Nicholas Ventrella

Nicholas "Nick" Ventrella, 91, of New London, formerly of Madison, died Monday, September 8 at Bethesda Grand in Willmar. His memorial service will be 11:00 am, Friday, September 19 at Peace Lutheran Church in New London. Visitation will be 5:00-7:00 pm, Thursday and continue one hour prior to the service all at the church. A livestream of the service can be found here. Arrangements are with Harvey Anderson & Johnson Funeral Home in New London. www.hafh.org

Nick was born October 23, 1933 in Stevenson, MN to Mary (Prebonich) and Nicholas Ventrella. Nick grew up in Hibbing and graduated from Hibbing High School in 1951.  Following graduation, he worked at the Androy Hotel and the mining company.  He joined the Army in 1953 and served for two years.  In 1955 he enrolled at Hibbing Junior College, the first person in his family to attend college.  One night in 1956 while out with friends at a dance, he met and fell in love with Donna Cain.  They were married June 1, 1957 and continued dancing together for 68 years. 

With Donna’s encouragement he enrolled in the education program at St. Cloud State College.  He graduated in 1960 and took his first teaching job in Bellingham, MN.  For the next three years, they lived in Madison and he taught social studies and coached wrestling in Bellingham.  He left Bellingham for a business education position at Madison High School, where he taught for 27 years and also coached track and field, cross country and served as the athletic director.

A highlight of his teaching career was in 1979 when Madison’s business education department was chosen as the computer pilot school for the State, which included three summers of instructing other teachers on making the transformation to the world of computers in the classroom.  His greatest honor as an educator came in 1988 when he was chosen as the Madison School representative for Teacher of the Year and was recognized as one of the top 20 outstanding teachers in the State. 

Community involvement was an important part of his life and both he and Donna were very active in Madison.  He was involved in many community events and some of his most enjoyable were serving as a City Councilor; member of the Economic Development Authority and Rural Development Committees; coordinator for Oktoberfest and Norsefest (including chairing the lutefisk eating contest); and the Madison Outstanding Citizen Committee.  He was also very active in the Congregational Church and Masons.  He did all of this while teaching driver’s training in the summers, serving as a licensed accountant, keeping books for many Madison businesses and preparing income taxes.  When they moved to New London/Spicer, Nick remained active in community events, including the Lions Club and serving on many committees at Peace Church.

Nick is survived by the love of his life, Donna; daughters Leanne Ventrella (John Hoivik) of Duluth, Marissa Kunde (Doug) of Marshall and Maribeth Williamson (Mike) of Spicer; his grandchildren Eric Kunde (Wendy), Rachelle Davis (Nick), Shane Kunde (Lauren), Blake Williamson (Katie) and Jared Williamson (Rikka); and his great-grandchildren Camrik, Emma, Rhett, Casen, Ellary, Millie, Nora, Briar, Rawlin, Tait, Maeve, Renlee and Beck.  He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother Ronald.

Memorials to the Madison MN Community Foundation or Peace Lutheran Church, New London, MN.

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