Obituary of Almira Westphal

Almira (Cole) Westphal, 87, of Cambridge, formerly of Crown passed away on Saturday, August 11, 2007 at the Cambridge Health Care Center. She was born on May 16, 1920 in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada to John and Margaret (Piper) Cole. As an infant she was baptized into the Baptist faith. At the age of two her family moved to Minneapolis. Myra grew up in Minneapolis and graduated from Central High School in 1938. After high school she attended Vocational Class in Nursing at Minneapolis Hospital and became an LPN. She would go on to work at Ah-Gwa-Ching Treatment Center in Walker for two years, which is where she met Forrest Westphal. Forrest and Almira were married on April 18, 1942 at Zion Lutheran Church in Crown. The coupled lived a short time in Minneapolis before moving to a farm in Crown which they farmed for over 40 years and raised their four children. Forrest passed away on February 7, 1981 and Myra remained on the farm for about a year before moving to St. Francis. She later moved to Cambridge, first living in Pine Village, then Ashland Place. While at Ashland Place, Myra was active in leading the exercise class and was very involved with the bible study. In January of this year she became a resident at the Cambridge Health Care Center Myra was confirmed into the Lutheran faith as an adult. She was very active at Zion Lutheran Church of Crown where she was the president of the ladies aid, taught Sunday school. She was also president of the St. Francis High School PTA, and more recently volunteered at the Cambridge Health Care Center for over 17 years. She was a longtime member of Zion Lutheran Church and for the past ten years was a member of Joy Lutheran Church in Cambridge. Myra enjoyed reading, spending time with her grandchildren, playing cards and board games, quilting, embroidery, and gardening. She was kind and was a good friend to everyone she knew. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, and brother P.H. Cole. Almira is survived by her children Jean and husband Chuck Foreman of Cambridge, Judy and husband Roy Bronson of Perham, Ed and wife Mary Westphal of Andover, Peggy and husband Pete Angell of Sauk Centre, 13 grandchildren, 14 great grandchildren, many other relatives and friends.