Jane Ellefson

Jane Ellefson of Dawson died on Friday, August 15, 2025 at her home at the age of 83.

Memorial services will be held at 11:00AM on Saturday, August 23, 2025 at Grace Lutheran Church in Dawson with Rev. Kendall Stelter officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery.

Visitation with the family will be from 5-7PM on Friday, August 22, 2025 at Hanson & Dahl Funeral Home in Dawson with a prayer service at 6:30PM. Visitation will continue one hour prior to the services at the church on Saturday.

Jane Kay (Janke) Ellefson was born in Montevideo, MN on May 2, 1942 to Rueben and Agnes (Anderson) Janke. She grew up in Montevideo and graduated from Montevideo High School. Following high school, she attended Humbolt Airline School and worked in California for Pan Am airline as a teletype operator.

On December 11, 1965 she was united in marriage to Merlin Ellefson. The family made their home in Dawson where they raised four children: Troy, Tamara, Teresa and Tonia. After being an in-home daycare mom, Jane worked several jobs, ultimately for Prairie 5 Community Action Council for over 28 years in the Madison, MN office where she assisted families to find resources for housing, heating and fuel assistance. In addition to raising a family and working for Prairie 5 she served in the Army National Guard from 1975 to 1999. She served as an instructor at Camp Ripley, instructing Leadership, Map Reading and Land Navigation as well as the Noncommissioned Officer Education System (NCOES) and Officer Candidate School (OCS) courses. Jane loved and fostered every one of her soldiers as if they were her own family.

Jane was an active member in the community leading Girl Scouts and serving as PTA President. She was also a member of Grace Lutheran Church in Dawson, active with her Circle Bible Study, and leading several youth groups. After her military retirement, Jane continued to be an active member of the American Legion, Legion Auxiliary, and VFW Auxiliary. Jane served with much pride, as a past District Commander of the American Legion and past Department Vice Commander.

Jane and Merlin enjoyed traveling, enjoying trips to Alaska, Hawaii, Branson, Northern Minnesota and many trips to Mazatlán to name a few. Most recently, they traveled to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon and Bluefin Bay in Duluth.

Most of all, Jane cherished family and spending time with her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Jane is survived by her husband of almost 60 years, Merlin; children: Teresa (Ross ) Lynne, Clarkfield, MN, Tonia (Charlie) Carpenter, Kennett Square, PA; grandchildren: Tony Ellefson, Britttany (Brett) McManaman, Justin (Rachel) Ellefson, Andrew Schulenberg, Megan (Derek) Amundson, Matthew (Mikayla) Lynne, Sam Carpenter; 6 great-grandchildren; one brother, Ronald (Pat) Janke, Montevideo, MN; numerous nieces, nephews and extended family.

She was preceded in death by her parents Rueben and Agnes Janke; In-laws, Arnold and Ethel Ellefson; son, Troy Ellefson; and daughter, Tamara Schulenberg.

Blessed be her sweet soul.