Lenora Friesen Lenora Doris Friesen was born Oct. 15, 1928, to Jacob and Elizabeth Olfert Friesen in Mt. Lake, Minnesota. She grew up on the farm and helped her parents both with farm work and household chores. She was baptized as a teenager in the creek behind the church and joined the Evangelical Mennonite Brethren church of Mt. Lake. After high school she attended Grace Bible Institute in Omaha, Nebraska. On June 24, 1948, she married Donald Klassen and worked with him to establish their farm south of Mt. Lake. Church was an integral part of her life and she was active in many committees. Family and friends were also valuable to her, and time was spent with them.