Alice Boyenga

Alice Lucille Boyenga was born on November 24, 1939, to Harvey and Clara (Herrmann) Rost in Hartley, Iowa. As a young girl she moved with her family to Brandt, South Dakota where she started her schooling. They later moved near Magnolia, Minnesota and Alice graduated from Magnolia High School in 1958. After graduation Alice began working at Nelson Brothers Department store in the office. On March 14, 1959 she was united in marriage to Maurice Boyenga at the Bethany Lutheran Church in Luverne, Minnesota. The couple made their first home in Luverne. A year later they moved to a farm by Ellsworth, Minnesota where they lived for the next 45 years milking cows, feeding hogs and cattle as well as crop farming. Here they raised their two children, Dale and Colleen. Alice also began working in town, first cooking the night shift at Parkview Manor in Ellsworth and later she went to days at the Ellsworth Public School as the head cook. A busy couple, the Boyengas also had a sideline in sales for over two decades with the Watkins Company. In 2000 they retired from farming and in the fall of 2006, due to Maurice’s declining health, they moved to Luverne.

Alice was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Luverne, Minnesota. She served as deacon and helped with stewardship as well as holding several offices with the Ladies organizations. She served as a leader for the Livewires 4-H Club and enjoyed volunteering with the 4-H program. Alice was truly a caregiver with Maurice and after his passing she continued as an in-home caregiver for several other recipients. She also enjoyed her other volunteer work. Alice taught card classes on making homemade cards, conducted devotions at the Mary Jane Brown Home, visited and served coffee at the Veterans Home, and helped with end-of-life care at the Sanford Hospice Cottage in Luverne. Her favorite hobbies included cooking, vegetable and flower gardening, knitting, crocheting, making her own greeting cards, and reading.

On Sunday, April 19, 2026, Alice died at the Good Samaritan Society - Mary Jane Brown Home in Luverne at the age of 86 years, 4 months and 26 days.

Alice is lovingly remembered by her children, Dale (Lesley) Boyenga of Ottertail, Minnesota, and Colleen Boyenga of Minnetonka, Minnesota; two grandchildren, Nathan (Erin) Boyenga of West Des Moines, Iowa, and Rachel (Matthew) Schmidt of Duluth, Minnesota; and a great-grandson, Henry Schmidt. She was preceded in death by her husband, Maurice Boyenga in 2010; parents, Harvey and Clara; step-father, Maurice Yotter; sister, Margaret and brother-in-law Gerhardt Luehmann.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Luverne Hospice or Union Gospel Mission in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.