eidet, and her great-great-grandson, Connor Shelden.  Active pallbearers will be: Kyle Duke, Trever Shelden, Andy Anderson, John Keimig, Leif Amdahl, and Chuck Jenkins.

     Visitation will be at the Crawford Funeral Chapel in Watertown on Sunday from 2 to 5 p.m. and prior to services at the church on Monday.

     Herdis was born on June 23, 1917, in Tronheim, Norway to Ole and Magdalena (Holt) Raknes.  She attended school though the eighth grade and soon found work as a housekeeper for another family.  Times were tough so the children had to find jobs to help support the family. 

      She married Marvin Eggen on September 4, 1937, in Norway.  Her husband, of American descent, wanted to return to see his homeland.  Marvin told Herdis that they would stay just five years, but they remained in the States.  Learning English was by far the most difficult upon moving here, but Herdis continued speaking Norwegian often.  She and Marvin taught adults to speak the language at Lake Area Tech.   Herdis also worked for the Lantsberger family in Sisseton and for 21 years as an experienced baker for Spies Grocery in Watertown.

     She was a member of Grace Lutheran Church and the Sons of Norway.

     Herdis is survived by her daughter, Karin (Palmer) Eidet, of Lake Preston, SD; two grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; one great-great-grandson; one brother, Ralph Raknes, of Bergan, Norway; and two sisters: Erna (Asmund) Faugstad and Gerde (Egil) Stamghele all of  Bergan, Norway.

     She was preceded in death by her husband, one infant grandson, her parents, three brothers, and three sisters.