Maude Gernander

Maude Gernander Obituary

Maude Cochran Gernander, of Hibbing, formerly of Duluth and Rose Lake, died peacefully on November 30, 2011, after a brief illness.

Maude was born May 31, 1913, at Blanchard, North Dakota, the daughter of James and Margaret Cochran.  She attended public schools in Duluth, graduating from Morgan Park High School as valedictorian and from Duluth State Teachers College.  She married Sidney Gernander in 1936.  After a brief teaching career, she devoted herself to homemaking and nurturing her family.

Maude loved and was loved by her family and a wide circle of relatives and friends.  She became a devoted follower of the sports and other activities of her children and grandchildren.  She enjoyed visiting and being visited.  Rose Lake became her favorite place, and she made it the happy place of her children, grandchildren, and countless friends.  She wrote lovely letters and appreciated receiving letters even more than the phone calls she enjoyed.  Her interests and activities included arts and crafts, reading, dancing, and entertaining.  She was an accomplished cook and baker.

Maude was an active member of the Central Avenue Methodist Church in West Duluth, the Cotton Community Church, and the Wesley United Methodist Church in Hibbing.  She belonged to several church and social circles.

Maude is survived by sons Robert (Bonita), Kent (Elizabeth) and Scott (Bernadette), by 13 grandchildren and 15 great grandchildren.  Harald Brendeford, a Norwegian exchange student who remains close to the family, also survives.  She was preceded in death by Sidney, her husband of 72 years, her parents, a brother James Cochran, Jr., sisters Margaret Pearce and Alice Kohner, and a grandson Lee Gernander.  She was grateful for the support she received in recent years from her friends at Realife, Lighthouse for the Blind, and Dana DeCenzo.

A funeral service will be held at Wesley United Methodist Church in Hibbing, on Monday, December 5, 2011.  Visitation will begin at 10:00 a.m., and the service will begin at 11:00 a.m.  Interment will follow the service at Sunrise Cemetery in Duluth.  Arrangements are being made by Dougherty Funeral Home of Hibbing.  The family suggests memorials to Wesley United Methodist Church in Hibbing.

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