Obituary of Avis Hachmeister

A funeral service will be held Thursday, January 17, 2013 at 11:00am at United Methodist Church in Spirit Lake. Memorials may be directed to the family in lieu of flowers. Avis Hachmeister the daughter of Fred and Bessie Dowden, was born on January 19, 1912 in Gruver, Iowa. The family moved to Spirit Lake and Avis completed her education and worked in her father's office until her marriage. On June 1, 1934 she was married to Francis Hachmeister at Rochester, MN and to this union one daughter was born, Ann Olson of Spirit Lake, IA. Avis and Francis lived in Spirit Lake until 1948 when they moved to South Dakota and farmed there for 10 years. After returning to Spirit Lake they bought the Lakes Hotel in 1964 which they ran for 10 years before retiring to an acreage West of town. Avis was a member of the United Methodist Church and active in circle and Bible studies until recent years. She was a member of the Senior Center and enjoyed her friends and especially jig-saw puzzling there. She is survived by her daughter Ann of Spirit Lake, two sisters Opal McDaniel of Jonesboro, AR and Ellene Jensen of Brookings, SD and her brother Fred Dowden of Spirit Lake, IA. She also had 4 grand children, Bill of Carmichael, CA, David, Kathleen, and Stewart of Brookings, SD., seven great grandchildren, and 5 great great grandchildren and many nieces. Avis was preceded in death by her parents Fred and Bessie Dowden, her husband Francis and one grand-daughter, Elizabeth Olson.