Marie Patricia "Paddy" Solberg

VISITATION
Monday, August 25, 2014
4:00 - 8:00 P.M.
St. John's Lutheran Church
Depew, Iowa

In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that memorials be directed to Holy Family Catholic Church, Emmetsburg, Iowa, Lakeside Assisted Living, Emmetsburg, Iowa, or Mayo Clinic Cancer Research, Rochester, Minnesota.

SERVICE
St. John's Lutheran Church
Depew, Iowa
Tuesday, August 26, 2014, 1:30 P.M.

CLERGY
Rev. David Moore ~ St. John's Lutheran Church
Rev. Clem Currans ~ Holy Family Catholic Church

HONORARY BEARERS
(Paddy's Grandchildren)
Caleb
Caitlyn
Calvin
Ethan
Carson
(Paddy's niece and nephews in absentia)
Vicky Costanza
Paul Berry
Tony Berry
Nick Berry
Tim Berry
William Bazlinton

Paddy was born March 28, 1942, in Dublin, Ireland, to Harry and Vera Horan. She graduated from Sacred Heart Convent (high school) in London, England in 1958. After graduation, she worked as a nanny in Belgium. In 1959, Paddy went back to England and worked for a travel agency in Gilford Surry, England. In 1960, she started as a ticket agent for TWA in London. In 1963, Paddy started flying trans-Atlantic flights for TWA as a stewardess. She virtually flew all around the world. In 1967, she took a sabbatical for three months through the airlines for the Tom Dooley Foundation and taught French on Kong Island in Laos.

Paddy loved Ireland and all her cousins. One of her proudest moments was bringing a piece of Ireland to Emmetsburg. In 1966, she carried a "Blarney Stone" weighing over 120 pounds from Ireland to Emmetsburg for a promotion at the St. Pat's celebration. It is now displayed on the courthouse square in Emmetsburg. She never gave up her Irish citizenship.

In 1968, she married Linus Solberg of Cylinder, Iowa, where they farmed together for 46 years. Paddy loved working part time for Dr. Marks and Dr. Frevert at their veterinary practice, Dr. Mike Louscher at his dental practice, and Iowa Trust & Savings Bank in Cylinder. She served on the Palo Alto County Health board for 25 years, serving 20 years as chairman. She also was a 4-H leader. Paddy loved all living things that grew: plants and animals. She never met a person she didn't like, and always saw the good in everyone and everything. As beautiful as Paddy was on the outside, she was more beautiful on the inside. She was more than a solid rock, she was the mountain.

Paddy passed away surrounded by her family after a short but courageous battle with cancer on August 21, 2014, at the Methodist Hospital in Rochester, Minnesota, at the age of 72. She was preceded in death by her parents; mother-in-law and father-in-law, Clarice and Irvin Solberg; brother-in-law, John Berry; and her sister Veronica. Paddy flew to England twice to donate her bone marrow to Veronica.

Left to cherish Paddy's memory are her husband, Linus Solberg; daughter Penny Davids (Mike) of Plainview, Nebraska; son Sean Solberg (Stephanie) of Emmetsburg, Iowa; grandchildren Caleb, Caitlyn, Calvin, Ethan, and Carson, all of Plainview, Nebraska; sister Geraldine Berry of Birmingham, England; brother-in-law Phil Bazlinton of England; nephews Paul Berry, Tony Berry, Nick Berry, Tim Berry, and William Bazlinton of England; and niece Vicky Costanza, also of England.

Arrangements by Martin-Mattice Funeral Home