Signe Tronborg Nielsen Betsinger, the daughter of Ellen H. (Jorgensen) and William T. Nielsen, was born on August 2, 1930, in Estherville, Iowa. She died on November 3, 2023 at the Lyngblomsten Care Center in St. Paul, Minnesota at the age of 93 years.
She was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Estherville.
After spending her childhood years is Estherville and Ringsted, Iowa she pursued her undergraduate study at Grand View University, Des Moines, Iowa and Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa. From 1953 to 1957, she served in the United States Army Medical Specialist Corps, where she completed training as an occupational therapist, and then served two years as a registered therapist at Valley Forge Army Hospital in Phoenixville, Pennsylvania. Upon her honorable discharge as a First Lieutenant, Signe entered the University of Minnesota to begin graduate work. She taught high school home economics for two years at Cambridge, Minnesota and Grantsburg, Wisconsin.
Signe continued her graduate work at the University of Minnesota where, upon receiving her Ph.D. in 1970, she taught courses in design. In 1971, she began a career as a university administrator, assuming the position of head of the Department of Home Economics at the University of Vermont, and later the of Director of the School of Home Economics. Signe returned to the University of Minnesota where she served as Assistant Dean and Associate Dean in the College of Home Economics, and for the 11 years prior to her retirement in 1995, as Assistant Director of the Minnesota Agriculture Experiment Station.
In her academic career, Signe served on numerous committees, both regionally and nationally, and devoted a significant amount of her time to working with scientists engaged in regional research in agriculture and home economics. She was a member of Delta Phi Delta, Omicron Nu, Phi Upsilon Omicron, and Gamma Sigma Delta honorary societies. In 1989, Signe received the Distinguished Alumna Award from Grand View University.
For nine years, Signe was involved in establishing the Danish Immigrant Museum, Elk Horn, Iowa, and served as president of its Board of Directors from 1983-1989. She also served on the Board of Trustees for Grand View University, and the Board of Trustees of the Vermont Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Signe was preceded in death by her parents, Ellen H. (Jorgensen) and William T. Nielsen. She is survived by her cousins in Denmark.
A breakfast visitation was held from 9-10 am. Wednesday, November 8, 2023 at Trinity Lutheran Church, in Estherville, Iowa. She was buried with military honors at Swan Lake Township Cemetery in rural Gruver, Iowa.
Memorials are requested to Trinity Lutheran Church, Estherville, or The Danish Immigrant Museum, 2212 Washington Street, Elk Horn, Iowa, or to a charity of the donor’s choice.
