Donna Sorheim

Donna Mae (Aarestad) Sorheim, 74, of Bemidji, died Monday, May 9, 2011, at her home.

A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, May 20, at the Seventh Day Adventist Church, Bemidji, with Ken Mayberry officiating. Family will greet friends one hour prior to the service at the church. Burial will be in Trinity Free Lutheran Cemetery, Pony Lake, Minn. Arrangements are with Olson-Schwartz Funeral Home & Cremation Service, Bemidji.

She was born May 29, 1936, to Julius and Hazel (Hauge) Aarestad, in Halstad, Minn. She grew up in Hope Township, Minn., attended Lincoln School in Hope Township and graduated from Halstad High School. She then attended Mayville State College. On August 19, 1956, she married Vernon Sorheim in Lockhart, Minn., and they moved to Bemidji where she attended Bemidji State College. She taught in Wolfe Point, Mont., for one year, returning to Bemidji to finish her degree in education. She began her teaching career in St. Cloud, Minn. in 1962, where she taught until the spring of 1969, returning to Bemidji once again. She taught in Red Lake from the fall of 1969 until retirement in 1994. After retirement she worked for Beltrami County Public Service until 2007. She was baptized into the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in 2003 and served as Deaconess until her death. She enjoyed flower gardening, the outdoors, spending time with her dogs and visiting with neighbors, friends and family.

She is survived by her daughters, Debra (Dan) Knutson of Glyndon, Minn. and Valerie (Francisco) Palomo of Brighton, Tenn .; five grandchildren; five great-grandchildren; sisters, Joyce Fortier of Mason City, Iowa, Arloine (Hilbert) Carlson of Arkdale, Wis., Florence (Ronald) Balzum of Ada, Minn., Marilyn Arlien of Minn. and Laurel (Thomas) Keeney of Shelly, Minn .; brothers, Julian (Sandi) Aarestad of Moorhead, Minn. and Kenneth (Phyllis) Aarestad of Thief River Falls, Minn.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, and a grandson, Matthew Prince.

Online guestbook at http://www.olsonschwartzfuneralhome.com.