Minnie (Hoek) Huisken

MIN Huisken was born on Janurary, 16, 1922, in rural Chandler, MN, the youngest of nine children.  She was married on May 22, 1943 to Frederick Huisken.  After WWII, the couple moved to Lake Wilson, MN, where they operated a hardware store until moving to Edgerton where they operated the Hardware Hank store from 1954 until 1981.  Min and Fred had four boys: David, Charles, Steve and Doug.

Min traveled.  As a teenager, she and a group of teens drove to California and back.  At age 88, she was in a van in the orange Utah desert with two of her sons and two grandchildren listening to the MN Twins’ Jim Thome hit his 600th career home run on the satellite radio.  Min traveled to the states of Washington, California, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts.  She rode with family to Arizona, Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota.  Min traveled.  To the Canadian Rockies, to Toronto, to Puerto Rico.  To the Netherlands.  

Min (and Fred) feasted on crab legs and shrimp at the Salad Boat with their son in Philadelphia.  She walked the boardwalk with her sister in-law in Atlantic City.  Min read books to her grandchild in downtown Toronto.  She watched her grandchildren perform in athletics and the arts in Minneapolis.  In Nigeria, she witnessed the tradition of a marriage dowry, a live pig presented by her son to the father of Min’s future daughter in-law.

Min traveled half the world.  

But she did not suffer from wanderlust.  

Home is where the heart is, and for Min, her heart forever belonged to Edgerton.  

Her heart belonged to Edgerton, to First Church, to her siblings, her husband, her children, her cousins, her nieces and nephews, and her grandchildren.  She loved the window next to her lift chair, pondering about the “comings and goings” at what, for her, would always be Clara Beckering’s house.  She loved the bird feeders (even if they attracted sparrows), the butterflies, and the flowers planted by her dear, departed son, outside her window.  She loved watching the Minnesota Twins on television.  Even when they lost, decisively, she’d claim, “They played pretty well.”  

Even in the latter months of her life, with limited mobility, Min would find her portable radio, bring it to her lift chair, tune it, and listen to the Sunday morning and evening services broadcast from her beloved First Church over the air.  

Min loved to sing.  She sang hymns while doing the dishes, while washing clothes, while cooking, and sometimes while riding in the car.  Min loved to eat.  Min loved company and companionship.  But she also loved her solitude.  

Min was loving.  She was kind.  But she couldn’t stop herself from chuckling until her body shook when a loved one lost a round in dominoes.  

Min loved rides, down the Valley Road, to Chandler, to Lake Wilson, to Woodstock.

Min loved her Bible.  Her personal Bible has fallen apart at the spine from use.  Many passages were highlighted: passages of love, acceptance, and the anticipation of endless glory with her Lord God and Savior.

Min’s travels are over.  But her love has traveled the world.  Her love abides.  

She was preceded in death by her husband, Fred, and her son, Steven, and eight siblings.  She is survived by three sons, seven grandchildren, and many nieces, nephews, and second-cousins.

In lieu of flowers, memorials can be contributed to Bread For The World, the Southern Poverty Law Center, or World Renew.

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