Willard "Pete" Wold

The Wold farm in Sverdrup Township, Ottertail County, MN was homesteaded in 1872. Willard Theodore [Pete] Wold was born on this farm on January 21, 1928 to J. Edwin and Josephine [Berg] Wold. He became the fourth generation of Wolds to farm this land. He was a farmer: he loved the farm, the mystery of seeds, the beauty of the woods, and the gift of sustaining home and heritage for far-flung family and the generations that followed him.
Pete was baptized in the Christian faith at home and confirmed at Rindal Lutheran Church. After graduation from Underwood High School, he studied agriculture at the University of Minnesota, St. Paul campus. He served with the United States Army in Korea. Throughout his life he was an active member of Rindal and Sverdrup Lutheran Churches, served on boards for church, community, and farming associations and was a charter member of the Underwood Lions Club.
On November 26, 1955 he married Kathleen Viger at Aastad Lutheran Church, Fergus Falls. They parented three children and are proud and grateful grandparents of nine grandchildren and two great grandchildren. They cherished a table surrounded often by friends and relatives, heaped with food, and spinning with conversation and laughter. In the summer the party moved to Pickerel Lake. The grandchildren remember boat rides, Grandpa playing with them, his steady interest in all that they were doing, and any excuse for ice cream. They returned the favor by delighting Pete with Christmas pageants and loving the farm and lake as much as he did. Pete loved his family, could strike up a conversation with anyone and enjoyed great contentment with simple gifts of honest work, good food, a grateful harvest, wonderful friends.
And music. He sang in the 100 member Orpheum Male Chorus—he met Kay after one of the concerts. He sang barbershop, church choir, family choirs and innumerable solos and duets. His kids gratefully remember singing in the milk house, singing in the car, singing at church and singing in between. As his disease progressed, music soothed him. Just three days before he died, he sang with his family for the chapel service at PioneerCare.
When Pete was stationed in Korea, he visited the orphanage that was home to the children his sister Judy would adopt. He told the story often—even deep into his dementia—and cherished the pictures of him in his uniform with his nieces.
Pete and Kay had a strong and lively network of friends. They celebrated New Year’s, picnicked and travelled together. Their all-time favorite was a trip to Norway. They spent their Sundays visiting friends, and especially those facing illness or challenge. His family is grateful beyond words that when Pete went to Pioneer, friends generously returned the favor.
After four months of wonderful care at Pioneer, surpassed only by years of Kay’s patient, tender care, Pete passed away on December 24, 2014. To say Pete was faithful is to remember his care of the land, his love of his family, his commitment and service to the church, and his eagerness to sing praise of a gracious, living God. As we entrust him to the promises of Christ for eternity, we are grateful for the steady, faithful, joyful and loving ways he lived the promises here.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his brother, Julian Wold, two sisters, Muriel Gaines and Marilyn Cockroft.
Grateful for having shared his life are his wife of 59 years, Kay; his children Susan [Paul] Wold Rohde, Sioux Falls, SD, Nancy [Bruce] Rohde, Rochester, MN, and John [Donna] Wold, Underwood, MN; nine grandchildren, Erik Rohde, Sarah Rohde, Anna Rohde Schwehn, Becky Browning, Joshua Rohde, Inga Rohde, Nicholas Rohde, Stephany Wold, and Andrew Wold; two great grandchildren Carter and Ethan Rohde; two sisters, Judy Olson, Loveland, CO and Borghild [Vern] Stenoien, Woodstock, IL, and numerous nieces and nephews.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to Rindal Cemetery, Sverdrup Lutheran Church, Underwood Community Education Foundation, Pioneer Care Foundation, and Lakeland Hospice.

Visitation: 4:30-7 p.m. Friday, December 26, 2014 with a 6:30 p.m. prayer service at Olson Funeral Home in Fergus Falls. Visitation will resume one hour prior to the service at the church.
Service: 1 p.m. Saturday, December 27, 2014 at Sverdrup Lutheran Church in Underwood, Minnesota
Clergy: Pastor Nancy Monke
Interment: Rindal Cemetery, rural Underwood, Minnesota
Funeral Home: Olson Funeral Home, Fergus Falls