Geraldine "Gerrie" Marie (Andersen) Wells, age 91, of Lakeville, MN passed away peacefully April 17, 2025. Gerrie was a loving and devoted wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother who had tremendous joy for her family, her faith, music, volunteering, baking, fishing, gardening, ice skating, and life.

Gerrie was born on June 5, 1933, in St. Paul, MN to parents Charles Sr. and Mina Andersen. She attended Jefferson grade school K-8 and Johnson High School. Growing up with her brothers, she enjoyed wintertime with her family, especially tobogganing and sledding on Highland Park hills on Sunday afternoons and ice skating with her mom.

Gerrie had a lifelong love of music, starting with piano lessons when she was six or seven years old and continuing through high school. She was a dedicated volunteer piano accompanist for the Messiah Lutheran Church choir, Arlington Hills Lutheran Church (AHLC) children's choir, and Cleveland Jr. High School for many years. She was chapel organist at AHLC for many years and also played the piano and/or organ for many weddings and special events. She took such joy in sharing music with others and found it to be very rewarding. She later joined the English Hand Bell choir at AHLC and had the exciting opportunity to perform for the King and Queen of Sweden when they visited Minneapolis. After graduation, Gerrie worked for the city of St. Paul's Health Department for 10 years in Vital Statistics and the Food/Dairy Division.

On March 25, 1960, Gerrie married the love of her life, Art. Their love story began at the Prom Ballroom dance hall in St. Paul, and he danced his way right into her heart. She and Art celebrated 65 years of marriage in March. As they were blessed with four children, Gerrie became a dedicated homemaker. She loved being a mother and was incredibly supportive of and involved with her children. Over the years, they were
blessed with seven grandkids and four great-grandkids. Gerrie loved her children, grandkids, and great-grandkids with all her heart and soul, and always made it a priority to be with them.

In November 1991, Gerrie was diagnosed with breast cancer. Through surgery and chemo treatments, she sought strength from her faith, family, and friends to successfully battle the disease and thanked the good Lord for news that she was cancer-free.

Gerrie loved to go fishing with Art and their kids on Minnesota's beautiful lakes and was excited to catch sunnies, crappies, walleye, bass, and "keeper" perch. She never lacked for fish stories as she frequently caught fish in funny ways, which always gave her (and those around her) a good chuckle. Right up to the end of her life, she was still trying to figure out how she could get into a boat or onto a pontoon to go fishing!

Gerrie appreciated the colorful beauty of flowers, as they always brought a smile to her face, and enjoyed gardening. Her gardens were always filled with tulips, daffodils, moss roses, sunflowers, clematis, marigolds, impatiens, begonias, and geraniums. She was quick to share a clipping or small bouquet with friends, family, and neighbors to brighten their day.

Gerrie valued family traditions and took time to share and celebrate them with her children, grandkids, and great-grandkids, especially when it came to cooking and baking. She loved the old family recipes and was proud of her Norwegian and Danish heritage, ensuring every Christmas included Krumkake and Aebleskiver. Not one to easily part with the actual family recipes, she was always happy to make any of the family favorites for anyone anytime a dish or dessert was requested. She loved to bring people joy through sharing these special foods.

Gerrie was, and will forever be, immensely loved and missed by her family and friends. Gerrie is survived by her loving husband of 65 years, Arthur (Art) Wells; daughters Diane Wells, Lori (Chris) Hale, and Kari (Randy) Streit; son Jeff (Julie) Wells; grandchildren Elyssa Wells Kinn, Haeley Wells, Brianna Hale, Zach Streit, Matthew Hale, Xander Streit, and Peyton Streit; great-grandchildren Lexington, Jackson, Bennett, and Olivia; sister-in-law Darlo (George, d. 2015) Andersen; nephews Gary (Suzie) and Jimmy (Kris); niece and goddaughter Nancy (Dan); nieces Kathy, Billie Jo (Dieter), Cheryl (Mike), and Karen; dear cousins Carol Ann, Vicki, Tom, and John; and many more cousins and friends.

Preceded in death by parents, Charles Sr. and Mina (Gunderson) Andersen; brothers Gerald, Charles Jr., and George; and beloved cousin, Muriel Zbaren.

A celebration of Gerrie's life will be held on Saturday, 5/3/25, at 12:00 p.m. at Arlington Hills Lutheran Church, 1115 Greenbrier St., St. Paul. Visitation 1 hour prior to the service. The service will also be livestreamed through ahlc-stp.org for those not able to join in person.

Private interment at Forest Lawn Cemetery, St. Paul.

In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to American Cancer Society www.cancer.org , The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation www.komen.org, or Union Gospel Mission – St. Paul www.ugmtc.org.