Date of Birth:
Friday, March 7, 1924
Date of Death:
Thursday, February 8, 2024
Age:
99 years old

Isabella Mork

Penny Mork (Isabella) joined her beloved Arnold in heaven on February 8, 2024, just one month shy of her 100th birthday.  Penny died peacefully, surrounded by family after six wonderful years of care at Arbor Terrace and Samaritan Bethany.  A special thanks goes to them for their kind and compassionate care.

 Isabella was born to Thomas and Margaret (Maggie) Christie on March 7, 1924, in Perth, Scotland. Penny spent her childhood years in Perth and Aberdeen.  She attended nursing school in Aberdeen, where she was bestowed with the name Penny by her fellow nursing students, due to her petite stature.  She then went to London during World War II, where she served as a nurse during the London bombings.  After the war, she answered an ad at her local hospital looking for nurses to take part in a two-year nursing fellowship at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn.  

 After completing the fellowship, Penny stayed on at Mayo Clinic and worked with them for 26 years, until her retirement in 1987.   Penny met her love, Arnold, in the most quintessential Rochester fashion – looking for downtown parking.  Arnold owned a gas station called Mork’s Webb Gas which sat on Second Street and First Avenue NW, and he rented a monthly parking spot to Penny.  They were married in 1964 at Bethel Lutheran Church and were married until Arnold’s death in 2018.

 After retirement, she and Arnold began their traveling adventures.  They visited her homeland of Scotland at least four times and traveled all over the United States.  She had a great love for animals, especially her beloved Maggie, a Scottish Highland Terrier.

 Penny had no biological children of her own, but she is survived by many Mork’s and a church family who will remember her fondly, with love.  

 Services will be held at 3:00 p.m. on Friday, February 16th at Hosanna Lutheran Church in Rochester, Minn.  A visitation will be held one hour prior to the service. A dinner will follow the service at the church.

 Online condolences are welcome at www.mackenfuneralhome.com.