Donald W. Foster

Donald W. Foster, age 87, of St. Peter, passed away peacefully on August 17, 2025.

Memorial Service will be 1:00 p.m., August 27, 2025, at Sunrise Church, St. Peter. Visitation will be one hour before the service. Interment will be in Scandian Grove Cemetery, Norseland. St. Peter Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.

Donald was born September 15, 1937, at Union Hospital in New Ulm, MN to Ward and Inez (Thorson) Foster. He grew up in Courtland, Minnesota where he attended the local elementary school and then attended and graduated from New Ulm High School. After graduation he enlisted in the U.S. Army where he graduated from the Army’s Quarter Master School. Donald was then removed from this service to be transferred to the U.S. Intelligence Service where he held both a Secret and U.S.E.S.E.P. Clearance. Donald was designated a Class “A” Agent Status.

After the service, he worked as a psychiatric technician at the St. Peter State Hospital where he met his wife, Yvonne Ose. They were married in the summer of 1961. He enrolled at the Lutheran Bible Institute and graduated in 1965. He then attended and graduated from Golden Valley Lutheran Collage in Minneapolis. In 1966 Golden Valley Lutheran College extended a call for him to be a recruiter and speaker. As he traveled, he was involved in a truck/car accident which killed his wife and unborn child.

In 1969 he married Arlene Gilbertson. Donald then attended Mankato State College and at the same time he also started house painting which turned into a business lasting 50 years. He retired in 2017. After retirement Donald enjoyed meeting with his buddies for coffee several times a week.

Donald was an avid reader, a great story teller, and writer. He wrote many stories about his growing up years in Courtland, Minnesota. Donald’s favorite saying was “yard by yard life is hard, but inch by inch it’s a cinch”.

Donald is survived by his wife, Arlene; two children, Timothy of Northfield and Katherine (Robert) Norland of Reseda, CA; granddaughters, Brittany (Enrique) Morales of Mankato and Alexandria Foster of Northfield; grandson’s Timothy John and Elijah Norland of Reseda, CA; great-grandson, Carter Alvarado of Mankato; sisters, Sharon Peters and Sandra Jones of White Bear Lake, MN; sisters-in-law, Sandra Olson of Glenville, MN and Nyla (Don) Lyon of Hayfield, MN; nephew, Christopher (Marnie) Jones and niece, Krystee Putjenter.

Donald was preceded in death by his parents, Ward and Inez; an infant brother, Warren; and brother-in-law, Bradley Peters Sr.