Edna ''Eddie'' Urenn Barnes

Edna ''Eddie'' Urenn Barnes MUSCATINE, Iowa #45;- Eddie Urenn Barnes, 88, of Fargo, North Dakota, died Saturday, Oct. 28, 2000, at Unity Hospital in Muscatine, Iowa. Arrangements are under the direction of Ralph J. Wittich - Riley - Freers Funeral Home in Muscatine, and Ivers-Landblom Funeral Home in Fargo, North Dakota. A Memorial Service to celebrate the life of Eddie Barnes will be held at the Episcopal Gethsemane Cathedral, 3600 South 25th Street, Fargo, North Dakota, on Nov. 10th, 2000, at 11:00 a.m., followed by a luncheon. The family will be present at earlier graveside services at Riverside Cemetery in Fargo. Pallbearers will be her grandchildren, Lynn Ann Myers, Michelle René Andreatta, John Andrew Axel, Aaron Allen Laske and Bradford Joseph Urenn Axel. Honorary Bearers will be John W. Axel, Caroline Craig, Roberta Oksendahl Erickson, Barney Gaugler, Sara Engen Fritzell Hanhan, Grace A. Hart, Donald W. Hart, Robert E. Laske, and Wesley Stensatter. Memorials to the YWCA of Fargo Moorhead to encourage and support young people may be sent to Joni Axel, 2007 Circle Drive, Muscatine, Iowa 52761 or the funeral homes. Born Edna Kennora Houge in Aneta, North...[more]

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Dakota on Feb. 1, 1912. Eddie and her sister, Stella, grew up in Cando and on the Engen homestead near Aneta. Her mother, Carrie Engen Houge was a milliner in Cando. Eddie was Valedictorian of her 1930 Cando High School class. She received a scholarship to attend St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, and later graduated from the University of Minnesota as a medical technologist in 1935. After marrying Bernard M. ''Benny'' Urenn in 1938, they settled in Fargo where they had two daughters, Marie in 1941 and Joni in 1943. They were active hunters and spent many summers at their cabin on Lake Cormorant in Minnesota. Dr. Urenn died in 1960. For 60 years Eddie belonged to Chapter Y of the PEO Sisterhood and was a long time member of the YWCA. She gave generously of her time and talent to encourage small children to learn, have fun and excel. Eddie also taught swimming, horsemanship and participated and led community school and theater programs. As a long time officer in the Fargo-Moorhead Mounted Posse, Eddie organized many horse shows. She became a private pilot in 1958 (the only woman at that time to hold an active pilot license in Fargo) and was the first Pilot-Host for the Powder Puff Derby Cross-Continental Women Flyers when they landed in Fargo in 1959. In 1962, Eddie married Lucien Barnes. They raised and trained quarter horses on the Barnes Century Farm near Interstate 94 and 45th St. in Fargo. Named ''Horse Woman of the Year'' in 1973, Eddie was active in the Horse Division of the Red River Valley Fair and served on its Board of Directors for many years. When the North Dakota Highway Department condemned the Barnes's homestead for Fargo's 45th and I-94 interchange, Eddie and Lucien, both in their 80's, homesteaded again on a 30-acre horse ranch south and west of Fargo. Eddie Urenn Barnes brought courage, inspiration, joy, and unconditional love to her family and friends. Eddie is survived by her husband, Lucien; a daughter, Joni Urenn Axel and her husband, John, of Muscatine; and her late daughter Marie's husband, Robert E. Laske, of Aguilar, Colorado; five grandchildren, Lynn Ann Myers and her husband, Tim, of Walsenburg, Colorado; Michelle René Andreatta, Denver, Colorado; Aaron Allen Laske and his wife, Lori, of Monte Vista, Colorado; John Andrew Axel and his wife, Elizabeth, of San Carlos, California; and Bradford Joseph Urenn Axel and his wife, Andrea, of Seattle, Washington. Eddie has nine great-grand children, Amanda Andreatta, John Andreatta, Jacob Myers, Jessica Myers, Madeleine Axel, Brittany Laske, Katherine Axel, Sophia Axel, and Emily Axel. Mrs. Barnes is also survived by two nephews, Erik Fritzell and Peter Fritzell, one niece, Sara Fritzell Hanhan and several cousins. Eddie was preceded in death by her mother, Carrie Engen Houge; her first husband, Bernard M. Urenn; one daughter, Marie Diane Laske; her sister, Stella Houge Fritzell; one niece, and many aunts, uncles and cousins.