Linda Rathmann, 76, died Wednesday, May 22, 2024 at St. John's Lutheran Home in Springfield.
Mass of Christian Burial will be 12 PM Friday, June 21, 2024 at St. Mary's Catholic Church in New Ulm. Inurnment will follow in the New Ulm Catholic Cemetery.
Visitation will be two hours prior to the time of Mass on Friday.
The Minnesota Valley Funeral Home in New Ulm is handling the arrangements.
Linda was born in Springfield Minnesota on February 2, 1948 to Willard and Genevieve (Rumsbacher) Hemmingsen. In her early years, the family moved from Springfield to New Auburn and then to Gaylord where she graduated from Gaylord High School. She had several jobs after high school. She worked at a drive-in, Northwestern Bell in Minneapolis, New Ulm Telecom and Montgomery Ward. But her favorite jobs were working for Dr. Paul Radke as a dental assistant and her role as a paraprofessional for the New Ulm Junior High School. She loved her students, and her students loved her. Many of them approached her years later to let her know that she had a tremendous impact on their lives.
In 1967 she met her future husband Larry at Lyle’s Café in Winthrop Minnesota. He later asked her out while she was working at the Drive-In in Gaylord and they were married on July 25, 1970 at St. Willibrord Church in Gibbon. In 1974, they adopted their first son (Lonny) and in 1976 they adopted their second son (Landon). They raised their children in New Ulm. As her children grew up, she attended countless sporting events and was always there to support them and cheer them on. When she wasn’t attending sporting events, she enjoyed gardening, reading, decorating, and spending time with family and friends. She always had a great sense of humor and loved to make people laugh dating back to her early childhood. When she was in grade school, she raised her hand during class and asked the teacher if she could call her mom. She was granted permission, so she went to the window, opened it, and yelled, “Mom!” at the top of her lungs. The entire classroom broke out in laughter. Not exactly what the teacher was expecting.
Linda had many medical challenges throughout her life but was a fighter through it all. She had kidney disease for many years and had started dialysis in 2008. She received a call from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester in April 2008 letting her know that a kidney was available. If she wanted it, she had to be at the Mayo Clinic within a couple hours because the kidney was being flown in from Nebraska. So, they jumped in the pickup and headed for Rochester. Dad had rehearsed his “story” in case they got pulled over on the way. But they made it to Rochester without getting a speeding ticket and Linda had a successful kidney transplant on April 16, 2008. At the time, she was told that she could expect to get approximately seven good years out of her new kidney since it wasn’t provided by a living donor. But thanks to her wonderful medical team at the Mayo Clinic, she beat the odds and was at sixteen years when she died. Her medical situation was further complicated by the diagnosis of squamous cell skin cancer which eventually spread to her lymph nodes. She endured many rounds of chemotherapy and immunotherapy and was a fighter through it all.
Linda was in and out of the hospital several times over the last year and a half. Most recently she was admitted to the Hospital on May 16, 2024 due to a fall. And from there she was transferred to St. John’s Lutheran Home in Springfield Minnesota on May 17, 2024 where she passed away on May 22, 2024.
Despite her medical challenges, she loved life. She loved spending time with her children and grandchildren, family and friends and her bible study group. She was blessed with three wonderful grandchildren (Abby, Ryan and Mya) and one step-grandchild (Kirsten McDonald). She was very proud of them, and she loved them all very much. Linda was a loving wife, a wonderful mother and a good friend to all who knew her. We will all miss her dearly.
The family will be forever grateful to her medical team for those “extra” years that we were able to spend with her. It truly was a blessing. The family is also grateful for her wonderful homecare provider (Melanie Lang) and the team at St. John’s Lutheran Home. She was well cared for
under difficult circ*mstances.
She is survived by her husband, Larry Rathmann; sons, Lonny (Kirsten) Rathmann and Landon Rathmann; daughter-in-law, Michelle Rathmann; grandchildren, Abigail Rathmann, Ryan Rathmann, Mya Rathmann; step-granddaughter, Kirsten McDonald; siblings, Dennis (Kathy) Hemmingsen, Sandy (Tom) Kraemer, Jim (Diane) Hemmingsen, Patty Hemmingsen; other relatives and friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Willard and Genevieve Hemmingsen; sister, LaVonne Brunner; brother, Mark Hemmingsen.
