Wilmina Mae "Mina" Nystrom

Wilmina Mae Nystrom “Mina” (age 94) of Crosby passed away on February 11, 2023.  Mina was born October 16, 1928 in Mora, Minnesota to Luella (Kreisel) and Irl Hoffman.  She lived on a farm to the age of 7 but her father died and she moved into the town of Mora with her mother and two younger sisters.  

She grew up rather poor with no indoor plumbing but her mother always found a way to make ends meet by renting rooms and maintaining a large garden.  As a little girl, Mina told the story of her only vacation – a family trip to Mille Lacs Lake with a neighbor where she caught a twenty-pound Northern Pike, providing a fish fry for family and friends.  She also told of a couple elderly war veterans who visited her first-grade classroom to talk about their experience in the Civil War.  And as teenager she worked in a vegetable packaging warehouse one summer, where each day German Prisoners of War would be bused in as workers.  She recalled these men singing songs during the lunch hour, and when they sang a patriotic song about the Third Reich, the girls would “drown them out” by singing patriotic songs about America’s war effort.

Mina graduated from Mora High School in 1946 and attended St. Cloud State University.  She taught elementary school in Pine City.  She married Melvin “Ken” Nystrom June 16, 1951 and lived in Soudan, Hardwick, Brainerd, Winona, Brooklyn Park, Maple Grove, and Crosby.  She worked in elementary schools as a librarian for 20 years in the Osseo School District.  

Mina loved the simple things in life, reading, traveling, camping, walking, watching birds and wildlife, and fishing.  Her joy was her four sons, five grandchildren, and eight great grandchildren.  She also was a woman of faith, serving many years as a Sunday School Teacher as well as periods teaching Lutheran Confirmation classes and attending numerous Bible studies.  She was always ready to serve others, particularly the less fortunate.  She retired in Crosby, where she enjoyed living on Rabbit Lake for thirty years and in the Heartwood Senior Apartments for four years.  

Mina is survived by sons John Nystrom (Heidi), Richard Nystrom, Robert Nystrom (Jane), and Thomas Nystrom; grandchildren, Corey Nystrom, Kyle and Cee Nystrom, Wilmina Marget, Mark and Anna Nystrom, and Kevin and Laura Peters; and seven great grandchildren.  She is preceded in death by her parents, husband, two sisters, and one great grandchild.

A Memorial service will be held at 1:00 p.m. Saturday, March 4, 2023 at the Salem Lutheran Church in Deerwood. Burial will be at the Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery at a later date.  Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the church on Saturday.  Arrangements are with the Koop Funeral Home in Crosby...