Obituary of Edward Gunderson

Edward Gunderson, 97, of Cambridge formerly of the Day area passed away on Friday, October 1, 2010 at home at Willow Wood assisted living. Ed Gunderson was born in Mound, MN in 1913, when that was still farm country. He attended the University of Minnesota for two years and worked the family farm. In 1944 he married Irene Berntson. They moved to a farm near Day on the northern edge of Isanti County in 1946 and spent the next decades improving the land and the house, and raising their son, Jim, and daughter, Anne. Ed was on the boards of Siloa Lutheran Church and the Day Telephone Co., and served as President of the Ogilvie PTA and a 4-H leader for the Day Busy Bees. Ed and Irene moved to Cambridge in 1988 and both enjoyed their life off the farm. Ed joined the Community Education Advisory Council and served as Director for the Willow Wood Home Owners Association. Irene became ill in 1991 and was moved to the Cambridge Health Care Center, where Ed began to volunteer. After Irene passed away later that year, Ed continued his volunteer work there, logging over 700 hours in a single year. When Ed could no longer live by himself, his neighbors Roberta and John Royal from Willow Wood invited him to share their home, where he enjoyed being part of their family as well as his own until his passing. Ed was preceded in death by his parents, wife Irene and sister Caroline Soderlund. He is survived by his son James and wife Kathleen Gunderson of Owatonna, daughter Anne Gunderson and husband Paul Dunlap, two grandchildren, three step grandchildren, 16 great grandchildren, four great great grandchildren, as well as other relatives and friends.