Funeral services for 72-year-old Lorna Wiens of Staples, Minnesota, will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, January 7, 2017, at Faith Lutheran Church in Staples. The church is located at 631 3rd Avenue NE.
Inurnment will be in the Faith Lutheran Church Columbarium in the spring.
Visitation will be on Friday, January 6, 2017, at Brenny Funeral Chapel in Staples, located at 309 4th Street NE, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. A second visitation will be at the church the day of the funeral service from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m.
Lorna Wiens passed away on Monday, January 2, 2017, at St. Cloud Hospital in St. Cloud, Minnesota.
Lorna Mae Wiens was born on January 5, 1944, in Mountain Lake, Minnesota, the daughter of Abram and Sara (Wiebe) Nickel. She grew up and went to school in Mountain Lake, graduating from high school in 1962. She attended Grace Bible College in Omaha, Nebraska, for a year, and then attended Mounds Midway School of Nursing in St. Paul, Minnesota. She completed her undergraduate nursing education at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, earning her Bachelor of Science degree and taking state nursing boards in 1967.
She was united in marriage to Mel Wiens on June 8, 1968 in Delft, Minnesota. The couple lived in the Seward neighborhood of south Minneapolis, Minnesota. Lorna began working toward her Master’s Degree, and taught at Mounds Midway School of Nursing. The family moved to Staples in 1971, where Lorna worked at the Mary Rondorf Home. She completed her Master’s Degree in Vocational Education at Bemidji State University in Bemidji, Minnesota, during the late 1970s, and worked as Director of Nursing at the nursing home. During the 1970s and early 1980s, Lorna was involved with the school’s health education program, served as School Nurse, and as a stay-at-home mom. In the 1980s, she started the education department at the hospital. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, she worked at the Staples Vocational College. She co-owned and operated a quilting shop from approximately 1992-1994. She worked for the University of Minnesota, with the Minnesota Department of Health, until her retirement in 2007.
Lorna enjoyed quilting and traveling. Very much a family person, she also enjoyed cooking and baking.
Lorna is survived by her husband, Mel, of Staples; her sons, Royce (Volatiana) Wiens, of St. Paul, Minnesota and Curt (Julie) Wiens, of Woodbury, Minnesota; three grandchildren, Anna, Abram and Isaac; a sister, LaVera (Gary) Fenton, of Colorado Springs, Colorado and other family members.
Her parents, Abram and Sara Nickel, and an infant sister, Marian, preceded her in death.
Funeral arrangements are with Brenny Funeral Chapel.
