Ida Stenevik

Ida Rosemary (Kruft) Stenevik, age 105, of Detroit Lakes, MN, died on Sunday, December 28, 2025, at Ecumen Cottages Assisted Living.

Ida was born April 9, 1920, on the family farm south of Dorset, MN, in rural Hubbard County. She was the daughter of Frank and Rose Kruft and the youngest of nine children. Her father donated the land for a country school, which she attended through the eighth grade, and she then completed one year of high school in Park Rapids, MN. She met her husband of 65 years, El (Elvert) Stenevik, at a baseball game in Hubbard. Their first date was at the fair in Park Rapids, where El won a brown teddy bear for her. They were married at her family home on January 18, 1942. Ida moved to and worked in Minneapolis while El was in the Army during WWII. Once reunited, they stayed in the Twin Cities suburbs, raising three daughters. After retirement, they returned to the Park Rapids area in 1983 until El’s passing in 2007, when Ida moved to Detroit Lakes.

Ida enjoyed living on the farm and in rural areas, watching and feeding birds and other wildlife. Over the years, she tended large gardens, canned her produce, and loved searching for and picking berries in the woods for her jellies and jams. She enjoyed making treats for her family—brownies, pies, and her famous cinnamon rolls were always warm on the kitchen counter. Ida and El enjoyed camping and made many trips to Missouri and the western United States, visiting family and friends. They took full advantage of northern Minnesota lakes, with many great memories from Shell Lake.

She was very active in the church, serving on the Ladies’ Altar Guild and participating in LWML. She was rarely without her Portals of Prayer and read it every night during her evening devotions.

Ida liked to stay busy with many projects over the years, including sewing, crocheting, crafting, and quilting. She made countless quilts for family, friends, and charities, but her passion—even at 105—was embroidering dish towels. She embroidered a vast variety of patterns, and family members enjoyed trying to find one she hadn’t done yet. When she wasn’t working on dish towels, she was crocheting dishcloths, doing word search books, or reading local newspapers and a variety of books.

She cherished her time with family and kept them busy playing dominoes, card games like “Garbage,” Scrabble, and Bananagrams.

She is survived by her three daughters: Kathie Jensen of Detroit Lakes, MN; Carol (Todd) Stark of Cannon Falls, MN; and Betty (Mark) Raasch of Inver Grove Heights, MN. Three granddaughters: Shelly Thompson of Farmington, MN; Tanya Smiley (Sean Casey) of Richfield, MN; and Kate Raasch (Joe Schueller) of Hudson, WI. Two step-grandchildren: Damieon (Genevieve) Stark of New York, NY, and Alexis Stark (Patrick McAllister) of Gig Harbor, WA. Great-grandchildren: Hanna (Caleb) Fouss, Meagan Thompson (Tyler Miller), Evelyn Smiley, and Russell Schueller. Step-great-grandchildren: Langdon and Owen McAllister. Great-great-grandchildren: Peyton and Lincoln Fouss, as well as several loving nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; siblings; husband, Elvert Stenevik; son-in-law David Jensen; and grandson-in-law Loren Thompson.

Services for Ida will be held on Monday, January 5, 2026, at 11:00am at David-Donehower Funeral Home in Detroit Lakes.

A visitation hour will begin an hour prior to services at 10:00am.

Memorials may be directed to the family. For those who wish, contributions may also be made to Main Street Living - a regional Lutheran television program (https://www.mainstreetliving.com/north/make-a-contribution/)