Lavern Roland Austinson, 93, of Lyle, Minn., passed away peacefully on Monday, Nov. 19, 2012, at Saint Marys Hospital in Rochester, Minn., following a stroke.

Lavern was the most loving, caring, and friendly man you would ever want to meet. He was born Dec. 18, 1918, in Austin, Minn., to Herman and Selma (Nelson) Austinson. Lavern attended Lyle Public Schools, graduating from Lyle High School in 1938. He then attended Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. After one year of college his father asked him to run the family farm. In 1941, he married Mildred Heard. Along with running the farm, he coached the Lyle High School basketball team for a year, and he also did some part-time assessing for Mower County. He sold the farm in 1979, and he and Mildred moved to Lyle, where he became a full-time assessor for Mower County. Mildred passed away in 1981. Lavern retired as an assessor in 1983.

Lavern served on the board of many organizations, including the Lyle School Board, Red Oak Grove Dairy, St. Mark’s Nursing Home and Six Mile Grove Church. He was also a member of the Lyle Lion’s Club. Lavern loved sports and was involved in many, including softball, pool, bowling, golf, horseshoes, basketball and his favorite sport, baseball. He pitched two nine-inning no-hitters on the same day in high school. He also pitched for the Austin Packers and the Lyle Town Team. He especially loved going up north fishing with family and friends.

Survivors include his two sons, Carroll (special friend Sue) of Rochester, Minn., and Arleigh (Gloria) of Lyle; one brother, Paul (Joan) of Rochester; three sisters, Agnes Olsen of St. Ansgar, Iowa, Marcene Pell and Loreen Kilgore, both of Austin; five grandchildren Heidi (Randy) Morrison and Hilary of Chaska, Heather of Lyle, Mike of Seattle, Chad (Talcott) of Olympia, Wash.; three great-grandchildren, Jadah, Clementine and Henrietta; many nieces, nephews and cousins.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Herman and Selma Austinson; his stepmother, Effie Austinson; his wife, Mildred; brothers Carroll, Chester, Warren and Floyd; sisters Marcene and Dorothy; and two grandchildren who passed away at birth.

Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 24, 2012, at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Lyle, with Pastor Lydia Mittag officiating. Interment will follow at Six Mile Grove Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 23, 2012, at Worlein Funeral Home in Austin, and one hour prior to the service at the church on Saturday. The family prefers that memorials be directed to Six Mile Grove Church. Condolences may be expressed to the family online at www.worlein.com.