May E. (Laage) Barchenger

May E. Barchenger, age 96, of Belgrade, formerly of Brooten, died Sunday, July 3, 2022, at Belgrade Nursing Home. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 A.M. on Saturday, July 9th, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Grove Lake, MN, with Rev. Ryan Pumphrey officiating. Visitation will be from 4:00 – 7:00 P.M. on Friday at the Hoplin-Hitchcock Funeral Home in Brooten and will continue at the church on Saturday beginning at 10:00 A.M. and running until the time of service. Interment will be in Grove Lake Cemetery. Arrangements are with Hoplin-Hitchcock Funeral Home of Brooten.

May Elaine Laage was born on May 1, 1926, in Brooten, Minnesota to parents Oscar and Myrtle (Hansen) Laage. She grew up on the family farm near Brooten and was baptized at the Bethlehem Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church in Askov, Minnesota on November 28, 1926.  She was confirmed on April 21, 1940 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Brooten. In 1943, she graduated from Brooten High School. That fall she enrolled in a business course in Minneapolis, which she successfully completed on July 12, 1944. On September 5, 1948, she was united in marriage to Elmer Barchenger in Osakis, MN. The two first made their home in Los Angeles, California where they lived for five years before moving back to Minnesota and settling on a farm near Brooten. May worked alongside Elmer on the farm and together they raised five sons and a daughter.

May was a lifelong member of Trinity Lutheran Church of Grove Lake, where she was active in Lutheran Women’s Missionary League. She was also a member of the Brooten American Legion Auxiliary. She enjoyed making crafts, needlework and reading.

In January of 2021, May became a resident at Belgrade Nursing Home. She passed away there on Sunday, July 3, 2022, at the age of 96. May her memory be blessed.

May is survived by her daughter, Patricia Barchenger of Plymouth; five sons, Donald (Janice) of Albany, James (Karen) of Glenwood, Ervin (Candy) of Buckeye, AZ, Edward (Kari) of Buckeye, AZ, and Terry (Darlene) of Brooten; 11 grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and one step-great grandchild.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Oscar and Myrtle Laage; her husband, Elmer Barchenger in 1983; an older brother, Fredrick Neal Laage in infancy; and a granddaughter in infancy.

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