Luan Marie Johnsrud, 69, of Paynesville, died at the Paynesville Health Care Center on September 10, 2024, after a long fight with brain cancer. She died on September 8.
The funeral will be held at Paynesville Lutheran Church on September 14 at 10:30 a.m. Visitation will start an hour before the service at the church on Friday from 4 to 7 p.m. and go on for another hour. The funeral will take place at the Paynesville Cemetery.
Luan Marie Johnsrud was born in Glenwood, Minnesota, on February 15, 1955. Her parents were Kenneth Johnsrud and Anna (Norby). Luan went to St. John’s Lutheran church to be baptized and confirmed. Through the seventh grade, she went to Cyrus Public School.
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Luan graduated from Starbuck High School and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in business at Alexandria Technical College and Cardinal Strich University after her family sold the farm and built a house in Starbuck. Her marriage to Richard Lahr produced four children. Even though they got a divorce, Luan’s love and devotion to her family never changed.
Luan loved helping other people, so she started working as a Certified Nursing Assistant at Starbucks Hospital while she was still in high school.
She kept her license up to date and kept working part-time in nursing homes, assisted living facilities, and home care over the years. A lot of the people who took care of Luan at the end of her trip had worked with her before, which she was very thankful for.
Luan’s work path led her to a satisfying job as a loan officer who focuses on home mortgages and farm loans. Throughout her work and personal life, her deep connection to farming and agriculture was clear. While she was married to Richard, she lived on a farm near Paynesville for 14 years.
Her love of farming stayed a big part of her life. Luan used her wide range of farming skills in her job at Pope County Soil and Water in Glenwood. Later, she worked for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture until July 2022, when she retired.
A lot of people were happy with Luan’s skills outside of work. She has enjoyed farming, harvesting, canning, cooking, and spending time with her best friend Gary Strodtman for the past year and a half. For many years, Luan was also a very skilled tailor who made clothes for herself and her family and fixed up beautiful dresses for weddings and proms.
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When Luan lived in Glenwood and performed in many plays and shows with the Showstoppers, her personality lit up the stage. She enjoyed being a foster grandparent at Paynesville Elementary School after she retired from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture. There, she helped kids with their snow gear, shoes, reading, odd hugs, and anything else that needed extra help.
It was very important to Luan that she believed in Jesus. Luan used to go to Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Glenwood and sing at many weddings and funerals as a cantor and in the choir.
She was active in the choir and taught religious education on Wednesday nights at Paynesville Lutheran Church after moving there. She also gave her time to help out at Vacation Bible School.
Luan is survived by her children, Michele (Tim) Roberg of Paynesville, Angie (Will) Paschke of Sartell, Ginni (Randy) Kerzman of Paynesville, and Ricky Lahr of Paynesville; grandchildren, Mikayla, Grace, Roman, and Luke Roberg; Evan and Anna Paschke; Levi, Kevin, and Robert Kerzman; Mylee Lahr; Jeremy, Savannah, and Autumn Steinke; her mother, Anna Johnsrud of Paynesville; her sister Judith (Bill) Dietzler; niece Heidi Dietzler; nephews Will (Tamara) Dietzler and Matt (Brittnee) Dietzler; and great-nephew August Dietzler.
Her dad, Kenny Johnsrud, died before they did.
