Katherine Slater
October 21, 1918 ~ April 1, 2014
Served by: Luce, Luze & Reck Funeral Homes
Katherine Chistine Rasmusson Gilbert Slater, 95, a longtime Miranda resident, died Tuesday, April 1, 2014 in a nursing home in Kenyon, Minnesota.
Funeral services were held at 11:00 a.m., Saturday, July 5, 2014 at the United Church of Faulkton with Pastor Bill Hoffman officiating. Burial followed in the Miranda Cemetery.
Katherine was born October 21, 1918 and just days old when her adoptive parents, Gordy and Robert Rasmusson, drove the 90 miles from Astoria to the South Dakota Children’s Home in Sioux Falls to collect their first child. Her middle name, Chistine, is for her maternal grandmother.
Katherine was baptized as an infant in the Lutheran Church and became a Methodist after she married and moved to Miranda.
Four years after the Rasmusson’s adopted Katherine, the family traveled to Minneapolis, where they adopted baby Muriel. Muriel became Katherine’s younger sister. After they both became widows, they would travel together-first to Norway and then to the Alps.
Katherine was in her 80’s when she found her biological family, with the help of a family friend. Her birth mother was dead, but she was able to connect with her two half-sisters, who had no idea their mother had a previous child.
She married William Milton Gilbert on September 21, 1935. She met him in high school in Astoria.
Katherine worked part-time in the Miranda grocery store for several years. Then, on February 2, 1955, she was appointed Miranda’s postmaster. She was on the board of the National Association of Postmasters and traveled to various state conventions to represent the organization.
She was instrumental in the creation of the Faulk County Library.
Her husband Gilbert died in 1957. Two years later, on December 15, 1959, she married Melvin Slater, a farmer from Miranda.
Katherine retired as Miranda’s postmaster on June 29, 1984 which also was when the post office in Miranda closed.
Three years later, in 1987, she became widowed for the second time.
She played piano and organ for more than 50 years at the Miranda United Methodist Church until it closed on June 19, 2005.
She was very active in her community. She served as an officer of the church for many years and also was on the board of the Miranda Cemetery. She was instrumental in ensuring the cemetery has a perpetual care fund.
Every October for many years, the Slater’s hosted pheasant hunters.
As she grew older, she spent the winters with her daughter in San Diego, CA or with her son in West Concord, MN. Four years ago, she began living full time with Al and Rita Gilbert. In February, she moved to a nursing home in Kenyon, MN to receive additional care.
She is survived by her son, Allison (Rita) Gilbert of West Concord, MN; grandsons: George Mitchell Hinman and William Gilbert; granddaughters: Kari Hinman Wallick and Annette Gilbert Drieslein; twelve great grandchildren; and several great-great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband’s; her daughter, Chandra Hinman who died in 2012 and her son, Charles who died in 1997.
Luce Funeral Home of Faulkton has been entrusted with Katherine’s arrangements.
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