Cliff Buchan
News Editor

Kids in Iraq will never meet LaVern Thomson. But each time a young child in Iraq is handed a doll from a U.S. service personnel, the smile on the kidís face is because Thomson cared.

Caring was a signature statement for the Forest Lake woman who died July 1 after a long bout with diabetes, heart problems and other ailments that would have made life miserable for many. She was 78 when she passed, but still deeply involved in causes that will bring smiles to young kids a half a world away.

It was always that way for Thomson, relatives and friends said this week.

Two decades ago when the Forest Lake City Marching Band needed flags, she sewed them.

Whenever someone needed clothes altered, often on little notice and on weekends, she did them.

The Iraqi doll project was a new venture launched just in April, but one that Thomson pursued with vigor and passion, said her sister-in-law, Karen Alm, the retired elementary teacher.

ìShe (LaVern) was just so excited about the project,î Alm said. ìShe talked about how many bags of dolls she had turned in. She felt it was something important.î

For the past five years, Thomson made three trips each week to Davita of Forest Lake for kidney dialysis. It was during these visits to the Forest Lake Professional Building that her friendship grew with Mark Goeltl, a registered nurse who worked with Thomson.

Knowing Thomsonís love of sewing, Goeltl asked the Forest Lake woman in April if she would be interested in making a few Raggedy Ann dolls. A former combat medic during his six-year stint in the Army, Goeltl was interested in sending dolls to an Army friend, Sgt. Larry Williams, who is with a medical unit near Tikrit.

Goeltl had been making wooden toys in his Andover home and was interested in toys for the girls. Thomson seemed like a logical choice to help, he said.

ìShe donated them,î Goeltl said of the first batch of Raggedy Ann dolls that Thomson made. ìAll of a sudden it was a whole bunch of stuffed animals that were coming in.î

Thomson did more than spend time in her home making dolls for Goeltl and Sgt. Williams. She proposed the idea to the Memorial Quilters in Forest Lake and soon her quilting mates were making dolls and taking in donations for shipment to Iraq.

Goeltl said the efforts from April to late June show just how much Thomson cared for people she really didnít know.

ìShe was a very caring and giving person,î he said. ìI was going to buy the dolls and then she donated them. The next thing she was getting her quilting friends involved and they made things. Itís just the way she has always been.î

Since Thomson became involved, Goeltl has collected several hundred dolls to go with the wooden toys he was making.

The clinic, an eight-year business in Forest Lake, is paying the shipping costs to Tikrit, Goeltl said.

Youth in the St. Bridgetís Vacation Bible School in Lindstrom also donated bears and dolls to the drive last month.

Goeltl said he was shocked and saddened to learn of Thomsonís death. He said he will miss her regular visits to the clinic but said the impact of her work will be long felt when kids in Iraq are handed a doll from Forest Lake.

ìThere will be lots of smiles on the faces of those kids,î Goeltl said.

That Thomson was able to die at home and her sleep was a blessing, Karen Alm said.

Alm said family members said Thomsonís ability to endure and survive was truly amazing. Along with her heart and diabetes problems, she suffered occasional reactions to medication that required air ambulance trips to hospitals in the Twin Cities.

She had recently torn a rotator cuff in a shoulder. A fall at home on June 26 broke an arm and wrist in two places.

ìShe never seemed to complain,î Alm said.

Hazel LaVern Thomson was a fourth generation member of the pioneer Alm family that settled Forest Lake in the mid-1850s. She was born on Feb. 23, 1927 in Forest Lake.

During her life in Forest Lake she was involved in a number of business ventures.

She teamed with her husband, Alan (Stubby) Thomson to run a farm implement business in Hugo. Stubby Thomson died in 1972.

She worked at the former Ben Franklin Store here for many years and also ran a fabric store for a number of years before retiring.

She is survived by two daughters, Julie of Forest Lake, and Christine of New York City, NY; one son, Kevin (Debbie) of Lake Elmo; four grandchildren; one brother, Lyle (Karen) Alm, and one sister, Iva (Donald) Nelson, all of Forest Lake, and one sister-in-law, Karen Alm of Forest Lake.

In addition to her husband, she was preceded in death by a brother, Russell Alm, in 2004.

Memorials are requested to Faith Lutheran Church, Forest Lake.

Top of Page

Forest Lake Times
P.O. Box 218
880 SW 15 St.
Forest Lake, MN 55025
651-464-4601
Fax 651-464-4605