jon strand obit

Jon Milton Strand, age 61, died Friday, April 2, 2010 at United Hospital in St. Paul due to a long illness. He was born October 18, 1948 in Morris, MN to Milton and Virginia Strand. He graduated from Owatonna High School in 1966 and Faribault Area Technical School in 1968. He was on active duty for the United States Navy from 1968 to 1970 and served in Vietnam. In 1970, he married Margaret (Duncan) Barvinek, with whom he had two children, Gina, age 32, and Kimberly, age 27. He moved to the Cedar Rapids, Iowa area that year where he lived and worked for Farmstead Foods for over twenty years. In 1990, he married Jackie (Gienapp) and moved to Welch, Minnesota the following year.

Jon co-owned Strand’s Minnesota Arabians in Welch, MN with his youngest brother, Lee. They bought the horse farm from their father, Milton, in 1999. Working with horses was truly Jon’s passion. He owned, boarded, bred, trained, and showed Arabian horses. It was a blessing that he was able to work every day doing what made him genuinely happy with his loving wife by his side.

Survivors include his mother, Virginia; wife, Jackie; two daughters, Gina Strand and Kimberly (AJ) Burritt, and granddaughter Megan, all of Marion, Iowa; a stepdaughter, Dena (Lee) Strand of Welch, and two stepsons, Kevin (Michelle) Honea and Eric (Jennifer) Honea, both of Queen Creek, Arizona; four brothers, Alan (Beth) of Welch, Mark (Darlene) of Jackson, Missouri, Steve (Anna) of Marion, Iowa, and Lee (Dena) of Welch; several nieces, nephews and step grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his father, Milton.

Funeral service will be held on Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. at the Cross of Christ Lutheran Church, Welch, with Pastor Bob Albing officiating. Interment with military honors will follow at the church cemetery. Visitation will be held at the church on Tuesday from 5-8 p.m. and Wednesday from 10-11 a.m.

Active pallbearers will be Alan, Mark, Steve, LeWayne and Dale Strand, and Rick Gienapp. Honorary pallbearers will be Kevin and Eric Honea, and AJ Burritt.

The family has requested memorial contributions in Jon's memory be made to the National Cancer Institute. Please request the donation be made specifically for brain tumor research. Please go to http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/NCI/donations