Owatonna woman celebrates 100th birthday

Wendy Reuer
Posted: Friday, October 2, 2009 11:20 pm

By WENDY REUER

wreuer@owatonna.com



OWATONNA — A number of years ago, Helen (Sorenson) Pettersen traveled to her hometown of Madelia, Minn. to throw her mother a 100th birthday party. Today, friends and family of Helen will be helping her celebrate her own centennial.

Helen Pettersen turns 100 today, and to celebrate, a birthday party will be held in her honor at the Lake Shore Inn Nursing Home in Waseca, where she now resides.

However, Pettersen’s spirit and the life she helped breathe into Owatonna has not been forgotten as she has had an impact not only on a large church , but also some of Owatonna’s major businesses over the years.

Pettersen arrived in Owatonna in 1927 to work as a secretary for Charles Partridge. She excelled at the company that would become Federated Insurance and, in 1941, she became an executive secretary and trusted assistant to Federated Insurance President John A. Buxton.

Pettersen married Donald W. Pettersen in 1950 at Trinity Lutheran Church, where she had worshipped since coming to Owatonna. A Sunday school teacher and church choir member, Pettersen was also instrumental in urging the church to re-locate from its downtown location to its present home on Lincoln Avenue, despite avid criticism. At the time, the location was in a rural area and would require most members to trek uphill to attend church.

“She’s often been on the cutting edge of things over the years, for a woman of her generation and of her age,” said Trinity’s Rev. John Lestock. “The interesting thing is that, at that time, she was a fairly young woman. She was female, and in those days there weren’t a lot of churches that gave females a lot of authority. It took a lot of courage for her to make that call and follow that through.”



Despite her accomplishments, Pettersen remains incredibly modest.

“I didn’t perform any miracles in my life, I just tried to do the best I could with what I had,” Pettersen said. 

Helen said her faith is certainly a factor in her longevity. But she also hopes she has had a chance to share that faith and all of her gifts with others.

“I have met so many nice people in my life. I have enjoyed them and learned a lot from them,” Pettersen said. “I only hope I was able to do something good for them in their lifetime.”



Wendy Reuer can be reached at 444-1565.