Ann Katherine Offerdahl (1956-2021) Obituary and Memorial

Life story

Ann Katherine Offerdahl was born on April 19th, 1956, in Minneapolis, Minnesota to parents Joseph and Inez (Wolfe) Lovegreen. She grew up in Coon Rapids and graduated from Coon Rapids High School in 1974. Following high school, she attended Minneapolis Vo Tech to be a Medical Secretary. After graduation she worked at both Eitel and Children’s Hospitals in Minneapolis.

Ann moved to Bemidji, Minnesota in the early 80s and worked as an Account Representative for KKBJ Radio. While working there she was assigned the account of Bemidji Electronics, which was owned by none other than Jim Offerdahl. After Jim realized he was suddenly spending all his radio advertising money on ads with KKBJ, he figured it would actually save him money if he could convince Ann to work for him. Soon thereafter their relationship bloomed into a romance and Ann ultimately began to work for Jim as his office manager. Jim was enamored; he knew that Ann was the love of his life and was anxious to propose but Ann ultimately beat him to the punch and she asked Jim for his hand in marriage. They eloped (much to his sister’s dismay) in Nashville, Tennessee on September 3rd, 1985. Shortly after came the greatest gifts of Ann’s life, her two children, son Joseph Carl, born on March 2nd, 1987, and daughter, Jamie Leigh, born on November 16th, 1989.

Ann worked alongside Jim as an office manager until 1996 when she took a job as a Medical Secretary at North Country Hospital in Bemidji. They made the decision the next year to move to Jim’s hometown of Fosston to be closer to family. Once in Fosston, Ann began working as Deli Manager at Hartz Foods. Here, Ann was fulfilled by one of the greatest passions of her life, making people happy with her cooking and baking, until the time the store closed. In 2005, Ann and Jim formed their company, Offerdahl Broadcast Service, Inc. where she served many duties as Co-Owner, Vice President, Secretary-Treasurer and Office Manager. Her duties didn’t stop there though – she also served on the Veteran’s Memorial Park Committee, participating in the planning of the many improvements that have been realized over recent years as well as volunteering to take on the task of caring for and maintaining the beauty of the floral arrangements adorning the park.

Ann was a passionate and talented woman. As mentioned, she loved cooking, but she was an especially gifted baker. She spent hours upon hours experimenting and creating her own recipes, intricately decorating beautiful cookies and cakes, and making pies and ice cream from scratch, much to the enjoyment of her friends and family. Her talent and eye for beauty didn’t stop at baked goods though; she loved to work on her home and garden and kept them looking photo ready for every season. Ann took great pride in having a welcoming, warm, and beautifully decorated home with an open door for friends and family alike.

While Ann treasured these activities, the most important thing in her life was her family, dedicating herself fully to her beloved husband and children. She loved to travel with them, both internationally and across the US, making frequent trips to Orlando to spend time with Jamie. One of the places she and Jim often enjoyed visiting was Nashville, an homage to their place of marriage. She loved music and especially enjoyed listening to it live, so they made sure that the Grand Ole Opry was always a staple of their visits. No matter the location, however, Ann was happy as long as she was with her best friend and life partner, Jim.

After a short illness, Ann passed away peacefully in the presence of her husband and children on September 22nd, 2021 at the age of 65 years.

Ann is survived by her loving husband of 36 years, Jim; son, Joe of Fosston; daughter, Jamie of Orlando, FL; brother, Mike (Deb) Lovegreen of New Hope; sister-in-law, Mary Jo (Dennis) Rud of Fosston; nephew, Derek Rud of Fosston; nephew Brandon Rud of Moorhead; nephew, Matt Lovegreen of Monticello; and niece Michelle (Sarah) Lovegreen of Minneapolis. She was preceded in death by her parents; brother, Scott Lovegreen; and nephews, Bryan Rud and Collin Rud.

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Lifetime

The world Ann knew

Family milestones in gold, history for context

1956

Born April 19

1958

Ann was 2 when the Hula Hoop craze swept the country

1967

Ann was 11 when the first Super Bowl was played

1976

Ann was 20 when America celebrated its Bicentennial

1982

Ann was 26 when Michael Jackson released "Thriller"

1998

Ann was 42 when "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" was published in America

2004

Ann was 48 when Facebook was launched

2016

Ann was 60 when Pokemon Go sent millions outdoors hunting creatures

2020

Ann was 64 when SpaceX launched astronauts into orbit for the first time

2021

Passed away September 22, age 65

Tributes and memories

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Jamie Offerdahl 149w

The Best Woman I’ll Ever Know

My mom was my best friend. She was an actual angel - the sweetest, smartest, funniest, cutest lady I’ve ever known. I was so attached to her as a smol child that she used to have to peel me off of her body when she tried to drop me off anywhere and I’d cry until she came back (I eventually grew out of this… thankfully for her sanity). Many people would describe her as soft spoken but she wasn’t around me. We would laugh big laughs until we cried. As my dad likes to say, I have the mouth of a sailor sometimes - he’s not wrong, especially when I’m being goofy. Mom would always come to my defense when dad would get tired of my swearing. “Oh Jim… she’s just being funny,” she’d say as she laughed. She just got my dumb sense of humor. We had our own weird way of communicating. She’d answer the phone and we’d usually just make unintelligible noises at each other for a while. I have no explanation for it. I’d text her, “Doing?” and she’d say, “Dis” and vice versa. Sometimes that’s all we’d say that day. No elaboration, just our way of checking in. I’ve called her Bob forever because when I have a cold “mom” comes out as “Bob.” She was in my phone as Bob. I wrote “To: Bob” on all her Christmas presents and every card I ever sent her. I always giggled thinking how confused the florist must be when I would request that they write “Happy Bob’s Day, Bob” on her Mother’s Day card. She was my Bloody Mary buddy. I think I could fill an entire photo album of us drinking Bloodys together. I would call her with questions about everything because she was good at everything. Questions about life. Gardening. Decorating. Cooking. Baking. Needing her advice. Needing her recipe for the 100th time for her banana bread, chocolate chip cookies, soups, chicken parm, all the Christmas cookies… her recipes for everything were the best, although mine never turn out quite as good as hers because she was much more patient than me and put love into everything she did. Every morning for the past two weeks I’ve woken up and for a split second it feels like it was just a horrible dream. When I realize it wasn’t, I’m reminded that I’ll never be able to talk to my best friend again. I thought I’d be her age when I was having to deal with this. It still doesn’t feel real and I don’t know that it ever will. I am incredibly lucky to have had the honor of calling that amazing woman my mom and am so grateful for getting to spend almost 32 years with her… but I am so fucking pissed for all of the time with her that was taken from me way too early. I love you forever and will miss you every single day for the rest of my life, mom.