Evelyn Holte

Evelyn Ora Holte of Duluth passed away suddenly from heart failure on Wednesday, February 19, 2014 in St. Luke's Hospital, with her family at her side. She was born on November 4, 1935 to George Edsel and Alice (Bartlett) Cooke. Evelyn was a Clover Valley High School graduate and completed coursework at UMD where she studied the Russian language. She married Paul V. Bergquist in 1954 and they provided a loving home for their four children. Evelyn taught Sunday School at Trinity Lutheran Church for many years. The Bergquist household was open to children in need of foster care over the years; with Evelyn treating each one of them as her own. Evelyn was a avid reader and had a strong, lifelong, thirst for knowledge. She lost the love of her life, Paul, to cancer in 1988. God blessed Evelyn by providing her a loving new helpmate in Joseph Holte. They married and together shared a passion for horticulture until his death in 2007. Evelyn loved working in her greenhouse, orchards and her beautiful flower and vegetable gardens. One could not meet Evelyn without seeing God's light shining through her. She walked with Jesus everyday of her life and was a testimony to Him. She took joy in all of God's creations and taught us how to live and to love. Evelyn was preceded in death by husbands Paul V. Bergquist and Joseph Holte, daughter Carla E. Bergquist, brother George Cooke, sister Marjorie Lawrey, and both of her parents. She is survived by daughter Paula (Matthew) Rossi of Duluth, two sons Mark (Heidi) Bergquist of Duluth and Eric (Jill) Bergquist of Shoreview; Sisters: Donna Pomeroy, Joanne Ruberg, Marylee Wiseman, Joan Crossmon, Susie Crossmon, Margaret Johnson, Doris Siegle, Bonnie Grubb, Barbara Olson; Brothers: David Cooke, Gerald Cooke, and Tom Cooke; and many grandchildren and great grandchildren. In keeping with her wishes there will be no funeral service and the family will have a private ceremony at a later date.