Yvonne Janet Lynnes Drege, the daughter of John and Ingeborg (Braterud) Lynnes, was born in Rolette, ND, on January 27, 1932. She died at the age of 91 on April 28, 2023, in Minneapolis, MN.
She was the oldest of 9 siblings and due to harsh farm winters, stayed with her Aunt Pauline in town for several of her school years. She was baptized at rural Ox Creek Lutheran Church and confirmed at Ebenezer Lutheran Church. She noted with gratitude that she began to work at her beloved Myhre’s General Store in Rolette at age 13, continuing to work there until graduating from Rolette High School in 1950.
Yvonne began her nurses’ training at Good Samaritan Hospital in Rugby, ND, with additional training at Minot State and internships in St. Paul, MN, and Cook County Hospital in Chicago, IL, forging lifelong friendships with her nursing classmates. She graduated with her RN degree in 1954 and began her nursing career in Rugby where she met her future husband Allen G. Drege. They were united in marriage on July 28, 1957, at First Lutheran Church in Rugby and were married for 59 years. After their wedding they moved to Rolla, ND, where Yvonne was active at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church and worked as a nurse in the emergency room in Belcourt, ND. She loved being a nurse and caring for others. In 1966 she moved with her growing family to Minot, ND, where she and her husband together raised four children. She reentered the nursing profession working with the developmentally disabled at REM and continued her involvement in the Good Samaritan Nurses Alumni Association. She was active in her children’s various activities, music boosters, the Red Cross, Scouts, and Christ Lutheran Church where she served as a volunteer parish nurse, the funeral committee co-chair, and a member of the prayer chain.
She was adventurous, enjoying trips with her husband to numerous countries and water skiing into her 70’s. She loved traveling to see her children and grandchildren and relished having all her family around the dining table. She felt lucky to be part of a vibrant neighborhood on 8th Ave. N.W. in Minot. Yvonne did not like saying good-bye and was usually the last person out of church and any family gathering and kept family and friends connected with her own dedicated telephone line. She was a memory maker- both in the stories she told and the stories she engendered. She especially advocated for the underdog and the marginalized.
Yvonne is survived by four Children: Marsh (Ann Siegle Drege) of New York; Lance (Karen Beres) of Winston-Salem, NC; Sara Tinsman (Hovey) of Davenport, IA, and Steven of Mexico City, Mexico; three Grandchildren: Josef, Skye, and Annika Tinsman, and siblings Sandra Metz, David (Miriam) Lynnes and Roxanne Mott; sisters-in-law Avis O’Connell and Jacquelyn Lynnes, family friend Toni Sims, and numerous beloved nephews and nieces. She was preceded in death by her husband, Allen, parents, infant sister Marie, brothers Lester and Donovan Lynnes, sisters Lola Hanson, Jeanine Aarhus, Mildred Monson, as well as in-laws Orlin (Bill) Hanson, David Aarhus, Raymond Monson, Gordon Metz, Robert Mott, Lester and Helen Drege and Alice and Raymond Krogstad.
Though dementia took her memory, Yvonne delighted in the care, cards, prayers and visits of all who remembered her.
Funeral service: Saturday, May 6, at 1:00 p.m., Christ Lutheran Church, Minot, with a visitation hour preceding the service at 12:00 p.m. and a time to greet and share for friends and family at 11:00 a.m. To share memories and condolences access her obituary at www.thomasfamilyfuneralhome.com. Interment will be at Persilla Watts cemetery, Rugby, ND, May 8th at 11:00 a.m.
Memorials are preferred to Christ Lutheran Church, Minot, Metigoshe Ministries, or to the donor’s choice.
