Yvonne Aasen, 94, passed away at the Carroll Lutheran Village Health Center under Hospice care on December 18 following a serious fall in July. She was an independent living resident at Carroll Lutheran Village in Westminster, MD for the last 14 years and, previously, in Severna Park, MD for 50 years.

Yvonne was born August 27, 1931on a farm near Danzig, North Dakota to Sophie (Herr) and Christian Babitzke, a German immigrant from Russia (Sophie was a descendant of German Russian heritage as well). Her family, along with her two older brothers and older sister, relocated to another farm 9 miles outside of Wishek, ND where she grew up during the Great Depression. Late in life she commented on how “global warming is nothing compared to the Dust Bowl years.” Her parents worked hard and the farm was largely self-sufficient, but money was scarce. Her father once explained to her that he had only 12 cents in cash for the entire month. Sometimes the kids would cut out cardboard inserts when holes wore through their shoes, but resilience and frugality were virtues passed through generations in those days.

Yvonne and her siblings attended grades 1-8 in a one room schoolhouse. She always said she was the smartest kid in her class (she was the only kid in her class). Country roads were so bad that commuting was not viable in the rickety, old pickup truck and horses were used for field work so farm kids had to board in town for high school. Yvonne always had a tender spot in her heart for those farm horses. She always loved to go back to Wishek and visit the old farm, even when most of the buildings were gone.

There did not seem to be many career choices for women in those days: secretary, nurse or schoolteacher. Yvonne left the farm and attended a Catholic nursing school in Fargo, ND where she received an associate degree in nursing and became an RN. She struggled, however, with chemistry class and was tutored by an older boy, Marv Aasen, who had just graduated with a degree in electrical engineering. They became a couple and were married on January 28, 1953. Marv’s job with Westinghouse took them to Baltimore, Maryland, after a brief stint in Pittsburgh, PA and Yvonne worked as a hospital nurse until she and Marv produced an active family of two girls and three boys. Meanwhile, Marv’s work for a defense contractor in Annapolis brought them to Severna Park, MD where they built a house and lived until Marv’s passing and Yvonne’s eventual move to Carroll Lutheran Village.

In the 1960s, Yvonne was one of the first La Leche League (LLL) leaders in the greater Baltimore area. She advocated breast-feeding infants past the initial 3 months (the accepted medical limit at the time) to provide heathier child development. Her example and hard work of outreach, personal counseling and leading LLL meetings were instrumental in changing the landscape of infants and maternal nutrition in her generation.

Yvonne always led a healthy lifestyle. Exercise and nutrition were extremely important – habits she imparted to her children. She baked enriched ethnic breads and cookies which were coveted not only by her own children but by the unfortunate neighbor and school children who didn’t have such talented mothers.

As a high schooler, Yvonne yearned to run, but only boys were allowed to join the track team. She was so jealous. Later, her youngest three children ran high school track. When she was 46, Yvonne was inspired to start running herself and it turned out she was quite good at it. By the time she was in her 70s she became one of the top runners in her age groups in the mid-Atlantic states. She became a pioneer in women’s running in upper age-groups and contributed significantly to the expansion of women’s competition over the age of 60 (like men enjoyed). The real success has been leadership by example and the huge number of aging women who now continue to run.

Yvonne was a member of the Annapolis Striders running club for decades. After moving to Westminster, she became an active member of the Westminster Road Runners Club. Sadly, her running ended 2 years ago due to balance issues, but she continued to walk a mile or two a day with her rollator and weight trained twice a week at the Carroll Lutheran Village gym.

Yvonne has competed at multiple National Senior Games (often called Senior Olympics) and still holds 90-94 age-group place records in the 800-meter, 1500-meter and 4x100-meter relay. In May 2022, while competing at the Ansin Sports Complex in Miramar, FL during the 2022 National Senior Games, she was interviewed by the NY Times and was featured on the front page.

Besides running, Yvonne participated in two long-term aging research studies — the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA) and an Alzheimer’s study at Johns Hopkins University. According to the National Institute on Aging, the BLSA is America’s longest-running study of human aging and aims to answer critical questions about what happens as people get older. Yvonne has participated for twelve years attending annual multi-day regimes of testing and, upon death, donated her brain for aging analysis. She believed this was important research that would yield recommendations for how exercise can improve the aging process.

Yvonne also loved to write and edit. She wrote articles and edited the Cape Arthur community newsletter, the church bulletin, and newsletter. She taught Sunday school and had her kids write news articles about the Bible stories they learned. She published them on the church mimeograph machine for the students to have their own “newspaper”. For 7 years, she edited the “STREAK” newsletter for the Annapolis Striders. Even at CLV, she took writing classes and created numerous short stories, taking delight in making them humorous.

She was a talented public speaker. She enjoyed a large part in a high school play as well as parts in skits and short dramatizations at church. She went on to join Toastmasters (before they allowed women to belong - she was a member of Toastmistresses back then). While at CLV, she rejoined the Toastmasters with her youngest son Will and competed in speaking contests.

Yvonne was keenly interested in family history and genealogy, especially her Germans from Russia heritage. Through her work, she leaves a record of her family’s life, reasons for immigration and accounts of hardships our forebears endured to give us the lives we have been blessed with in America.

Yvonne was preceded in death by her husband of 53 years, Marvin (2005), a granddaughter Louise (1981), sister Louise (2016), and brother Douglas (2021). Yvonne is survived by her five children, Anna (William) Stobaugh, Wyatt (Sherry) Aasen, Christina Aasen, Curtis Aasen, and Willis (Melanie) Aasen; ten grandchildren Jesse, Brent, Wesley, Gunnar, Aliza, Morgan, Nicholas, Matthew, Joey and Lacey (who all loved her famous “face cookies”); four great-grandchildren Sawyer, Espen, Penelope, and Judah (with another on the way); and older brother Donald (age 98).

Yvonne’s faith in Jesus Christ was very important to her, and she was an active member of Grace Lutheran Church in Westminster, MD. A funeral service for Yvonne will be held at Grace Lutheran at 10:00 AM on December 23, 2025, officiated by Pastor Matt Pensinger and Deacon Don Myers. A reception in the church hall will follow. Private interment will be at the family site at Lakemont Memorial Gardens, Davidsonville, MD. Donations in Yvonne’s name may be made to a charity of your choice.