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Lois R. Suek

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Lois R. Suek, 96 year old resident of Minneapolis, MN, formerly of Holdingford, MN, passed away on Sunday, May, 26, 2019 at St. Anthony Healthcare in Minneapolis. A Memorial Service will be held at 11 AM on Saturday, June 1, 2019 at Gethsemane Lutheran Church in Upsala, MN, with Rev. Hollis Bishop officiating. Visitation will be held from 9 to 11 AM Saturday at the church. Interment will be in Gethsemane Cemetery in Upsala.
Lois Regina Suek passed away quietly on May 26, 2019 at the age of 96. Lois was born on May 6, 1923 in Albin Township near Godahl, MN, the youngest child of Ole Olson and Gina (Johnson) Olson. She was baptized and confirmed at the Albion Lutheran Church in rural Godahl.
The Olson children grew up in a close-knit extended family. Lois was especially close to her double first cousins, children of Uncle Lars and Aunt Dorthea (her mother’s older brother and her father’s younger sister.) She also enjoyed time with her Johnson relatives, Aunt Emma, and Aunt Nina, and her two Norwegian bachelor uncles, Joe and Chris. Her Lilleodden cousins, especially cousin Christine, were also important influences in her childhood and young adult years. Lois attended grade school in a one-room country school northwest of Godahl. She attended St. James High School, graduating as salutatorian of the Class of 1941. She continued her education at St. Olaf College, graduating in 1947 and majoring in Home Economics. Her mother, Gina, had received a scholarship to attend St. Olaf in 1906 but was unable to attend. She was determined, however, that her children receive education beyond high school. Lois and her brother Norman achieved that. Lois completed a dietetic internship at the University of Minnesota, and became a registered dietitian. Lois worked as a staff dietitian at Swedish Hospital in downtown Minneapolis for three years. She was a young career woman when she met Alphonse Suek in 1953. They were married May 1, 1954 in St. Louis Park, MN and she moved to the Suek farm at Holdingford. Lois served on the Holdingford School Board for 21 years, and was active in school board activities at both the local and regional levels. She received an Outstanding School Board Member Award from the Minnesota School Board Association.
Lois and Al were longtime members of Gethsemane Lutheran Church in nearby Upsala, MN. Lois was active in the women’s organization and was a Sunday School teacher when her children were young. While raising her family, Lois continued her work as a part-time dietitian, teaching for several years in the nutrition program at Alexandria Technical School, working at the Melrose hospital and at the Albany hospital from the time it opened in 1969 until she retired in 1995.
Lois is survived by her six children, Mary Carter (Ed), Linda, Mark (Deb), Paul (Sue), Philip (Paula), and Martha Nelson (Carl-Martin). She was a proud grandmother to 14 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Lois is also survived by sisters-in-law, Vonnie Norum, and Rita Suek Mettenburg, and many nieces and nephews.
Lois was preceded in death by her husband Alphonse, her parents Ole and Gina, sister Helen, brother Norman, nephews Lance and John, and nieces Carolyn and Eileen.