Hertha Larsen

Funeral services for Hertha Larsen will be held at 11:00 a.m., Friday, May 27, 2011 at Trinity Lutheran Church with Pastor Jared Tucher officiating. Burial will follow in Pleasant Valley Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 4:00-7:00 p.m., Thursday, May 26, 2011 at Gillette Memorial Chapel. Hertha Larsen, age 97, of Rozet, Wyoming, died Monday, May 23, 2011 at Pioneer Manor in Gillette, Wyoming of natural causes. Hertha Larsen was born May 8, 1914 at home in rural Crook County to Alex and Anna (Saar) Semlek, the first of five children. She attended rural schools through 8th grade and graduated from Campbell County High School in l930. While she attended high school she took the Normal Training classes and began an elementary teaching career upon her graduation which spanned a period of 31 years. She began teaching in rural schools in Campbell and Crook county, Jireh and Torrington, Wyoming with a break of one year when she attended the University of Wyoming full time. In l944, she moved to Vancouver, Washington and worked in the office in the Shipyards for one year during WW II and then taught for one year in Vancouver. On returning back to Wyoming, she began teaching in Gillette, Wyoming and attending summer school at Black Hills State and the University of Wyoming, graduating from the University in 1950 . Hertha married George L. Larsen on June 3, l951 and they settled on the Larsen ranch northeast of Rozet, Wyoming, raising two sets of twins. Hertha returned to teaching in Gillette in 1964, and retired in 1979. She enjoyed retirement to the fullest, working in her flower and vegetable gardens and her Thursday painting classes at the Senior Center. The highlight of her later years was a trip in l995, to Estonia, the birthplace of her dad and mother. Hertha was a devoted life long member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Gillette, Wyoming, where she taught Sunday School and Vacation Bible School. She was a member of the Lutheran Women's Missionary League and in her later years, enjoyed sewing lap quilts for the church. Heartha is survived by her husband of 60 years, George of Rozet, Wyoming; daughters: Ann (John) Shellhart of Cheyenne, Wyoming and Diann (Matt) Avery of Rozet, Wyoming; sons: Don (Sheila) Larsen of Gillette, Wyoming and Dan Larsen of Denver, Colorado; brother, William Semlek of Rozet, Wyoming; five grandchildren: Autumn (Tommy) Earhart, Sarah (Matt)Shellhart, Tina (Marty) Graham, Chris Larsen, Lindsay Larsen and Travis Larsen, and six great grandchildren: Selby and Delcy Graham, Alexis and Christian McGregor, Austin Newson and Dacian Larsen; and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, her brothers, Robert and Frank Semlek and sister, Erna McCaughin. Memorials are suggested in Hertha's name to benefit Trinity Lutheran Church, Pioneer Manor Nursing Home or the Senior Citizen's Center. Memorials and condolences may be sent in care of Gillette Memorial Chapel, 210 W. 5th Street, Gillette, Wyoming 82716 or condolences via the internet at www.gillettememorialchapel.com. Funeral Home:Gillette Memorial Chapel210 West Fifth Street Gillette, WYUS 82716