Gunn Skoog

1934 - 2025

Gunn Skoog, beloved wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and friend, passed away peacefully in the early hours of October 18, 2025, at the age of 91.

Gunn was born on May 27, 1934, in Jarkvissle, Sweden, to her loving parents, Hanna Katarina Hedin and Johan Helmer Johansson. She grew up surrounded by the beauty of the Swedish countryside, where she developed a lifelong love of nature, gardening, and simple living.

While living in Sweden, Gunn became pen pals with an American soldier, John Roger Skoog, who was serving in the U.S. Army from 1952 to 1956 and stationed in Germany. After completing his service, John traveled to Sweden to connect with relatives - and to finally meet his pen pal in person. The two met in Stockholm, and it was love at first sight.

In January 1957, Gunn and John arrived together in New York, beginning their life in the United States. They were married shortly afterward on March 1, 1957, in Barry, Minnesota, beginning a lifelong partnership built on love, laughter, and faith.

Their spiritual journey deepened in 1966, when Gunn and John embraced the Bahá'í Faith, dedicating their lives to the principles of unity, peace, and service to humanity. Shortly thereafter, they moved as Bahá'í pioneers to Vineland, Minnesota, where they worked to share and live the teachings of their faith. In 1973, they made their home in Onamia, Minnesota, where they raised their son and became cherished members of the community.

Gunn was the devoted mother of their only son, Kent Skoog, and the proud grandmother of three grandsons: Jeremy, Andrew, and Daniel Skoog, six great grandsons, and one great granddaughter. Her family was her greatest joy, and she filled their lives with warmth, tradition, and unconditional love.

She is survived by her twin sister and dearest friend, Sonja Stark (Kjell), and many nieces and nephews in Sweden. She was preceded in death by her beloved husband, John R. Skoog, daughter in law, Marsha Skoog, and her siblings, Lisbeth (Anna Elisabeth Kindahl) (Sven-Erik), Else Marie Arlevind (Bengt), Gunborg Pettersson (Torsten), Folke Johansson, Stig Johansson, and niece, Yvonne Stark.

Gunn will be remembered for her kind heart, gentle humor, and her many passions. She loved spending time in her garden, writing letters to many pen pals, and family, cooking for family and friends, creating intricate beadwork, solving crossword puzzles, reading, and listening to Swedish music and television that kept her close to her homeland.

Her life was a beautiful blend of Swedish roots and American dreams - a story of love that crossed oceans, of faith that guided her steps, and of a woman who built a home filled with warmth, laughter, and devotion.

A service to celebrate Gunn's life held on Tuesday, October 21, 2025. Interment took place at 11:30 a.m. at the Onamia Veterans Cemetery in Onamia, followed by a short service, and fellowship at Bethany Lutheran Church in Onamia.

"O thou beloved of the Lord!

The world is but a show, vain and empty, a mere nothing bearing the semblance of reality. Set all thy hope in God, and trust Him alone.

Let your heart be filled with the love of God - a love that is eternal and never ceases."

- 'Abdu'l-Bahá