Elwin Dillerud

Elwin Arlan Dillerud was born December 5, 1935, in Norwegian Grove Township, Otter Tail County, Minnesota, the son of Edwin and Mabel (Sorum) Dillerud.He was baptized and confirmed in West North Immanuel Lutheran Church, rural Pelican Rapids.He attended grade school at District 48 and graduated from Pelican Rapids High School in 1953.He farmed with his father for several years and served in the U.S. Army in Germany for two years as an airplane mechanic.He returned home to continue farming and also worked for Dupont Aviation at the Minneapolis Airport for three years. Elwin married Holly Hoglund on October 6, 1962.They lived in Minneapolis for nine months and returned to the home farm.Holly died on June 16, 1992.On May 21, 1994, Elwin married Aneta (LaFayette) Pray at North Immanuel Lutheran Church.They continued living on the home farm and together they formed A & E Tours and escorted numerous busloads of people to Branson, MO.Elwin liked to call their trips Meals on Wheels because whenever they stopped either on the road down or the road back they ate.Elwins hobbies included photography and he has taken thousands of pictures over the years.He appointed himself as official photographer for the North Immanuel Squares Mens Group and there are several albums at the church full of the pictures he took for their functions. He also built birdhouses and had a birdhouse model of every building on the farm.He made beautiful hardwood cutting boards and enjoyed giving them as gifts.His collection of John Deere memorabilia fills a display case and overflows onto two shelves.He drove John Deere tractors and was the proud owner of a 1949 B in tiptop shape.The equipment on his place had to be JD green and he liked to try to convince his un-green neighbors to switch.Elwin began driving school bus for Russell Knutson in 1958.He told Russell he would try it for a year.He was getting ready to leave to drive his school bus route when he died suddenly on Friday, January 16, 2009, at the age of 73.He loved driving his bus and took pride in making sure his kids behaved and got to their destination safely.He was especially proud of being the official bus driver for the Pelican Rapids High School boys basketball team for the past few years.When asked at a game if he had a son or grandson on the team he said, They are all my kids.He sang in the PR Mens Chorus until it disbanded and then dug out his old trombone and played in the PR Community Band.Elwin is survived by his wife, Aneta; daughter, Nancy (Scott) Koeneman, Monticello, IL; grandson, Quinn Koeneman; step-sons: Sam (Terri) Pray, Waverly, IA, and Eric Pray, who is on active duty with the U.S. Navy in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; six step-grandchildren, Nicole Gray, Belleville, IL, Cassandra and Justin Pray, Maplewood, MN, Sarah and Jack Pray, Waverly, IA, and Ian Pray, Bismarck, ND; three sisters:Delores Lyden, Pelican Rapids, MN, Eunice (Don) Larson, Fargo, ND, and Arlene (Larry) Wick, Coon Rapids, MN; and numerous cousins, nieces and nephews.He was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Holly; sisters, Birdella Hovland, Aurlette Dillerud, and Merle Holt.Blessed Be the Memory of Elwin Dillerud