Ardis Virginia Keene was born on January 17, 1913, in a sod house near Scranton, ND, where her parents, Harry and Eleanor (Ross) Keene had established a homestead. In the next few years the family moved to Lemmon, SD, then Annandale, MN, and finally Kimball, MN, where Ardis graduated from high school in 1929. After graduation, Ardis obtained a teaching certificate from Miss Wood's Kindergarten and Primary Training School in Minneapolis. Her first teaching position was in Wood Lake, MN, where she met Ross Frederickson, a young secondary school teacher. The couple married on June 26, 1937 in Cosmos, MN, and made their home in Hector, where Ross was teaching school. In 1945, the family moved to Okabena, where Ross began working at the bank with his father Sam. They lived in Okabena until 1980, when they moved to a tree farm near Bovey, MN and in 1991, moved to Worthington. Ross passed away in 1999, and Ardis remained in Worthington for the next three years, moving to assisted living in Crystal, MN in May of 2003. In October of 2006, she moved to Colonial Acres Nursing Home in Golden Valley, MN. In the early years of her marriage, Ardis belonged to many organizations such as PTA, Mothers Singers, Jackson County Home Project, and Windom Concert Association. She assisted with immunization, vision and hearing clinics in the public schools as part of the Jackson County Nurses Auxiliary, and was a "pink lady" at the Lakefield Hospital. She was an accomplished soloist who often sang at weddings and led community songfests, and for many years, was director of the Okabena Methodist Church choir. Ardis was Past Patron of Chapter No. 185 of the Order of the Eastern Star, and a life long member of the Methodist Church. She and her husband Ross provided their family with a variety of experiences through education and travel, to foster in them a life long love of learning. Ardis passed away on Friday morning November 16, 2007 at the Colonial Acres Health Care Center in Golden Valley, MN. She was 94 years, 9 months and 30 days old. Ardis is survived by two sons, Gary Frederickson of Minneapolis, Neil (Deb) Frederickson of Fargo, N.D.; three daughters, Judith (Sam) Gerrish of River Falls, WI, Susan (Jacob) Jurisz of The Villages, FL and Karen Frederickson of Minneapolis; five grandchildren, Anne, David, Andrew, Jennifer and Rachel and three great-grandchildren, Lilly, Quinn and Maggie. Ardis was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Ross; and her two sisters, Eleanor Wilson and Jenness Ellestad of Gastonia, NC. Funeral service will be Wednesday Nov. 21, 2007 at the United Methodist Church in Lakefield, MN. Burial will be in the Lakefield cemetery.

Published on November 20, 2007

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