Dorathea Elaine Sutter

DORATHEA ELAINE SUTTER passed away peacefully June 27th at Kingsley Shores Memory Care in Lakeville, MN.

Dorathea was born to Ben and Hazelle (Lorenz) Borchardt January 13, 1927 in Morristown, MN. She attended Morristown public school and Bethlehem Lutheran Church where she was baptized and confirmed. Among her fond childhood memories were spending time with friends and taking road trips with her family to visit relatives while singing all the way as a family.

In high school, her family moved to south Minneapolis and she graduated from South High in 1945. Since her parents had divorced there was no money for college, so she continued to work at Sears on Lake Street. Her oldest sister was already married and living in Morristown, so she invited her two sisters to come down to a dance at Jewitt’s Point on Cannon Lake. Beverly and Doarathea met two young men who were also best friends. The foursome married; Beverly to Marvin Wadd and Dorathea to Alvin Lee. They lived on farms one mile apart. Dorathea and Alvin were married at St. James Lutheran Church in South Minneapolis in1946; to their union one daughter, Cheryl, was born in 1947. Unfortunately, complications of diabetes took Alvin’s vision and, ultimately, his life in 1953. Determined to stay on the farm, Dorathea met Raymond Sutter, a neighbor, and they married October 1,1954 at the Little Brown Church in the Vale in Nashau, Iowa. They were committed to farming and built a successful life together. They worked pea and corn packs at Birds Eye to supplement their income, and Ray eventually worked in Owatonna building Mustangs. Dorathea took accounting classes at Mankato State which enabled her to move from receptionist to bookkeeper for the Waseca Schools. She was a perfectionist and would stay until the books reconciled to the penny. Eventually, she was recruited to manage the Waseca License Bureau and that is where she completed her career, retiring in 1992. The RV was already packed and they left immediately for three months in Arizona at Ray’s brother’s home. They parked their motorhome on their lot, and Gene would often appear at the door with a freshly picked lemon and tell Dorathea “I think it’s time for lemon pie!” She was happy to bake it!

After Gene’s death they spent many more winters in the Rio Grande Valley in south Texas. They had many friends from their Winnebago RV clubs in Minnesota who also wintered there. Life included golfing, going out to eat, shopping in Mexico, lots of bean bag toss, card games, Bingo, and shuffleboard for Ray while Dorathea went swimming and did crafts. She especially enjoyed doing Norwegian Hardanger.

Back in MN for the rest of the year found Ray and Dorathea camping every weekend with one of the four WIT (Winnebego International Travelers) clubs and coming home to take care of the garden, flower beds and lawn before they packed for the next weekend which always started on Thursday and ended after breakfast on Sunday. In the fall they enjoyed Halloween, decorating pumpkins for the neighbor children, fixing Thanksgiving dinner and enjoying Christmas holidays with the family.

At North Waseca Lutheran Church, Dorathea was involved in teaching Sunday School for many years and the Hope Circle. She also belonged to two bridge groups, and for years swam at the school pool before going to work. She loved gardening, canning, cooking and baking. She was known for her pies; every Christmas morning she and Cheryl would make 6 pies for the large noon family dinner at her sister, Donna’s home.

Dorathea was preceded in death by her parents, stepfather George Weihn, sisters Donna Dahle of Morristown and Beverly (Marvin) Wadd of Waseca, one niece, Nancy Spalinger from Seattle, grand-nephew, Jeff Dahle of Morristown, and grandson, Sean Forrest, of Kent, WA.

Dorathea is survived by one daughter, Cheryl, (Dan) of Waseca, one granddaughter, Meghan (Yuuki Metreaud) Forrest of Burnsville and their two children, Izumi and Tatsuho. Sean’s daughter, Nichole Kaylynn Forrest of Valley Center, KS also survives as well as her brother, Dan (Pat) Borchardt of Oregon as well as many nieces, nephews and other relatives and friends.

We want to express thanks to the loving care she received for the past 3 1/2 years at Kingsley Shores Memory Care in Lakeville and, most recently, for the additional support provided by MN Hospice.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to North Waseca Cemetery for the perpetual care of the grounds, or to the donor’s favorite charity.

Dorathea will be remembered for her quick wit, creativity, and ready smile! She had a strong faith which carried her through the rough times as well as the happy times. Blessed be her memory; now she rests in Heaven with her many relatives and friends.

Funeral services will be held at 11:00AM on Friday, July 2, 2021 at North Waseca Lutheran Church, with Rev. Kris Anderson officiating. Visitation will be held from 9:30AM until the time of the service at the church. Interment will follow at the church cemetery. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the luncheon will be held at the home of Cheryl and Dan Forrest.