Claston Eugene Bond 1922-2008
Community News Corp web site, Dodge Co., Minnesota, Feb. 6, 2008.
Claston "Classy" Bond, 85, died peacefully on February 3, 2008, at Golden Living Center in Franklin, Minnesota, where he resided for the past three months. Classy was born on April 7, 1922, Dodge County. He graduated from Dodge Center High School as class Salutatorian. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps after graduation and served over 4 years in the Pacific Theatre as a flight engineer on the DC 3 aircraft.
After World War II, he was honorably discharged as staff sergeant. He then joined his father, Henry, to run the family dairy farm in rural Dodge County. He met and married his sweetheart, Seili Jalkanen, a nursing student at St. Mary Hospital School of Nursing in Rochester, Minnesota. After sweeping her off her feet at a local roller skating rink, the couple was soon dating and subsequently married on September 6, 1948. Classy worked at the Owatonna Tool Company for nearly 12 years. He then was employed as a steel worker and truck driver at McNeilus Steel Company in Dodge Center for about 20 years.
Classy and Seili were lifelong, active members of the Dodge Center Seventh Day Baptist Church. Together they raised four children, a son and three daughters, who blessed them with seven grandchildren and one great grandchild. Classy loved the southern Minnesota farm country...he was a farmer at heart. He enjoyed life in his small, rural, Minnesota hometown. He was a proud Marine, a hard worker, and an ardent Sabbath keeper who flexed his muscles to the delight of children and friends.
He had a "life of the party" personality, entertaining friend and stranger alike. Classy's bipolar mental illness created challenges for him, but his family and employers adapted and loved him through the best and the worst of times. Above all else, poetry defined the real, inner man for everyone who knew and appreciated this gifted truck driver. Classy's lyrical poetry portrayed his deeply spiritual character and his penchant for delighting the subject of his poem which usually were family and friends. Some of his poetry was published nationally.
Survivors include his children: son Bill of Forest Lake, MN; daughters: Bette of Los Angeles, CA; Faye (Curt) Wendland of Byron MN; and Mary (Bruce) Proctor, of Mesquite, TX. His seven grandchildren include Jason and Derek Bond, Annie and Melissa Wendland, Nicole Godinez, Chase and Brett Proctor, and one great-granddaughter, Alana Godinez. Claston was preceded in death by his loving wife of 51 years, Seili Bond; his seven siblings: Ormand, Leona, Ardith, Lawrence, Bernice, Arthur and Wesley; and his parents Henry and Cora Bond.
Claston's visitation will be Tuesday, 5:00 to 7:00 PM, February 5, 2008, at the Dodge Center Czaplewski Family Funeral Homes, 110 W Main Street Dodge Center, MN 55927, (507) 374-2155. His funeral service will be on Wednesday, February 6, 2008 at 1:00 PM at the Dodge Center Seventh Day Baptist Church, 203 E Main St., Dodge Center, MN 55927 (507) 374-6755. Interment is at the Dodge Center Riverside Cemetery. All friends and family are invited to attend this celebration of Claston Bond's life.

Seili Marie (Jalkanen) Bond 1924-1999 
"The Sabbath Recorder", Vol 222, No 4, p 25, Apr., 2000.
Seili Marie Bond, 75, of Dodge Center, Minn., went to be with her Lord on December 23, 1999, at St. Mary Hospital in Rochester, Minn.
She was born on April 29, 1924, the daughter of Matte and Maria (Autio) Jalkanen in Chassell, Mich. She was raised in a Finnish home on a self-sufficient dairy farm, and graduated from Chassell High School as the class salutatorian. She left the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to attend St. Mary School of Nursing in Rochester, Minn., where she graduated in 1947.
On September 6, 1948, Seili married Claston E. Bond in Minneapolis, Minn. She and Claston lived in the Dodge Center area all of their married life. She chose to stay at home and raise their four children until they were all in elementary school. She was a Dodge County Public Health Nurse for over 20 years.
As a teenager, Seili was confirmed in the Chassell Finnish Lutheran Church. At that time she made a personal decision to accept Jesus Christ as her Savior. After marrying Claston, she studied the Scriptures on her own and was convinced of the truth of the Seventh-day Sabbath. She was baptized by immersion in the Zumbro River in 1949, and was an active member and deaconess of the SDB Church.
Seili lived each day to the fullest, opening her home and heart to everyone. Her greatest joys in life revolved around her love of God, her family, and her friends. She was an avid cheerleader at all of her grandchildren's events, and touched every life she met. She was an enthusiastic aerobic walker for over two decades, and enjoyed baking, decorating her home, and gardening.
Seili was a servant to all. An example of this is that she delivered "Meals on Wheels" a week before her death.
In addition to her husband, survivors include one son, William of Forest Lake, Minn.; three daughters, Bette Bond of Fullerton, Calif.; Faye Wendland of Byron, Minn., and Mary Proctor of Mesquite, Texas; five sisters, Olga Perander of Hancock, Mich., Ina Huurto of Livonia, Mich., Tina Dickenson of Oceanside, Calif., and Lillian Pfeiffer of Detroit, Mich.; two brothers, Matthew Jalkanen of Chassell and Arthur Jalkanen of Bloomfield Hills, Mich.; and seven grandchildren. She was preceded in death by one brother, Arvo.
Services were held at the Dodge Center SDB Church on December 27, 1999, with Pastor Dale E. Rood officiating. Burial was in Riverside Cemetery, Dodge Center.