Patricia Joan (Grindeland) Usgaard

Monday, September 23, 2019 1:28 pm

Patricia Joan (Grindeland) Usgaard, 86, passed away Sept. 20, 2019, at Aase Haugen Home in Decorah. Memorial services are at 2 p.m. Friday, Sept. 27, at Decorah Lutheran Church. Private family inurnment will be in Big Canoe Lutheran Cemetery in rural Decorah. Visitation begins at 1 p.m. Friday, one hour before the service, at Decorah Lutheran Church.

She was born July 2, 1933, in Minneapolis, Minn., to Charles Olaf and Florence (Anderson) Grindeland. Pat grew up in Minneapolis and graduated from Central High School in 1951. During her early years she and her sister Sharon would often visit Decorah, where her father was born, and the family farm near Sattre.

She attended University of Minnesota and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1954. She then worked at the Braniff Airlines office where she met Bob Bourque and they were married in May, 1959. Bob passed away in May, 1991. Pat later moved to Grapevine, Texas, and she worked for a travel agency where she was able to travel extensively. In 1997, she moved back to Decorah, where she always wanted to live, and bought a home on 5th Avenue. Pat and Bob Usgaard were united in marriage Aug. 8, 2004. They enjoyed traveling, remodeling their 5th Avenue home and entertaining. She thoroughly enjoyed being with the expanded family circle, which came along with her marriage to Bob. She and Bob moved to Vennehjem in 2014, living almost next door to her sister Sharon and husband Bob Lillie.

She was proud of her Norwegian heritage and often wore her distinctive Voss bunad at Nordic Fest and other events. She was a long-time member of Sons of Norway and the Elks Club. She attended the family church, Big Canoe Lutheran, and was active in their many activities, especially Lutefisk suppers, Strawberry Fest, and church circles. She also affiliated with Decorah Lutheran after her marriage to Bob Usgaard and was active in the circles there.

Pat is survived by her sister, Sharon Lillie of Decorah; nieces ,Shawn Tater of Tulsa Okla. And Shannon (Chris) Winkle of Decorah; and nephew, Richard (Jennifer) Kmieciak of San Francisco, Calif.; brother-in-law, Robert Lillie of Decorah; grandnieces Madison Barker of Tulsa, Okla. and Jill Tater of Tulsa, Okla.; and great-grandniece, Charlee Barker of Tulsa, Okla.; cousins: Janaan McCarty, Paul (Bernice) Arneson, Ralph (Shirley) Arneson and Margaret Arneson, all of the Decorah area. She also is survived by Bob Usgaard’s five children and seven grandchildren: James Usgaard (Becky Knutson) of Urbandale, David (Amy) Usgaard and children, Curtis, Daniel and Douglas of Decorah, Thomas (Susan) Usgaard and children Raymond and Joseph of Morton, Ill., Robert (Diane Granfors) Usgaard of Anchorage, Alaska, and Susan (Brent) Simi and children, Elisabeth Brandt and great-granddaughter, Tenley of Dresser, Wis., and Sydney Simi of Ham Lake, Minn.; and her sister-in-law, Lois (Gene) Albers of Ridgeway.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Robert Bourque; husband, Robert Usgaard; cousins Stanley Arneson and Kathryn (Jerome) Kroshus.

Memorial gifts may be made to the Aase Haugen Senior Services, Inc., 4 Ohio Street, Decorah, IA 52101 and the Winneshiek Memorial (WMC) Hospital Foundation, 901 Montgomery Street, Decorah, IA 52101.

Fjelstul Funeral Home in Decorah is serving the family. Online condolences may be made at fjelstul.com.