Cold Spring
February 8, 1935 – December 2, 2025
At 90 years of age, surrounded by family, Gloria Ledermann passed away peacefully on December 2, 2025, at Cherrywood of Richmond. We will remember and miss her smile, hugs and stories about growing up during the “war years”.
Gloria Lee Becker was born in Fargo, ND on February 8, 1935, to Carl and Jessie (Sleight) Becker. After graduating high school in Park Rapids, MN, she went on to earn her Teaching Certificate. She was teaching in a 1-room schoolhouse in Perham, MN when she met Hugo Ledermann. On June 20, 1955, they married and she became a military spouse. Their first home was in Texas.
In 1956, after Hugo was discharged from the Army, they moved back to Perham. This is where they started their family while working a farm. As the family grew, they relocated several times. In the early 1960s, they found their way to Cold Spring. Together they built their beloved ‘House on the Hill’ – just north of Cold Spring. From her picture windows, she watched her view of the Cold Spring landscape change over the next 60+ years.
While raising five children, they developed their homestead. Gloria grew beautiful flowers nestled in the granite beds surrounding the house. She was very proud of her large, County and State Fair award-winning vegetable garden. Next to it, relocated from a Perham homestead, was the antique log cabin and windmill that became an area landmark.
With young children at home, Gloria worked nights in the health care field at the St. Cloud hospital and then at the Assumption Nursing home in Cold Spring. She worked many years for the St. Boniface Parish and the Grade School. She was their Nurse, Bookkeeper, Secretary and, occasionally, substitute teacher – all in one! She went on to work at the Stearns County ASCS Office for over 20 years before retiring. She had always been an avid reader. After retiring, she worked on Sudoku puzzles daily.
Gloria was active in many church and community programs, as well as activities that her children participated in. Along with Hugo, she was a 4-H leader, Cub Scout Den Mother and Pack Leader for Webelos. She was a member of St. Boniface Parish and the Christian Women. She made designer cakes for all celebrations – specific for each child or event. Her creative flower arrangements were seen at weddings and anniversary parties.
Gloria was the driving force behind what became our “Ledermann Family Peanut Brittle Legacy”. What started out as a few pounds for “Santa gifts” to our family and friends, turned into an annual Christmas treat for the Cold Spring area. Between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve, we were all a part of the “operation”. We stretched it thin, boxed up and delivered over 500# of the salty, sweet delight to anyone who ordered it. All the love they put into making it and their pride of the finished treat is still a happy memory for many!
Gloria enjoyed music and dancing until her final days. Gloria and Hugo had been active square dancers when they were younger. Together they taught their children to waltz and polka. She enjoyed dancing with them at the neighborhood garage parties and many weddings. She was known to dance at Cherrywood’s parties and in her room surrounded by her treasured items and memories.
Gloria was preceded in death by her husband, Hugo, in 2023 after nearly 68 years of marriage, her parents, her sister Linda and two son-in-laws. Gloria is survived by her 5 children and their spouses: Maggie and Jerry (AK), Cathy and Gary (MN), John and Joy (IL), Rick and Kathy (FL), and Chuck and Kris (MN). Hugo and Gloria were blessed with a legacy of 14 Grandchildren and 13 Great-Grandchildren, to date.
Our family will be forever grateful to the caregivers from Home Instead and staff at Cherrywood of Richmond Advanced Living Facility. We appreciated the support given to her, and all of us, as her memories faded away. Our thanks are also extended to the St. Croix Hospice Care Team.
The family is requesting that donations be made to the Minnesota – North Dakota Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association https://www.alz.org/mnnd or Sisters of the Order of St. Benedict https://sbm.osb.org: In memory of Gloria Ledermann.
The funeral service will be at 11:00 a.m., Monday, June 15, 2026, at Sts. Peter & Paul Catholic Church in Richmond, MN. Visitation will begin at 10:00 a.m. in the church gathering space. Inurnment will be in the St. Boniface Cemetery in Cold Spring, MN following the lunch.
Arrangements are with Wenner Funeral Home, Cold Spring, MN.
