Joan I. Grund, age 79, dies

Joan I. Grund, age 79, passed away peacefully on March 6, 2019. She was surrounded by her children and grandchildren during her final days with lots of family music and chatter which is what she enjoyed most.
Joan was preceded in death by her husband John; parents, Frances (Shepel) and Fingal Lindbeck; and sister Desiree.
She is survived by daughter Heidi (Walter) Poxon of Hopkins; son Erik (Libby) Grund of Bloomington; daughter Erin (Phil Jensen) Grund of Duluth; grandchildren: Kylie, Kira, Nathan, Andrew and Brent; as well as friends and other relatives.
Born in Ely Minnesota in 1939, Joan lived in Ely during her childhood and as a teen was the first female radio jockey at the local radio station. She moved to Minneapolis to attend college at the University of Minnesota where she met John, her husband of 54 years. Before her children were born, she taught high school English in Richfield, MN. After the kids were in school, she worked as an office assistant for a patent attorney.
Joan loved to entertain, hosting lively dinners and parties with friends and family. She and John enjoyed traveling, visiting family in Ely and Grygla, and for many years spent time in Brownsville, Texas and Mazatlan, Mexico during the coldest parts of Minnesota’s winters.
Gifted as an amazing soprano, Joan loved music and enjoyed singing Slovenian folk songs she learned at home as a child as well as standards, often with her mother Fran playing organ and singing harmony. She traveled to Slovenia with Fran as members of the Ely Slovenian Chorus to perform traditional music in a series of concerts in the fall of 1996.
Joan also loved babies and she had that special magic to understand just what they needed. She enjoyed caring for her grandchildren, providing day care for their first years and hosting many sleep overs with popcorn, cherry chocolate chip ice cream, and movies.
Should friends and family desire, memorials in Joan’s name may be made to the Fischer Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation at www.alzinfo.org
A memorial service will be held for Joan on April 20 at 3:00 p.m. at Mount Olivet Lutheran Church in Minneapolis.