Orvin Amundson

Orvin Waldo Amundson was born June 28, 1925, in rural Elbow Lake, Grant County, to Alfred and Sophie (Ferguson) Amundson. He was baptized and confirmed by the Reverend O.G. Aasen at Ness Lutheran Church. He went to grades one through three in the Ashby-Dalton area and fourth grade through high school in Elbow Lake, graduating with the class of 1943. 

Orvin enlisted in Naval Aviation and began pilot training immediately at Corpus Christi, Texas; St. Olaf College, Northfield; Gonzaga University, Spokane; St. Mary’s College, Oakland; Naval Air Station, Norman, OK. Commissioned single engine SBD Dive Bomber pilot, Ensign, about to be assigned to aircraft carrier duty in the South Pacific. Armistice declared he returned home in late 1945. He continued in the Naval Reserve in Minneapolis until 1956 and was honorably discharged.

He attended one year at Concordia College, Moorhead. He began working at the First National Bank in Elbow Lake in 1947 and continued there for thirty years.

In August of 1947, he married Eljene H. Nelson and together they had four children. 

Orvin sold his interest in the bank in 1987. He was then involved aerial spraying, farming, trucking, private flying, hunting elk in Montana, hunting deer locally and in northern Minnesota, and fishing in Canada. He was a member of the American Legion, Lion’s Club, Elbow Lake Commercial Club, Fire Department, United Lutheran Church, and the Elbow Lake Municipal Airport Board. 

Orvin was very interested in farming, starting at age eleven. He learned to drive a steel wheel tractor with his brother Winfred and continued on through age eighty-five, driving the largest tractors and combines.

He owned his own private plane for many years, taking trips to Texas and Arizona, as well as flying locally. He often transported auctioneers, attorneys, and veterinarians, as well as patients to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester. He did aerial spraying mornings and evenings for a number of years. 

He spent several years as a caregiver to his wife, Eljene until her death in October of 2016. In his last years, he spent his time in the care of the loving staff of Maplewood Manor. 

Orvin is preceded in death by his wife Eljene; infant son; three brothers and four sisters. He is survived by his children Mark (Marlys), Jeffrey (Barbara), and Julie (Allen Alston); eight grandchildren, and thirteen great-grandchildren.

A Funeral Service will be at 2:00 PM Thursday, March 28, 2024, at United Lutheran Church in Elbow Lake. Visitation will begin at 1:00 PM until the time of the service. 

Burial at Ness Cemetery, Elbow Lake. 

Arrangements by Erickson-Smith Funeral Home of Elbow Lake.