Obituary for Fernanda Esther (Diersen) Loeffler

Fernanda was born on October 30, 1934, in Caledonia to Paul and Esther (Meyer) Diersen. She attended country grade school and graduated from Caledonia High School in 1951.

On February 3, 1952, she married the love of her life, Gerald Loeffler. They worked together to build their dairy, hog, and chicken farm. She was a wonderful homemaker and enjoyed gardening, baking, crafts, and sewing. In particular, she was known for her family roast beef dinners. She made sure everyone had enough to eat and took extra care in making sure meals were perfect. Gerald and Fernanda enjoyed going to polka dances and were members of the Skyliners Polka Club. You could also find them playing euchre every chance they had. She was a hardworking, caring, loving mom, grandma, and friend.

She was a lifelong member of St John’s Ev. Lutheran Church where she was baptized and confirmed. At the age of 12, Pastor Karl A. Gurgel taught her to play the organ and she became the church organist. She was an active member of Ladies Aide and enjoyed singing in choir. She also worked as a secretary at the John Rippe Law Office before having children.

Fernanda is survived by her loving husband, Gerald, of 73 years; their 3 children, Karen (Terry) Coberley of Bay City, MI, Debra (Dale) Crist of Winona, MN, and Dean (Ledi) Loeffler of West Salem, WI; 10 grandchildren, Jeremy (Jenn) Coberley, David (Melissa) Coberley, Sarah (Jason) Zielinski, Dan (Layla) Coberley, Anthony (Sarah) Rostvold, Ryan (Kelly) Rostvold Streiff, Andrew (Kate) Loeffler, Eric (Nina) Loeffler, Kevin (Jen) Loeffler, and Craig (Katelyn) Loeffler; 3 step-grandchildren, Mitch (Danielle) Berg, Rachel (Jared) Bungartz, and Tony (Haley) Berg; 21 great-grandchildren; 6 step-great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents; older brother and sister-in-law, Donald and Alice Diersen; younger brother, Marcus Diersen; brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Leland and Doris Loeffler; and brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Herman and Eileen Blegen.

The Loeffler family would like to thank the entire staff of Claddagh Senior Living for the awesome care given to Mom over the past four years. They became like family. We would also like to recognize the excellent care from St. Croix Hospice over the past several months. Mom was truly blessed with the care she received.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00 AM on Monday, June 16, at St John’s Ev. Lutheran Church, 650 N. Kingston Street, Caledonia, MN. Rev. Tom Schultz will officiate. Burial will follow at Evergreen Cemetery. A visitation at the church will be held from 9:00 AM until the time of service. In lieu of flowers, the family prefers memorials to St John’s Lutheran Church or St John’s Lutheran Grade School.

Online condolences may be offered on this site.