Irene G. Gulrud

Irene Gladys Gulrud, age 85, of Decorah, Iowa, passed away on Friday, May 26, 2017 from a short illness and with her family by her side at the Green Lea Manor Nursing Home in Mabel, MN. Funeral Services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, May 31, 2017 at Big Canoe Lutheran Church in rural Decorah with Pastor Kurt Bockoven officiating. Burial will be in the church cemetery. Visitation will be from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. Tuesday, May 30 at Fjelstul Funeral Home in Decorah and on Wednesday beginning at 9:30 a.m., one hour before the service, at Big Canoe Lutheran Church. Irene was born on May 17, 1932 in Decorah, Iowa to Theodore and Amanda (Sande) Berge. She was baptized at Big Canoe Lutheran Church and attended a rural school in Winneshiek County. Irene married Gene Gulrud on March 3, 1952. To this union, they had eight children. They divorced in 1985. Irene worked at the Cliff House Restaurant, Oneota Care Facility, and Oneota Bowling Lanes where she was well known for her good food. Anyone who knew her knew she was a hard worker and loved and cared for her family. She loved cooking and baking for her kids and grandkids and enjoyed bowling, stock car races – especially watching her grandsons, son and son-in-law, and keeping up on all sports. Irene had a humor of her own that all of her family loved to enjoy. She had a love for music and her family will always remember her whenever they hear her favorite song ‘Old Time Rock & Roll’ by Bob Seger. Irene was known for being very strong-willed and was truly one of a kind. She is survived by her eight children: Karen (Phil) Kennedy of Burlington, IL, Debbie (Jon) Aske of Decorah, Michel Gulrud of Dyersville, IA, Garry (LeAnn) Gulrud, LeAnn (Richard) Geiselhart, David (Heather) Gulrud, Doreen (Kevin) Bidne, and Denise (Jim) Bruening all of Decorah; eighteen grandchildren: Travis (Kim) McIver, Rachael Dykstra, Lucas Aske, Tiffany (Weylin) Smith, Michelle (Will) Miller, Kari (Doug) Callahan, Dan (Melinda), Steven (Kelli), and Dillon Christopher (Shelby Lindmark), Ashley, Brandon and Cael Gulrud, Kirk and Jared Bidne, Lexy (Ryan) Young, Lindsay Lloyd, Max and Owen Bruening; thirteen great-grandchildren and one due in October; and by her three sisters: Shirley Forde and Bernice (Paul) Arneson of Decorah and Lucille (Norman) Jacobson of Loveland, CO. She is preceded in death by her mother and father, Theodore and Amanda Berge; her grandparents Engebert and Sarah Sande, Ole and Teoline Berge; and her brother-in-law Omar Forde.