Audrey Skaug

BALATON — Services for Audrey Skaug, 96, of Balaton and formerly Russell, at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at Sillerud Lutheran Church in Balaton. Visitation will be from 4–7 p.m. Monday at Sillerud Lutheran Church in Balaton. A prayer service will follow at 7 p.m. Burial will follow at the Sillerud Lutheran Church Cemetery in Balaton. Hartquist Funeral Home – Tyler Chapel has been entrusted with arrangements.

Audrey passed away peacefully in her sleep Wednesday, Dec. 11, 2019, at the Avera Marshall Regional Medical Center in Marshall, after a bout of pneumonia.

AUDREY SKAUG was born March 17, 1923, to Joseph and Lucy (Przymus) Kwasigroch on a farm in Limestone Township near Ivanhoe. As a young girl, she and her siblings adopted the English version, Squashingroff, as their surname. She was baptized, received her First Holy Communion, and was confirmed at St. John’s Cantius Church in Wilno. Later in life, she became a member of the Sillerud Lutheran Church near Balaton. She attended country school near her home and graduated from the Ivanhoe High School in 1939. She continued her education by attending the Ivanhoe Teacher’s Training Department and taught school in Lyon County. During World War II she spent a year in St. Paul working at the Holman Airport doing defense work. On Feb. 5, 1944, she was united marriage to Charles Skaug of Balaton. Two daughters and one son, Judy Baumann, Terry Skaug, and Lori Grant, were born to this union. They lived on a nearby farm for two years. In 1946, they moved onto the family farm and in 1967, they moved to Russell. Audrey was employed by Lyon County Rural Schools, the Russell School, as a teacher’s aide, and for six years at the Louis Weiner Memorial Hospital as an executive housekeeper. At that time, she earned her certification as a rooms division executive and was employed for 25 years at the Best Western Marshall Inn. She retired in 1998.

Audrey enjoyed collecting antique glassware and made many hand quilted quilts. She became involved in making hand pieced table runners and was seen at many craft shows for several years. She was a member of the Get Together Study Club and attended classes at Senior College at SMSU.

In 2012, Audrey moved to Balaton to be near to the Colonial Manor where her husband was a resident. He preceded her in death on April 13, 2013. She continued to live independently in her apartment in Balaton until Dec. 12, 2018, when she became a resident of the Morningside Heights Care Center in Marshall.

She is survived by her children, Judy (James) Baumann of Hastings, Terry Skaug of Slayton and Lori (Greg) Grant of Russell; five grandchildren, Suzanne (Bob Morin) Baumann, Gina (Cody) Tusberg, Michael (Molly) Baumann, Lacey (Mike) Sanow, and Glen (Trisha) Grant; and eight great-grandchildren, Summer Tusberg, Sawyer Baumann, Lainey Tusberg, Riggs Tusberg, Bridger Baumann, Brantlee Grant, Lydia Sanow, Stella Audrey Morin, and two identical twin boys expected in January; and sister, Maxine Jerzek of Columbia Heights, Minnesota.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Charles; her parents; and siblings, Stella, Walter, and Dorence.