The funeral service for Mary Ellen Gjerdingen will be at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, March 20, at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Plainview with Pastor Phil Augustine officiating.  Burial will follow the service in the Elgin Cemetery in Elgin.

Mary Ellen Gjerdingen, 78 of Rochester and formerly of Elgin and Plainview, passed away Wednesday, March 11, 2020 at Rochester East Health Care in Rochester.  She was born September 2, 1941 in Longwood, Clark County, Wisconsin to Einer and Inga (Rasmussen) Larsen.

Mary Ellen married Allen Fravert on October 10, 1959.  They farmed, later moving into Greenwood, Wisconsin and then to Plainview, Minnesota.  They later divorced.  Mary Ellen married Richard Gjerdingen and lived in Elgin, Minnesota.  Richard passed away in February 2014. Mary Ellen worked in the Chiropractic offices and was a nursing assistant in care facilities.

Mary Ellen is survived by three children, Larry, Karen and Carol; her sisters, Sylvia Timmler of Milwaukee, WI, and Gladys Zuehlke of Loyal, WI; her brother, Ken Larsen of Wausau, WI; she is also survived by her special friends, Mary and John Engen, Aaron, Deanne & Emma Engen and Alisha Engen, her brother-in-law, David and Jane Gjerdingen, and her dear best friend, Lucille Poppel.

Friends and family may visit one hour prior to the service at the church on Friday.