| Notes |
Died:
- Donald Albert Tollefson was born in Mabel Sept. 1, 1910 to Adolph and Grace (Jones) Tollefson.
His paternal grandfather, Ellef Tollefson, was a pioneer merchant in Riceford and Mabel. In 1893, he started the Bank of Mabel, which became the First National Bank of Mabel in 1908.
Albert Jones, Don Tollefson's maternal grandfather, was also a pioneer Hesper and Mabel merchant in both the hardware and drugstore businesses.
Don Tollefson attended Mabel Public School from which he graduated in 1927 as the valedictorian of the class.
He then attended the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, where he belonged to the Chi Delta Xi fraternity.
After his graduation from the university in 1931, he attended Harvard Business School, graduating with a master of business degree in 1933.
August 24, 1933, he married Virginia Ruden Childs who had graduated from the university that year.
After their marriage, Don and Virginia Tollefson lived in St. Paul, Minn., where he worked for the Federal Land Bank.
In 1936, they moved to Mabel, where he was an officer and a director in the family bank until it was sold in 1980, when he retired.
At that time, the First National Bank of Mabel was Fillmore County's largest bank.
Don Tollefson enlisted in the Navy during World War II. He served as a lieutenant whose primary duty was as Combat Information Center officer abroad the U.S.S. San Francisco, a heavy cruiser, in the Pacific Theater from 1943 to 1945.
He was active in community affairs and organizations, and served on the Mabel School Board and was the first president of the Mabel Community Chest.
Don Tollefson belonged to the Mabel United Methodist Church, the Lions Club, the American Legion and the VFW.
Don and Virginia Tollefson were members of the Oneota Golf Course in Decorah. He won a number of club championships and made for holes-in-one.
Don Tollefson was preceded in death by his wife, Virginia Tollefson, in 1999; his sister, Mildred Nelson; his brother, Everett (Mike) Tollefson; a sister, Myra, who died in infancy and a grandson.
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1910 - 2003 (93 years)
