Ethel Kilde Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

The Mass of Christian Burial for Ethel Kilde will be celebrated at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday, June 7, at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Clarissa. Visitation will be held at the church in Clarissa on Tuesday from 9:30 a.m. until the time of the Mass. Ethel, peacefully left this world to sing with the angels on Wednesday, June 1, 2022, at the Central Todd County Care Center, Clarissa, MN. She was 100 years of age. Ethel Doris (Bailey) Valley Kilde was born on December 13, 1921 to Samuel and Margaret (O’Brien) Bailey in Shovel Lake, MN. She grew up on her parent’s farm just outside the Shovel Lake and Swatara, area. She was proud to have had the opportunity to graduate from Aitkin High School in 1939. On November 11, 1943 she enlisted in the U.S. Army and honorably served her country during WWII as an air traffic controller, based at March Airbase in Riverside, CA. On July 10, 1945 she married David Eugene Valley in Los Angeles, CA. They had five children. Following David’s death, she married Arvid Kilde in 1975. They did not have any children together, but she took in Arvid’s four children as her own. Following her time serving in the military Ethel returned to MN to raise her family. She resided in Hill City, Coleraine, Fergus Falls, Baudette, and for the last 11 years at the Care Center in Clarissa, MN. Throughout her life she held various roles. She was a nurse’s aide in Grand Rapids, owned the diner in Hewitt, MN, and was a cook in a restaurant in Bertha. She always had an incredible garden which included strawberries, cucumbers, and beautiful perennials. Ethel had a love of dancing and shared that she was never a wallflower. Along with her love of dancing she loved to sing, watch baseball (Go Twins), cook, and she crocheted beautiful blankets. Ethel will be remembered as a genuinely kind and caring individual, who loved her family, especially her grandchildren. Preceding Ethel in death were her parents Samuel and Margaret (O’Brien) Bailey; husbands: David Valley and Arvid Kilde; son, Thomas Valley; sisters: Helen Bjerkness, Margaret “Peggy” Zaffke Graton, Thelma Klennert, and Beth Bailey; brothers Robert, Thomas, and John Bailey. Ethel is survived by her children, Beverly Davis of Longville, MN; son, David (Lynn) Valley of Blackfoot, ID, Samuel (Margaret) Valley of Swan Creek, IL, and John (Sherry) Valley of Howard Lake, MN; stepchildren: Vickey (Mike) Kilde Goeden of Underwood, MN, Debbey (Curt) Kilde Johnson of Hoffman, MN, Lonnie Kilde of Fergus Falls, MN, and Kristi (Wes) Kilde Anderson of Jordan, MN; along with 33 grandchildren, 67 great-grandchildren and 5 great-great-grandchildren. Her ashes will be laid to rest beside her husband David Valley, in Hill City at a later date.

Ethel Kilde

December 13, 1921 - June 1, 2022