Avis June (Thronson) Baldwin

Avis J. Baldwin, age 85, of Luck, passed away on Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2012, at Regions Hospital in St. Paul, MN.

Avis was born on Dec. 20, 1926 in Osseo, WI, the youngest child of Oscar and Magnild (Nygard) Thronson. Her father died when she was still a baby. Her mother moved with her three daughters to Eau Claire when they were young children. Unbeknownst to her, Avis would meet her future husband, Dale Baldwin, when they were both in the junior high school band, in seventh grade. After graduating from Eau Claire High School, Avis joined her sister at La Crosse Normal, now UW-La Crosse, as a physical education major. It was during college, when Dale was in the US Navy, that the two began dating. They were married in Eau Claire in 1950.

Avis taught in the Eau Claire School District, took time off to have three children, moved to Strum, Cadott, and Milltown with Dale’s teaching opportunities, then returned to teaching, this time in the Unity School District in Milltown, teaching phy ed, driver’s ed, and coaching gymnastics and cheerleading. She also taught phy ed in the Unity Middle School and completed her career in education as a teaching assistant in the Unity Elementary School. She and Dale spent their retirement winters in Needles, CA, Havasu City, AZ, and Mission, TX. When Dale passed away in 2003, she returned to Wisconsin for good. She said she missed the snow.

Avis was an avid golfer and was religious about watching it on TV after she could no longer golf herself. Her favorites were Steve Sticker and Tiger Woods. She loved music as much as Dale, and in 2008, celebrated 50 years of singing with the North Valley Lutheran Church choir. She loved watching the Packers and any team that beat the 49ers, and she never missed watching the Olympics or “Dancing with the Stars”. She was extremely proud of her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. As she sang about them, “Somewhere in my youth or childhood, I must have done something good.”

Avis is survived by her children, Bruce (Lori) of Elkhorn, Anne of Highland, and David (Connie) of Waupaca, six grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren; her sisters Eleanor Mallory of Pacific Grove, CA, and Lavon Peffer of Fresno, CA; ten nieces and nephews and their families; her very special friends Kate Kellerman and Lori Warhol of Luck, Pastor Maggie Isaakson of Centuria, and friends in Luck, the Unity School District area, and North Valley Lutheran Church.

A memorial celebration service will be held on Saturday, Dec. 15, at 11:00 AM, at North Valley Lutheran Church, 1988 220^th Ave (HWY G), Centuria, WI. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that if you smoke, you stop. If you know a smoker, get them help. If you are thinking about starting, please don’t. Monetary donations can be made to the North Valley “Good Samaritan Fund”.  

The Kolstad Family Funeral Home of Centuria, WI is assisting the family with arrangements.

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