Vivian Ione Torkildson of Bagley, Minnesota, passed away at the age of 91, March 8, 2022 at the Bagley Cornerstone Nursing and Rehab Center. A memorial service will be held for Vivian at the Calvary Evangelical Free Church in Bagley, MN on Saturday, April 30, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. with a visitation one hour prior to the service.
Vivian was born to Gus and Ethel Torkildson at their farm home in Minerva Township, south of Bagley on October 13, 1930. She was the youngest of 4 children – Enid (Garrett) Benson, Jean (Vernon) Hallan, and Keith Torkildson. She lived in Minerva Township and attended school there until the middle of eighth grade, when the family moved to Bagley. She graduated from Bagley High School in 1948.
She then went on to Northwestern Bible Institute( now Northwestern University) and received a 4-year degree in Mission studies. Vivian spent the next four years working as a release-time Bible teacher and in youth ministries at Oak Hills Fellowship in Bemidji. She then went to Mayville State in North Dakota for a year and received a teaching certificate.
Growing up, as a young child, Vivian's family was not involved in a church, but when she was about six, a Sunday School teacher came to the area and held Sunday School in the various homes and yards. The lady had been a missionary to China and made a great impression on Vivian. As Vivian tells it, "I was fascinated with the Bible stories and all that I was learning about God and his love for me. When I was 11 years old, I invited Jesus to be my Savior, and it was then that I realized a responsibility to take that Good News to others." Thus began her journey in missions.
She went to Costa Rica in 1957, where she taught a bi-lingual school for two years and studied Spanish on the side. She then joined CAM International (now Avant). She spent 18 years in Minos de Oro, a small mountain village in Honduras, at a mission boarding school. She went on to Choluteca, where she worked in child evangelism in the local churches, and was very involved in refugee work during the Civil War in Nicaragua. Before she retired, she was in Teguciagalpa, where she was involved in starting new churches, and was a hostess in a guest house, for pastors and missionaries.
In a letter, that her mother had written to a friend, she said this, "I can hardly bear to think of her going back this time, but I know the Lord uses her mightily in Honduras." That was Vivian's call, to be a servant to those around her. And so, when she retired in 1995 and returned to Bagley, she continued in her work – as a part-time Chaplain at the Greensview Care Center, a guest speaker at various groups and at Oak Hills, and as a member of Calvary Church and as the treasurer there for several years. She was very active in community activities – teaching Spanish for Community Ed., ministering at the county jail, and the Community Center as treasurer. She befriended and helped acclimate a couple of refugee families that settled in the Bagley area. In 2006, she was selected as Bagley's Woman of the Year for her many contributions to the Bagley community.
Vivian is preceded in death by her mother, father, and sisters and brother. She is survived by her nephews, Jim Hallan, David Hallan, Stephen Hallan, Paul Benson, and nieces, Mary Daniels, Lois Parsons, Sharon Bury, and Judith Olson, and several great nieces and nephews.
Vivian will be remembered as Tia Viviana, Aunt Vivian to the many young children she loved in Honduras and in the Bagley area. She was strong, giving of herself, enjoyable to be around, and admired by those who knew her. We have been honored to have Vivian in our lives, and to have shared in her life.
Psalm 73: 23, 26 Yet I still belong to you; ….My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.
Vivian was born to Gus and Ethel Torkildson at their farm home in Minerva Township, south of Bagley on October 13, 1930. She was the youngest of 4 children – Enid (Garrett) Benson, Jean (Vernon) Hallan, and Keith Torkildson. She lived in Minerva Township and attended school there until the middle of eighth grade, when the family moved to Bagley. She graduated from Bagley High School in 1948.
She then went on to Northwestern Bible Institute( now Northwestern University) and received a 4-year degree in Mission studies. Vivian spent the next four years working as a release-time Bible teacher and in youth ministries at Oak Hills Fellowship in Bemidji. She then went to Mayville State in North Dakota for a year and received a teaching certificate.
Growing up, as a young child, Vivian's family was not involved in a church, but when she was about six, a Sunday School teacher came to the area and held Sunday School in the various homes and yards. The lady had been a missionary to China and made a great impression on Vivian. As Vivian tells it, "I was fascinated with the Bible stories and all that I was learning about God and his love for me. When I was 11 years old, I invited Jesus to be my Savior, and it was then that I realized a responsibility to take that Good News to others." Thus began her journey in missions.
She went to Costa Rica in 1957, where she taught a bi-lingual school for two years and studied Spanish on the side. She then joined CAM International (now Avant). She spent 18 years in Minos de Oro, a small mountain village in Honduras, at a mission boarding school. She went on to Choluteca, where she worked in child evangelism in the local churches, and was very involved in refugee work during the Civil War in Nicaragua. Before she retired, she was in Teguciagalpa, where she was involved in starting new churches, and was a hostess in a guest house, for pastors and missionaries.
In a letter, that her mother had written to a friend, she said this, "I can hardly bear to think of her going back this time, but I know the Lord uses her mightily in Honduras." That was Vivian's call, to be a servant to those around her. And so, when she retired in 1995 and returned to Bagley, she continued in her work – as a part-time Chaplain at the Greensview Care Center, a guest speaker at various groups and at Oak Hills, and as a member of Calvary Church and as the treasurer there for several years. She was very active in community activities – teaching Spanish for Community Ed., ministering at the county jail, and the Community Center as treasurer. She befriended and helped acclimate a couple of refugee families that settled in the Bagley area. In 2006, she was selected as Bagley's Woman of the Year for her many contributions to the Bagley community.
Vivian is preceded in death by her mother, father, and sisters and brother. She is survived by her nephews, Jim Hallan, David Hallan, Stephen Hallan, Paul Benson, and nieces, Mary Daniels, Lois Parsons, Sharon Bury, and Judith Olson, and several great nieces and nephews.
Vivian will be remembered as Tia Viviana, Aunt Vivian to the many young children she loved in Honduras and in the Bagley area. She was strong, giving of herself, enjoyable to be around, and admired by those who knew her. We have been honored to have Vivian in our lives, and to have shared in her life.
Psalm 73: 23, 26 Yet I still belong to you; ….My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.
Vivian Ione Torkildson of Bagley, Minnesota, passed away at the age of 91, March 8, 2022 at the Bagley Cornerstone Nursing and Rehab Center. A memorial service will be held for Vivian at the Calvary Evangelical Free Church in Bagley, MN on Saturday, April 30, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. with a visitation one hour prior to the service.
Vivian was born to Gus and Ethel Torkildson at their farm home in Minerva Township, south of Bagley on October 13, 1930. She was the youngest of 4 children – Enid (Garrett) Benson, Jean (Vernon) Hallan, and Keith Torkildson. She lived in Minerva Township and attended school there until the middle of eighth grade, when the family moved to Bagley. She graduated from Bagley High School in 1948.
She then went on to Northwestern Bible Institute( now Northwestern University) and received a 4-year degree in Mission studies. Vivian spent the next four years working as a release-time Bible teacher and in youth ministries at Oak Hills Fellowship in Bemidji. She then went to Mayville State in North Dakota for a year and received a teaching certificate.
Growing up, as a young child, Vivian's family was not involved in a church, but when she was about six, a Sunday School teacher came to the area and held Sunday School in the various homes and yards. The lady had been a missionary to China and made a great impression on Vivian. As Vivian tells it, "I was fascinated with the Bible stories and all that I was learning about God and his love for me. When I was 11 years old, I invited Jesus to be my Savior, and it was then that I realized a responsibility to take that Good News to others." Thus began her journey in missions.
She went to Costa Rica in 1957, where she taught a bi-lingual school for two years and studied Spanish on the side. She then joined CAM International (now Avant). She spent 18 years in Minos de Oro, a small mountain village in Honduras, at a mission boarding school. She went on to Choluteca, where she worked in child evangelism in the local churches, and was very involved in refugee work during the Civil War in Nicaragua. Before she retired, she was in Teguciagalpa, where she was involved in starting new churches, and was a hostess in a guest house, for pastors and missionaries.
In a letter, that her mother had written to a friend, she said this, "I can hardly bear to think of her going back this time, but I know the Lord uses her mightily in Honduras." That was Vivian's call, to be a servant to those around her. And so, when she retired in 1995 and returned to Bagley, she continued in her work – as a part-time Chaplain at the Greensview Care Center, a guest speaker at various groups and at Oak Hills, and as a member of Calvary Church and as the treasurer there for several years. She was very active in community activities – teaching Spanish for Community Ed., ministering at the county jail, and the Community Center as treasurer. She befriended and helped acclimate a couple of refugee families that settled in the Bagley area. In 2006, she was selected as Bagley's Woman of the Year for her many contributions to the Bagley community.
Vivian is preceded in death by her mother, father, and sisters and brother. She is survived by her nephews, Jim Hallan, David Hallan, Stephen Hallan, Paul Benson, and nieces, Mary Daniels, Lois Parsons, Sharon Bury, and Judith Olson, and several great nieces and nephews.
Vivian will be remembered as Tia Viviana, Aunt Vivian to the many young children she loved in Honduras and in the Bagley area. She was strong, giving of herself, enjoyable to be around, and admired by those who knew her. We have been honored to have Vivian in our lives, and to have shared in her life.
Psalm 73: 23, 26 Yet I still belong to you; ….My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.
Vivian was born to Gus and Ethel Torkildson at their farm home in Minerva Township, south of Bagley on October 13, 1930. She was the youngest of 4 children – Enid (Garrett) Benson, Jean (Vernon) Hallan, and Keith Torkildson. She lived in Minerva Township and attended school there until the middle of eighth grade, when the family moved to Bagley. She graduated from Bagley High School in 1948.
She then went on to Northwestern Bible Institute( now Northwestern University) and received a 4-year degree in Mission studies. Vivian spent the next four years working as a release-time Bible teacher and in youth ministries at Oak Hills Fellowship in Bemidji. She then went to Mayville State in North Dakota for a year and received a teaching certificate.
Growing up, as a young child, Vivian's family was not involved in a church, but when she was about six, a Sunday School teacher came to the area and held Sunday School in the various homes and yards. The lady had been a missionary to China and made a great impression on Vivian. As Vivian tells it, "I was fascinated with the Bible stories and all that I was learning about God and his love for me. When I was 11 years old, I invited Jesus to be my Savior, and it was then that I realized a responsibility to take that Good News to others." Thus began her journey in missions.
She went to Costa Rica in 1957, where she taught a bi-lingual school for two years and studied Spanish on the side. She then joined CAM International (now Avant). She spent 18 years in Minos de Oro, a small mountain village in Honduras, at a mission boarding school. She went on to Choluteca, where she worked in child evangelism in the local churches, and was very involved in refugee work during the Civil War in Nicaragua. Before she retired, she was in Teguciagalpa, where she was involved in starting new churches, and was a hostess in a guest house, for pastors and missionaries.
In a letter, that her mother had written to a friend, she said this, "I can hardly bear to think of her going back this time, but I know the Lord uses her mightily in Honduras." That was Vivian's call, to be a servant to those around her. And so, when she retired in 1995 and returned to Bagley, she continued in her work – as a part-time Chaplain at the Greensview Care Center, a guest speaker at various groups and at Oak Hills, and as a member of Calvary Church and as the treasurer there for several years. She was very active in community activities – teaching Spanish for Community Ed., ministering at the county jail, and the Community Center as treasurer. She befriended and helped acclimate a couple of refugee families that settled in the Bagley area. In 2006, she was selected as Bagley's Woman of the Year for her many contributions to the Bagley community.
Vivian is preceded in death by her mother, father, and sisters and brother. She is survived by her nephews, Jim Hallan, David Hallan, Stephen Hallan, Paul Benson, and nieces, Mary Daniels, Lois Parsons, Sharon Bury, and Judith Olson, and several great nieces and nephews.
Vivian will be remembered as Tia Viviana, Aunt Vivian to the many young children she loved in Honduras and in the Bagley area. She was strong, giving of herself, enjoyable to be around, and admired by those who knew her. We have been honored to have Vivian in our lives, and to have shared in her life.
Psalm 73: 23, 26 Yet I still belong to you; ….My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.
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