Gladys Iona Spurgeon

Gladys Iona Spurgeon, age 107, of Dassel, died on Tuesday, February 24, 2026, at Lakeside Generations in Dassel. A funeral service will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, April 6, at the Evangelical Covenant Church in Dassel, with visitation one hour prior to the service. Rev. Jordan Scott will officiate the service and interment. Following the service and a luncheon at the church, interment will be at the Resurrection Cemetery in Saint Peter. Gladys Iona (Thorn) Spurgeon, the daughter of Otto and Laura (Jacobson) Thorn, was born on November 11, 1918, in Saint Peter, Minnesota. Gladys was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran Faith and was presently a member of the Evangelical Covenant Church in Dassel. She attended school in Saint Peter and continued her education by attending business school to become a secretary. Gladys was employed as a secretary at the Pentagon for the Department of Defense in Washington DC during WWII and had also worked as a secretary in Seattle, Washington. On November 3, 1951, Gladys was united in marriage to Marion Spurgeon at the First Lutheran Church in Saint Peter, Minnesota. Together they made their home in St. Louis Park until 1959, when they moved to Lake Minnetonka where they resided until 1974. Gladys and Marion decided to move to Dassel, where they lived until 1994, when they moved to Mankato. After Marion died in 1999, Gladys stayed in Mankato until moving back to Dassel in 2013. Gladys enjoyed spending time with her family. She had a large vegetable garden and canned the harvest every year. She was a talented seamstress and enjoyed making clothing and quilts. She liked to solve word find puzzles and enjoyed traveling with Marion every winter through Arizona and Texas. She is survived by her daughters, Diane (Mark) Crandall of Lake City, Minnesota, Debbie (Gordy) Nelson of Darwin, Minnesota and Linda (Doug) Ostergaard of Denver, North Carolina, five grandchildren, Andrew (Sara) Nelson, Jessica (Matthew) Hohenstein, Allison Crandall (fiancé Jared Crowe), Holly (Brandon) Swanson, and Matthew (Lauren) Crandall, eight great grandchildren, Isla Swanson, Cece Swanson, Adalynn Nelson, Logan Nelson, Hannah Hohenstein, Davis Crandall, Brady Crandall, and Ellie Crandall, and many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, Marion, and parents, Otto and Laura Thorn, and her brothers, Virgil Thorn, Donald Thorn, Dennis Thorn, sister, Delores Richardson, and an infant brother, Glen Thorn.

Gladys Iona Spurgeon

January 11, 1918 - February 24, 2026