Luan M. Johnsrud

Luan Marie Johnsrud, 69, of Paynesville, died Tuesday, September 10, 2024 at Paynesville Health Care Center after a battle with brain cancer. Her funeral service will be at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, September 14 at Paynesville Lutheran Church. Visitation will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Friday and continue one hour prior to the service at the church. Interment will be at the Paynesville Cemetery.
Luan Marie Johnsrud was born February 15, 1955, to Kenneth and Anna (Norby) Johnsrud in Glenwood, Minnesota. Luan was baptized and confirmed at St. John's Lutheran church. She attended Cyrus Public School through 7th grade. After the family sold the farm and built a home in Starbuck, Luan graduated from Starbuck High School and furthered her education at Alexandria Technical College and Cardinal Strich University where she earned a bachelor's degree in finance. She was married to Richard Lahr, with whom she had four children. Although they later divorced, Luan's love and commitment to her family remained unwavering.
Luan took great joy in caring for others, starting her career as a Certified Nursing Assistant while still in high school at Starbuck Hospital. Over the years, she maintained her license and continued to work part-time in home care, assisted living facilities, and nursing homes. Many of the people caring for Luan at the end of her journey were previous coworkers, which she was very grateful for.
Luan's career journey led her to a fulfilling role as a loan officer, specializing in home mortgages and agricultural loans. Her deep-rooted connection to farming and agriculture was evident throughout her career and personal life. For 14 years, she lived on a farm near Paynesville while married to Richard, and her passion for agriculture remained a significant part of her. Luan used her broad knowledge of agriculture in her career working for Pope County Soil and Water in Glenwood. She moved on to work for the Minnesota Department of Agriculture and retired in July 2022.
Luan's talents outside of her career gave joy to many people. For the past year and a half, Luan found joy gardening, harvesting, canning, cooking and spending time with her special friend, Gary Strodtman. For many years, Luan was also a very talented seamstress sewing clothing for family members and herself plus doing alterations on beautiful dresses for proms and weddings. Luan's personality lit up the stage when performing in numerous plays and musicals with the Showstoppers while living in Glenwood. After retiring from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, she loved being a foster grandparent at Paynesville Elementary School helping little people with snow gear, shoes, reading, random hugs and wherever extra hands were needed.
Luan was deeply committed to her faith in Jesus. Luan was a former member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Glenwood where she sang for many funerals and weddings, canted and sang in the choir. After moving to Paynesville and joining Paynesville Lutheran Church, she was actively involved in the choir and taught religious education on Wednesday nights. Additionally, she dedicated her time to helping at Vacation Bible School.
Luan is survived by her children, Michele (Tim) Roberg of Paynesville, Angie (Will) Paschke of Sartell, Ginni (Randy) Kerzman of Paynesville, and Ricky Lahr of Paynesville; grandchildren, Mikayla, Grace, Roman and Luke Roberg, Evan and Anna Paschke, Levi, Kevin, and Robert Kerzman, Mylee Lahr, Jeremy, Savannah, and Autumn Steinke; mother, Anna Johnsrud of Paynesville; sister, Judy (Bill) Dietzler; niece, Heidi Dietzler; nephews, Will (Tamara) Dietzler and Matt (Brittnee) Dietzler; and great-nephew, August Dietzler.
She was preceded in death by her dad, Kenny Johnsrud.
A special thank you to CentraCare Hospice and Paynesville Health Care Center for their excellent care for Luan during the end of her journey.
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