Elaine Norma Kerr was born April 26, 1938 to Oscar and Louella (Rialson) Helgeson at the Tracy Hospital in Tracy, Minnesota. She was baptized on June 12, 1938 at Hoiland Lutheran Church. Elaine grew up on the Helgeson farm which her great-grandparents, Ole and Ingeborg Helgeson, homesteaded. It was located in Monroe Township, Lyon County, Minnesota. Her grandparents, Ole and Clara Helgeson, farmed the approximately 148-acre farm before Elaine’s parents took over the farm. Elaine lived on the farm with her parents and three sisters, Janice, Marlene, and Eunice.
Elaine and Janice were closest in age so they spent a lot of time playing together. Along with Jan, Elaine took piano lessons from Mrs. Monge. Elaine helped her father who was caretaker of the Hoiland Lutheran Church cemetery. Elaine attended Sunday School at Hoiland Lutheran Church where her mother was the Sunday school superintendent. Elaine was confirmed in 1953 by Rev. Obrestad at Hoiland Lutheran Church. She was also confirmed in the Catholic faith in 1970 at St. Edward Catholic Church in Minneota, Minnesota. Elaine attended District 88 country school and graduated from Tracy High School in 1956. Elaine especially liked bookkeeping.
After graduation, Elaine worked at Carlson’s Variety Store in Tracy and then for attorney William (Billy) Mitchell. From 1958 to 1963 she was an office cashier for JCPenney where she would sit up in the balcony. The clerks would put the sales receipt and money in a container and pneumatically send it up where Elaine would make change and send it back. In 1963, Elaine moved to Marshall, Minnesota and worked in the Lyon County Treasurer’s Office. It was here she met Robert James “Jim” Kerr, a friendly area farmer who had come in to pay real estate taxes. Elaine worked full-time there until 1970, when she reduced her time to twice a year when real estate taxes were due. She did this for several years. Elaine was united in marriage to Jim Kerr on June 13, 1970 at St. Edward Catholic Church in Minneota. They spent their honeymoon in the Black Hills of South Dakota. They would make their home on the Kerr farm in Island Lake Township of Lyon County, Minnesota.
In 1980, they built a new home there. Elaine and Jim were blessed with two children. Michael James was born in 1970, and Diane Marie was born in 1973. Tragically, Mike died as a result of a three-wheeler accident in 1987. Diane was married in 2019 to Tony Burns. Elaine and Jim operated Kerr’s Western Boots in Marshall during the 1990s. In 2011, they moved to Tyler. After Jim passed away in 2021, Elaine moved to Luverne, Minnesota in 2023, where most recently she was a resident of the Good Samaritan – Mary Jane Brown nursing home. On August 25, 2024, Elaine passed away at the Sanford USD Medical Center and Hospital in Sioux Falls, South Dakota at the age of 86 years, 4 months, 4 days.
Elaine and Jim were members of St. Dionysius Catholic Church in Tyler. They participated in many church activities and donated food and helped for church functions. For several years, Elaine and Jim square danced. After Michael’s death, they were involved with Compassionate Friends, a grief program for families after a child dies. Elaine loved being a Red Hat Society member and had fun with their activities. She enjoyed sewing, reading, attending concerts, and was an amazing cook. She liked to decorate for the holiday or season. Elaine loved cats and was especially fond of Suzie, a wonderful companion for her. Elaine was also fond of traveling. She and her sister, Eunice, were travel companions on a couple of trips, one to Lake Okoboji and one, a bus trip, to Michigan to visit Aunt Adele and family. In addition to other travels with Jim, Michael, and Diane, Elaine traveled to California with family to visit her sister, Jan and family.
Elaine’s daughter, Diane, shared these words after the passing of her mom:”The thing I am most grateful for is that while she may have tried to steer me in the direction she wanted me to go, she let me be “Me”, and do the things I wanted to do. We did share a love of music and the performing arts. We attended many concerts, plays and musicals together over the years. I am so grateful for those moments.”
Elaine is survived by her daughter, Diane (Tony) Burns of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; sisters, Janice Fillmore of St. Anthony, Minnesota and Eunice (special friend, Paul Escen) Helgeson of Minneapolis, Minnesota; brother-in-law, Bernie Pecha of Blaine, Minnesota; sisters-in-law, Barb Kerr of Marshall, Minnesota, Helen Kerr of Cornville, Arizona, Margaret Mitchell of Canby, Minnesota, and Beverly Kerr of Brandon, South Dakota; many nieces and nephews; several great-nieces and great-nephews; numerous cousins; and many wonderful friends.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Jim; son, Michael; parents, Oscar and Louella Helgeson; infant sister, Arlene; sister, Marlene; brothers-in-law, Jay Fillmore, Warren Kerr, Duane Kerr, Hugh Kerr, George Kerr, Walter Kerr and Albert Kerr; nephew, Paul Fillmore; niece, Sharon Hennen; and great nephew, Matthew Pecha.
