Halvor Lacher

Halvor Rykken Lacher died Wednesday, January 26, 2005 at the Winona Community Memorial Hospital in the presence of his family. He was born on October 25, 1918 in Chicago, Illinois to Gilbert and Myrtle Lacher. Halvor spent his boyhood in Port Washington, New York, coming with his brothers to Winona every summer to visit their grandparents. He graduated from Port Washington High School in 1937. He attended Hobart College in Geneva, New York and then worked a year as a seaman on a freighter which traveled around the world. In 1939, Halvor moved to the Winona area for health reasons and started farming. He married Marjorie Haynes of Port Washington on December 28, 1940. They farmed in Witoka and later in Hart Township. As a farmer, Halvor was an early practitioner of soil conservation. He was a member and chairman of the Witoka Calf Show committee, the Witoka Creamery Board, the Winona County Extension Committee and the Clerk of the Hart School District. He was a member for many years and President of the Winona County Farm Bureau and served as a Board Member of the Minnesota Farm Bureau Service Company. In 1967, he became Executive Director of the Southeastern Minnesota Citizen's Action Council (SEMCAC), based in Rushford. He retired from SEMCAC after 21 years in 1988. Halvor was civic-minded into retirement, continuing to be active in the Money Creek Masonic Lodge, the Rushford Eastern Star, the Rushford Lions Club, and the Rushford Presbyterian Church. He was a caregiver for his wife, who had Alzheimer's disease, for 20 years until her death in 1998. He is survived by one son, Gilbert (Cindy) of Rushford; daughter Clare (Lee) Carlson of Pleasanton, California; daughter Katherine O'Brien of Santa Fe, New Mexico; grandchildren Alicia and Eric Lacher; Stephen and Michael (Vanessa) Carlson; and Anne O'Brien. He is also survived by two brothers; Fred (Linda) Lacher of Akron, Ohio and Henry (Violette) Lacher of rural Winona.