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Dagmar Elizabeth Vasby, 106, of Cambridge, Wis., died Wednesday, Dec. 25, 2013, at Agrace Hospice in Fitchburg, Wis. Her life was committed to Christ, a life that touched lives around the globe.

Services will be 11 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 4, 2014, at Grace Lutheran Church in Cambridge, Wis. Friends may call at the church on Saturday beginning at 9:30 a.m. until the time of the service.

Dagmar Elizabeth Petersen was born Feb. 12, 1907, in Moorhead, Iowa, the second of 10 children born to Danish immigrants Niels Christian and Laura Petersen. Her father received degrees from Dana College and Trinity Seminary in Blair. He pastored churches in Nebraska, Iowa, Michigan and Illinois before the entire Petersen family moved back to Denmark in 1922.

She received a degree in nursing in 1930 in Viborg, Denmark.

In 1937, she answered the call of God on her life to be a medical missionary and teacher in Manchuria. Intending to be there for life, her call was disrupted when all missionaries were forced to leave China in 1946.

After returning to her family in Denmark for a short time, she was led to Liberia, Africa, where she served as the first missionary nurse at Ganta Mission for the Methodist mission board.

In 1954, she married Joe Vasby, a widower, and moved to Cambridge, Wis., to become mother to his five children. In addition to adjusting to farm life and learning to be a mother, her years in Cambridge were filled with nursing, leading women's Bible studies and youth Bible camps, personal counseling, worldwide travels, writing, speaking engagements, ministering to foreign students at the University of Wisconsin and gardening. She was a lay minister in the Methodist Church.

The Vasby home welcomed missionaries, friends and family from around the world. She never lost her deep desire to minister to the poor, sick and needy of the community and the world. Right up until her death, she faithfully read newsletters, prayed for and supported mission work. Perhaps her greatest legacy was her commitment to prayer.

Her autobiography, "Under the Cloud," written with Charlene Luchterhand, was published in 2001 and chronicles her life from the Nebraska frontier to Denmark, China, Africa and finally to Cambridge.

She is survived by her five children and their spouses: Marilyn (Chuck) Roum of Verona, Wis., Joyce (Don) Jorgensen of Ripon, Wis., Owen (Pat) Vasby of Fort Collins, Colo., Lucille (Tim) Brown of Blair and Phil Vasby of Cambridge; 13 grandchildren: Marcia Roum Brue of Barneveld, Wis., Jane Burnett of Crossville, Tenn., Joel Jorgensen of Ripon, Mark Jorgensen of Knoxville, Tenn., Kyle Vasby and Karrin Anderson of Fort Collins, Lans Brown of Frisco, Texas, Jayme Small, Brett Brown and Brian Brown of Blair, Josh Vasby of Portland, Ore., and Jenna Vasby and Chloe Vasby of Cambridge; 22 great-grandchildren and a newborn great-great-grandson. Her children were all profoundly touched and are deeply grateful to God for her life.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Johannes Vasby: a daughter-in-law, Paula Vasby; and nine brothers and sisters.

Those planning an expression of sympathy may wish to consider Grace Lutheran Church. Nitardy Funeral Home in Cambridge is in charge of arrangements.

www.nitardyfuneralhome.com

~~~ Obituary courtesy of the Washington County Genealogical Society. Newspaper clippings on file in the Blair, Nebraska library.~~~