Norma Jeanne Ostberg

   Norma Jeanne Ostberg passed away on December 29, 2020 after a long battle with COPD.  She was a true fighter and she battled hard until the end.   At her passing she was surrounded by a deep love from her family.  “Norma Jean”, “Normie” or “Grammy” was born on September 19, 1928 in St. Could, Minnesota to Edith Olson Oberg and Sven Otto Oberg.  She married Roger James Ostberg, a naval war veteran and Richfield Policeman on June 11, 1949 and they were married 54 years before his passing on October 16, 2003.

   She was preceded in death by her parents, her sister, Ethel Marlene Burger and her husband, Roger.

   After graduating from high school in Waite Park, Minnesota in 1946, she moved to Richfield and was with Sears Roebuck for 20 years while raising her family (which was her favorite job by far).

   After she and Roger retired in 1981, they moved up to Hackensack, Minnesota to enjoy their beautiful lakefront home on OxYoke Lake.  This was her beloved home and it was her greatest joy to entertain guests at this peaceful place. While she loved to welcome anyone into her home, her greatest joy was to have her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren there to swim, fish and enjoy her cooking at Ostberg Heathering Heights.  She loved to have fun and encourage others to do the same.  She had an infectious laugh and loved to hear and tell a good joke. Because of her love and appreciation of the outdoors, the lake, the flowers and the trees, you could often find her sitting on the deck enjoying her coffee or highball, watching nature.  She was a lover of games and enjoyed so many with her family and friends.  She had many different bridge groups, was always up for bingo, was a member of the Backus Ravishing Red Hat Club, was a loyal Northern Lights “country club member” and you couldn’t leave her house without playing Scrabble, cribbage, cards, Yahtzee, or dice “for a buck”. Grammy never met a stranger and through her games, she met so many dear friends. She was interested in meeting everyone and made everyone feel included and special. She loved to fish for sunnies and was always cooking or baking for her family and friends. She was known for her Swedish meatballs, fried fish, apple pie and her amazing brunch displays. She was the definition of laughter and love.

   In 2016 she moved to Dallas, Texas to live out her last years enjoying more time relaxing and being doted on by her family. She enjoyed a 90th birthday celebration in 2018 that she cherished. She lived in Dallas at the time of her passing.

   She is survived by her three children, Jim Ostberg, Bonnie McMillan, and Jeff Ostberg; her daughter-in-law, Lorna Ostberg and her son-in-law, Jim McMillan; four grandchildren, Heather Armstrong, Lisa McMillan, Eric Ostberg and Alyssa Fairchild; and seven great grandchildren, Brady Armstrong, Riley Armstrong, Taylor Ostberg, Ella Ostberg, Gunnar Ostberg, Ava Fairchild and Axel Fairchild.  

   They invite you to join them at a celebration of life to be held at the Evergreen Cemetery in Backus, Minnesota at 11:00 a.m. July 17th. The brief service will be followed by a luncheon at the Backus Legion.

“Death is nothing at all,

I have only slipped into the next room

I am I and you are you

Whatever we were to each other, that we are still.

Call me by my old familiar name,

Speak to me in the easy way which you always used

Put no difference in your tone,

Wear no forced air of solemnity or sorrow

Laugh as we always laughed at the little jokes we enjoyed together.

Play, smile, think of me, pray for me.

Let my name be ever the household world that it always was,

Let it be spoken without effect, without the trace of shadow on it.

Life means all that it ever meant.

It it the same as it ever was, there is unbroken continuity.

Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight?

I am waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near,

Just around the corner.

All is well. ”