- Date Of Birth: December 23, 1927
- Date Of Death: July 14, 2020
- State: Minnesota
Ardell “Del” Ann Byers, age 92, longtime resident of Hibbing passed away Tuesday, July 14, 2020, in her home with family at her side on the very same property she was born. She was born December 23, 1927, in Hibbing, the daughter of Alfred E. and Fanny A. (Skogman) Smith, both immigrants from the Swedish-speaking Ostrobothnia region in Finland. She spoke only Swedish until the age of five when she started first grade. After growing up on her parent’s dairy farm on the eastern side of Hibbing, she went on to graduate from Hibbing High School and business college in Minneapolis.
Del held a variety of jobs, including flight attendant for American Airlines (based out of Las Angeles, CA), legal and medical secretary. She and her family had the opportunity to live in numerous states across the U.S., finally returning to her hometown of Hibbing in 1976.
Within a few years Del started a board and lodging home and cared for as many as six people at a time until she retired in her middle 80s.
She was a lifelong, passionate student of the King James Bible and had a very strong faith.
Del is survived by her sons: John (Leah Koskela) Byers of Hibbing, and David (Julie) Byers of New Boston, MO; and two grandchildren: Jacob and Hannah.
She was preceded in death by her parents; and her brother: Carl Thorsten.
