Rachel A. Tuura

Rachel A. Tuura, 86, of Esko, Minn., died Sunday, Feb. 28, 2010, in St. Luke’s Hospital, Duluth, Minn. Born in 1923 in Rensselaer, Ind., Rachel was the daughter of Clifford and Grace Elrod. Rachel lived in Remington, Ind., until she married Clarence Tuura on May 10, 1944, in Cloquet. She lived most of her married life in Esko. Rachel worked as a Home Health Aid for Carlton County. She started nurses training in 1944, but didn’t finish until 1981 when she graduated with her LPN nursing degree from WITC in Superior. Rachel loved to work with her hands doing sewing, knitting and crocheting, always having some needles in her hands. She also loved to travel to see her children and grandchildren.

Rachel was a member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Cloquet for over 50 years where she was a member of St. Paul’s Martha Guild and where she unselfishly volunteered for the church and for St. Paul’s Academy. She was a member of Esko Lions Club, TOPS, Red Hats, Esko Senior Citizens, Cloquet Hospital Auxiliary, DAR Daughters of Liberty Chapter, and the Finlandia Beach Club.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Clarence, on April 29, 1986; her parents; her brother John Elrod; and her sister, Esther Diaz.

Survivors include her six children, Katherine (Don) Loban of Moose Lake, Minn., Randall (Susan) Tuura of Esko, Susan (Donn) Nelson of Hastings, Minn., Carl (Doris) Tuura of Plymouth, Minn., Larry Tuura (Ron Dingmann) of Minneapolis, Minn., and Pastor Thomas (Judy) Tuura of St. James, Minn.; 15 grandchildren; two step-grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; and her brother Roy Elrod of Austin, Texas.

Visitation will be held Friday, March 5, from 5-7 p.m. in Atkins-Northland Funeral Home, 801 14th St., Cloquet. Visitation will continue Saturday, March 6, from noon until the 1 p.m. funeral service in St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Cloquet. Burial will be in Maple Grove Cemetery, Cloquet.

Memorials may be made to Community Memorial Hospital Auxiliary.

To sign the online guest book, see www.atkinsnorthlandfuneralhome.com. Arrangements entrusted to Atkins-Northland Funeral Home, Cloquet, 218-879-7184.

March 4, 2010 ~ Pine Journal, Cloquet, Minn.