Gyda Willar
Jan. 30, 1909 - Nov. 24, 2006
WILLMAR -- Gyda Mildred Willar, 97, of Edina died Friday at Bethesda Heritage Center in Willmar.
Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Bethesda Heritage Center Chapel in Willmar. Burial will be at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at Hillside Cemetery in Minneapolis.
Visitation will be for 30 minutes prior to the services at Bethesda Heritage Center. Funeral arrangements are with Peterson Brothers Funeral Home in Willmar.
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She was born on Jan. 30, 1909, in Sunburg to Lewis L. and Louise (Erickson) Bendickson. She attended school in District 56. She moved with her family to Jericho, where her father owned and operated a general store. In her early 20s she moved to Rollo, Mo., and worked as a caregiver. She returned to Minnesota and made her home in Minneapolis. She worked for the Kickernick Company as a seamstress.
She married Harold Torkelson and they lived in Minneapolis. They later started Torks Manufacturing Company. She retired from Kickernick and became bookkeeper for her husband's business. After his death in 1969, she retired and sold the business. In about 1979, she married to Carl Woodrow Willar in Las Vegas. They made their home in Minneapolis during the summers and wintered in Rancho Mirage, Calif. She moved to Willmar in January 2005 and lived at the Bethesda Heritage Center. She was a charter and active member of Minnehaha Communion Lutheran Church and was past president of the guild and had been the oldest member.
She is survived by a sister: Alma Nelson of Willmar; and many nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by five brothers: Lawrence, Walter, Alfred and Elbee Bendickson and one in infancy; and five sisters: Cora, Luella, Bertha, Mabel and Helen.
