Ramona B. Trogstad

Ramona Blanche Trogstad (Burdick), of Rochester, died February 25th, 2016.She was born to Erma Grace (Lull) and Senator Walter Van Burdick on January 14th, 1929. She attended Holmes School and graduated from Rochester High School in 1947. While her brother Ross Van Burdick was flying B-29s in WWII, she was a member of the Civil Air Patrol, carrying her drill rifle on the city bus.After high school, she worked at Mayo Clinic.A co-worker introduced Ramona to her brother, Edne Trogstad, a handsome young WWII vet.After a whirlwind courtship of 6 weeks, he proposed to her at the Playmor Ballroom where they loved dancing.They were married on September 25th, 1948 at the Zumbro Lutheran Church and moved to Portland, OR where their son Ross was born.A few years later, they decided to move back to Rochester, where their daughter, Alana, was born, and then they changed their minds and moved back to Portland where daughter, Laurie was born.Finally, they decided to settle in Rochester where daughters, Linda, Janet and Beth were born. Ramona was the quintessential homemaker with gardening, canning, knitting & crocheting, sewing/mending clothes for kids and dolls too, and hauling kids to activities.With the kids grown up, Ramona and Edne were able to travel to visit friends & family, including trips to Norway, Scotland, and Ireland.They were very active members with The Sons of Norway where they immersed themselves in the culture of: baking lefse, a variety of Norwegian cookies, and taking hardanger stitchery classes. Ramona enjoyed and excelled in her many stitchery projects which she gave as gifts to her family & friends.Ramona drew some of the patterns for Ednes many wood carvings.They also enjoyed going to air shows featuring the WWII aircraft that her brother Ross flew in the war.Ramona and Edne cultivated a huge rose garden and shared it with family and friends, and vacationed at their cabin in Spooner, WI. Music was always a big part of Ramonas life: from excelling at the piano herself, mandatory piano or band instruments for the kids, going to concerts at the Norsk Hostfest in Minot, ND, John Phillip Sousa concerts at the Sheldon Theatre, the Pilot Mound Brass band and, of course, the private concerts of son in law Jerry with his many instruments.She was also kept busy attending her many grandchildrens school programs, plays, and musicals.She loved listening to music - her radio was always on and she was an avid reader of her favorite author Louis Lamour. Ramona is survived by her children Ross (Wanda) Trogstad, of Eyota, Alana Trogstad, of Rochester, Laurie (Richard) Briggs of Rochester, Linda (Gerald) Bach of Eyota, Janet (Mark) Trogstad-Isaacson of Rochester, and Beth Trogstad of Medford, 11 grandchildren, 13 great grandchildren, and 4 great great grandchildren.She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother Ross, her loving husband Edne, grandchild Tyler, and great grandchild Stephine. Visitation will be held at Ranfranz Funeral Home in Rochester on Saturday, March 5, 2016 at 1:00 p.m. with A Celebration of Ramonas Life at 2:00 pm.