Joan Larson, wife of the late Rev. Benjamin L. Larson, died on February 22, 2026, in Moorhead, Minnesota. She was 94.
Joan Baxter was born September 13, 1931, to parents James and Helen (Lindblad) Baxter in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the oldest of five children. During her father’s tenure pastoring a Baptist church in Robbinsdale, Joan professed her faith in Jesus Christ and was baptized at the age of six. As her father wrote in his memoirs, her decision was “without prompting or urging.” She attended Robbinsdale High School while living with her grandparents, Jennie and Erhard Lindblad. Her family then moved to California, where she attended Monterey High School. She graduated in 1947 at the age of sixteen.
Joan continued her education at Augsburg College in Minneapolis, earning a bachelor’s degree in music and English education. During her second year at Augsburg, she was part of a committee to welcome incoming freshmen students, which is where she was introduced to Benjamin Lawrence Larson from Wadena, Minnesota. Ben had a beautiful tenor voice, and they sang together in the top choir at Augsburg.
Upon graduation, they were married at Edina Covenant Church on June 8, 1951. Ben and Joan enjoyed their gifts of music, sharing them wherever they were. Together they celebrated with the arrival of three sons: Jonathan in 1955, Richard in 1957, and Steven in 1959.
Joan began her teaching career in the fall of 1952. She taught seventh grade, then was recommended for a music education position at the Excelsior junior high school. Later, while living and teaching music in Bemidji, Joan continued her graduate studies in music education at Bemidji State College.
After Ben completed his studies at Bethel Seminary in 1958, Ben and Joan served together in pastoral ministry, including stops at Anoka (Minnesota) Covenant Church, Redeemer Covenant Church in Chicago, and in Minnesota, Bemidji Covenant Church, Edina Covenant Church, Elim Mission Church in Cokato, and Crosstown Covenant Church in Minneapolis. While faithfully serving alongside her husband in ministry, Joan continued sharing her love of music with students as a music educator. She taught general music in Bemidji Junior High until 1973. She also directed a vibrant teen choir program at the Covenant church in Bemidji.
After the family moved to Edina in 1973, Joan taught in the Minnetonka schools until her retirement in 1994. She would often talk of great memories of the Minnetonka High School choirs, ensembles, and musicals. Joan was the first woman to direct a senior high choral program in the Lake Conference of suburban Minneapolis schools.
Joan and Ben both loved to travel and experience new places and people. After their retirements in 1994, they began construction of a new home in Ely, Minnesota, on the shore of Burntside Lake, where her family had vacationed since 1937. She and her brother Jim have claimed many times when they were young that they would have homes on the lake one day, and they made it happen. During the years in Ely, she continued teaching a weekly women’s Bible study at a Baptist church until the spring of 2023.
During Joan’s last days while she was in hospice, a granddaughter was sitting bedside and looking through Joan’s Bible. She came across her life verse: Galatians 2:20, which had been noted and underlined. “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Joan was preceded in death by her husband of 59 years, Rev. Benjamin L. Larson, and grandson Andrew Larson. She is survived by her sons, Jonathan Larson (Suzanne), Richard Larson (Carol), and Steven Larson (Sara); grandchildren, Jennie Dahl (Joshua), James Larson (Brittany), Matthew Larson (Paula), Peter Larson (Whitney), Michael Larson (Carrisa), Emily Caro (James), Elliotte Walter (Daniel), Danielle Baillargeon (Christopher); granddaughter-in-law Elizabeth Larson; 26 great-grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews.
A service of life celebration will be held on June 13, 2026, at the Wadena Alliance Church, 1428 Jefferson St. S., Wadena, Minnesota, at 2:00 p.m. with a visitation starting at 12:30 p.m. A fellowship time will follow the service at the church. Interment will follow at the Scandinavian Christian Church cemetery in Compton, Minnesota.
In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be sent to the Scandinavian Christian Church Building Restoration Fund, C/O Paul Meyer, Treasurer, 11413 Halstead Trail, Woodbury, MN 55129. Alternatively, memorial gifts may be given in Joan’s name to Anoka Covenant Church, Bemidji Covenant Church, Crosstown Covenant Church, or LedgeRock Baptist Church in Ely.
Peace be to her memory.
