Yvonne "Voni" C. Larson

Yvonne "Voni" Larson, 69 year old resident of Little Falls, MN passed away Saturday, November 28, 2020 at her home in Little Falls, MN. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 12:30 P.M. on Friday, December 4, 2020 at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Little Falls, MN with Father Ben Kociemba officiating and Father Timothy Wenzel con-celebrating. Burial will take place in the Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery north of Little Falls, MN. A visitation will be held from 4-7 P.M. on Thursday, December 3, 2020 and from 11:00-12:00 P.M. on Friday at the Shelley Funeral Chapel in Little Falls, MN. The family of Voni asks those attending to please respect and follow COVID-19 guidelines with regards to social distancing and please wear a face covering. To livestream the funeral service you can view at the following links: https://www.facebook.com/littlefallscatholic https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMfIg0_x49U0vQcIeRNUPVg. Funeral arrangements are with the Shelley Funeral Chapel in Little Falls, MN. Our beloved Voni passed away peacefully at home surrounded by her loving family and a personal army of guardian angels. She fought a long battle against cancer with grace, dignity and most of all, a deep unwavering faith in God. If she was asked to pray for someone, you could count on her to add them to her alphabetical list of people she was praying for and to show up as a mighty prayer warrior on their behalf. Voni's prayers could shake mountains. Voni grew up in Pierz, MN on her family farm with loving siblings and devoted parents. When she was a young girl, she spent a year in the Minneapolis Children's Hospital with health issues that doctors said would limit her ability to experience all that life had to offer. Even as a young girl, she trusted in God's ability to perform divine miracles of all shapes and sizes and despite what the doctors said, she went on to become the vivacious, adventurous, purpose-driven educator, wife, mother, and miracle we have all come to love and cherish. The most difficult moments in her life became opportunities to praise God's name and she believed that "what you think about and what you thank about will come about. " Growing up the oldest girl on a farm, she was responsible for house chores and mowing the grass. Her early love for the outdoors and getting her hands dirty carried over into her adult life. She loved gardening in the summer and rarely allowed Steve to mow the yard in her place. Voni loved and lived life to the fullest! She was always up for a biking adventure, hiking the Rim to Rim trail in the Grand Canyon or backpacking for 5 days in Yosemite. Along any trail, if there was a tree that had a "V" formation, you could be sure she was going to climb it! As an educator for 38 years, Voni opened her arms, loving heart and classroom each year to students from a multitude of backgrounds. She used her experience of being told she couldn't/wouldn't as an example of what her students could and would become if they believed in themselves. Her compassion and love for young people made her a favorite teacher to many and allowed her to be impactful in a lot of people's lives. Teaching wasn't just Voni's career, it was her life's passion. Her philosophy as an educator was that "every child should know there is at least one adult who is irrationally crazy about them"... Those who know her can attest that she really was irrationally crazy about all of them. Travel, the outdoors, baking and spending time connecting with people made her happy, but what she really lived for was her family and grandchildren. Whether playing never-ending card games with Steve, spending hours on the phone, in the woods, or on a mountain with her kids; Sitting patiently while her grandchildren fixed her hair; Playing Barbie's, having tea parties, or telling bedtime stories; Voni was an exceptionally outstanding, stupendous, fantastic, radical, loving mother, devoted wife, and the perfect Grandmother. Voni's bright light will be hugely missed by her husband, children and grandchildren, as well as, the many dear friends she's made throughout her beautiful life's journey. The world may have lost a generous soul, but Heaven has gained an outstanding Angel. Voni is survived by husband, Stephen Larson of Little Falls, MN; children, Brett (Stephanie) Larson of West Des Moines, IA, Jesse (Alysa) Larson of Castle Rock, CO, Nicholas Larson of Vail, CO and Danielle Larson and husband Matt Gluesenkamp of Boulder, CO; grandchildren, Kinsley, Hadley, Vivi, Camden, and Makayla; sisters, Cheryl Motschke of St. Cloud, MN and Sandy (Wally) Osterholt of St. Cloud, MN and granddog, Hazel. Voni was preceded in death by parents, Joseph and Leona Motschke; brothers, Eugene and Claude Motschke and infant sister, Lois Motschke.

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Yvonne "Voni" C. Larson

May 27, 1951 - November 28, 2020