Mabel Marie Madsen

Mabel Marie Madsen, the daughter of Anders and Otille (Paulsen) Jensen, was born on March 14, 1927, in Shelby County, near Elk Horn Iowa, and died October, 4, 2018, at the Salem Lutheran Home in Elk Horn, Iowa, at the age of 91 years, 6 months, and 20 days.
Mabel was baptized and confirmed at the Elk Horn Lutheran Church. She attended Clay #5 public school and then graduated from Elk Horn High School with the Class of 1945. She was employed as a waitress at several local cafes, as well as at the Salem Lutheran Home, the Elk Horn Brand Eggs and the Elk Horn-Kimballton schools. She also spent eight years caring for the children of Dean and Carma Hutchins: Cheryl, Bob, Nancy and Teresa.
On September 8, 1946, she was united in marriage to Robert Carl Madsen at the Elk Horn Lutheran Church. They were blessed with two daughters Ellen and Renee.
Mabel was a life-long member of the Elk Horn Lutheran Church. Mabel and Bob were active members in the Danish Brotherhood Lodge and for many years served as treasurer. She especially enjoyed trips to Lodge conferences with Bob and formed friendships with members from other lodges. Mabel and Bob also took pleasure in trips to Montana and Canada to visit relatives, as well as to Branson to catch their favorite shows. North Dakota was another frequent destination for them, visiting friends from Bob’s boyhood.
Mabel enjoyed gardening, especially in her flower gardens; she liked to sew and do counted cross-stitch, but her passion was baking and cooking. Mabel loved making Danish Kransekage, Kringle and other cookies. She enjoyed operating a small business of selling many of her delicious creations for weddings and holiday festivities. Mabel lived in the Elk Horn and Kimballton area all of her life, except during two years she spent living at the Avoca Lodge Assisted Living Center in Avoca, Iowa; Mabel returned to Elk Horn in June 2018 to reside at Salem Lutheran Home.
Preceding her in death were her husband Robert, to whom she was married for almost 70 years; her parents Anders and Otille Jensen; brother Earl and wife Stella Jensen; brother Dale Jensen; mother-in-law and father-in-law Mads and Magrethe Madsen; brothers-in-law Russell Madsen, Ewind Madsen, and Fred and wife Fran Madsen; sisters-in-law Annabelle Madsen and Loretta Madsen; niece Carol Madsen; Mike Laird, husband of Mabel’s niece Linda Laird; and family friend Nancy (Hutchins) Wanniger.
Survivors include her daughters Ellen Kay and husband Gerald Timothy Eifert of Fremont, Nebraska and Renee Eileen Madsen of Omaha, Nebraska; her brother Glenn and wife Marjorie Jensen of Marion, Iowa; brothers-in-law Earl Madsen of Atlantic, Iowa, and Lester “Don” Madsen of Torrance, Calif.; along with many nieces, nephews and friends.
The family will meet with friends on Friday morning, October 12, 2018 from 9:30 a.m. until the time of the service at the Elk Horn Lutheran Church. The Celebration of Life Memorial Service will be conducted by Pastor Keith Menter on Friday morning, October 12, 2018, at 10:30 a.m. at the Elk Horn Lutheran Church in Elk Horn, Iowa. Inurnment will be in the Elk Horn Lutheran Cemetery. Honorary pallbearers will be Sherry Jensen, Bruce Jensen, Laura Machado, Jill Jensen, Reid Jensen, Heidi Jensen, and the Hutchins children: Cheryl Christiansen, Bob Hutchins, and Teresa McLaughlin.