James “Jim” Henry Pickus, James “Jim” Henry Pickus, a former Twig resident who graduated from Proctor High School in 1958, passed away in Woodburn, Oregon. Sat., Dec. 24, 2005. He was 65.

He was born March 20,1940 in Jordan, Minn. and served four years in the U.S. Air Force stationed in Texas and at March Air Force Base in Riverside, Calif.

James was preceded in death by his parents William Pickus and Meta (Dallmann) (Pickus) Swenson, and step-father Ted Swenson.

He is survived by a daughter Lynn (Pickus) Kriner of Portland, Oregon, brothers Richard (Janice) Pickus of Duluth, Clarence (Marlene) Pickus of Alborn, sister Betty (Pickus) Freeman (Don) of Hermantown, Ron (Bobbie) Swenson of Lincoln, Calif., Dale (Sharon) Swenson of Saginaw, Swenson sisters Mary (John) Sundquist of Laughlin, Nev., Barbara (Mike) Wilson of Cook, many nieces, nephew, aunts, uncles and cousins, and close friends Edie & Jerry Faver.

Funeral Service was held today, Jan. 12, 2006 at 12:00 p.m., at Willamette National Cemetery in Portland, Oregon.

Marie Holmstrand, Marie Holmstrand, a nationally published and award winning writer of juvenile fiction authoring hundreds of short stories and two novels, died Tues., Jan. 3, 2006, at Edgewood Vista. She was 97.

She was born Marie Juline Gunderson in Forbes, Minn., the youngest child of Norwegian settlers. After moving to Duluth, she attended Irving and Denfeld High School and married Lawrence H. Holmstrand, her husband of 50 years.

They bought property along Ugstad Rd. in the mid 1930’s, cleared the land, dug the well and built their home themselves. They had a small menagerie of farm animals that supplied meat during the rationing of the war years and a large garden that kept the family in fruit and vegetables.

Marie was always interested in writing and sold her first story to a national magazine when she was 17. It happened on a dare. A girlfriend and Marie dared each other to write a story and submit it to a large magazine.

The girlfriend’s story came back with a form letter. Marie didn’t get a letter and her girlfriend teased her saying the editors threw it away without even a rejection slip.

Months later Marie did get a letter, but with a check for her story. The first of many.

Her first book, “Trouble at Turtle Bay,” won the 1952 Boy’s Life/Dodd Mead Award for youth fiction. She also taught adult creative writing classes through the Denfeld Public School system and mentored several published writers from the Head of the Lakes. Marie was a member of Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Proctor, where she served on the Church Council and several committees, including a Pastoral Call Committee. She also edited and wrote the church newsletter for many years and with profits from her first book she helped create Bethlehem Lutheran’s first church library.

In 1989 she moved to Hillside Garden Apartments before moving to Nopeming then Edgewood Vista where she lived for the past four years.

Marie was preceded in death by her parents, her sister Agnes Solen, her brother Arne Gunderson, and her husband Lawrence in 1979.

She is survived by her children Jean LemMon of Des Moines, Iowa and Allan (Mary Jo) Holmstrand of Bloomington, granddaughters Laura Baldwin of Seattle, Wash., Becky (Bill) Matykowski of Des Moines and Krish (Mark) Kiefer of Waconia, and great-grandchildren Noah Matykowski, Sage and Skye Kiefer.

A service was held last week in Bethlehem Lutheran Church. Pastor Jeffrey Holter officiating. Burial at Oneota Cemetery. Memorial gifts may be given to Bethlehem Lutheran Church or the Duluth Public Library.

Ethel Irene (Strom) Kolden, Ethel Irene (Strom) Kolden, 85, lifelong resident of Proctor, passed away January 8, 2006, at Viewcrest Health Center.

She was born August 17, 1920 in Duluth to Carl and Hedvig Strom. Ethel was a graduate of Proctor High School and D.B.U. On December 17, 1955 she married Rueben L. Kolden.

Ethel worked at First National Bank of Duluth and later as the Executive Secretary at Savage Mining. She had been an active member of the Duluth Gospel Tabernacle Church.

Ethel was preceded in death by her husband of 50 years, Rueben on December 19, 2005; a son Curt; her parents and a brother, Ray.

She is survived by her children, Gerald Robinson, of Duluth, Joanne (Tom) Blazejak, of Proctor, James (Loan) Kolden, of Lakeville, Minn., Daniel (Tracy) Kolden), of Hermantown, and Kathy (Virgil) Fox, of Duluth; her sister, Doris Weiler, of Proctor; six grandchildren, Laurie and Michael Blazejak, Stephanie and Nikki Kolden, Melissa and Kristen Kolden; a great-granddaughter, Kylee; many other relatives and friends.

Gathering of family and friends from 1 p.m. until the 2 p.m. memorial service Fri., Jan. 13 at Bell Brothers Funeral Home.

Burial in the spring at Augustana Cemetery, Midway Township.

Thomas A. Peterson, Robert (Harriet) Peterson of Proctor is saddened by the death of his brother, Thomas A. Peterson. The Moose Lake resident died Sat., Dec. 31, 2005 in Rotonda West, Fla. He was 69.

He was preceded in death by his son Alan R. Peterson, parents Irwin and Erma Peterson, and father-in-law Charles Dinger.

He is also survived by his wife Grayce (Dinger) Peterson of Moose Lake, daughter Karen (Michael) Mandt of Princeton, son Thomas (Christine) Peterson of Barnum, sister Marlene (Jim) Dolan, of Inver Grove Heights, and grandchildren Amanda (Tom) Dvorak, Luke Jensen, Alicia and Anthony Mandt, Dylan and Kyle Peterson, Alyssa and Jenna Shanda. He will be deeply and forever missed by his family and friends.

A Memorial Service will be held at 2:30 p.m. today, Thurs., Jan. 12, 2006 in Hope Lutheran Church, Moose Lake.