Jennie Marie Runsvold, 90, passed away Friday, March 13, 2015. She was born July 21, 1924, at the family ranch in Petroleum County, Mont., to Karl Johan and Guri (Sandve) Sikveland, Norwegian immigrants. She had four siblings, Kefas, Bertha, Torger and Gunda (Mrs. Dave) Lewis, of Grass Range, Mont., who survive her.
Jennie attended the first eight grades of school in a one-room schoolhouse in Dovetail, Mont., three miles away. She walked to and from school or rode horseback two-up with little sister Gunda, who she liked to buck off. Milking the cows, jumping off the barn and other rambunctious activities filled her early days on the ranch. She attended high school in Winnett, Mont., where she played on a state championship basketball team, graduating in 1942.
As the nation needed nurses during World War II, Jennie decided to go to nursing school at Montana State University in Bozeman, Mont., where she studied anatomy, chemistry and bacteriology. Following that course of study, she was accepted at Deaconess Hospital in Great Falls, Mont., where she completed the three-year nursing program. This program included a practicum in which she worked at a tuberculosis sanitarium in Deer Lodge and at a mental institution in Galen, both in Montana.
While she was working in Galen in December 1945, she met Paul Burton Runsvold. He was home on leave from naval duty after serving in Okinawa, Japan, and he had already re-enlisted. The two were married the following Feb. 2, 1946, in Anaconda, Mont., by a Lutheran minister.
The couple moved to Bremerton, Wash., and to Tillamook, Ore., where first son, James (Catherine McHan) Runsvold of Caldwell, was born. While Paul served in the U.S. Navy and Jennie worked for a short time as a part-time nurse, they lived in Texas, California, Tennessee, Japan and Hawaii. They had a daughter, Nancy (John) Lauck of Hermiston, Ore.; son Karl (Diane) Runsvold of Lewiston; and daughter Julie (Dr. James) Pierce of Lewiston. The family moved to Lewiston in 1961, where Paul's last assignment was serving as a Navy recruiter.
Jennie was a stay-at-home mom, though she seriously considered applying for a nursing position at St. Joseph in Lewiston after her four children were raised. Jennie and Paul lived in the Lewiston Orchards in their own home until moving to Royal Plaza in 2005. They celebrated 60 years of marriage, until Paul's passing in 2006.
Jennie was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church and Sons of Norway; she enjoyed visiting with friends and family, cooking, traveling, sewing, gardening, counting cross-stich, playing pinochle, watching "Jeopardy," being involved in 4-H as a leader, Bible studies, making rice pudding for the Sons of Norway gatherings and volunteering for the League of Women Voters. Most of all, Jennie enjoyed having her family come to visit.
Besides her children and sister Gunda, Jennie will be missed by her grandchildren, Jessie (Michael) Hermant, Michael (Soraya Mazloomi) Runsvold, John Runsvold, Mark Runsvold, McCandless Pierce, Anna Pierce, Martina (Derek) Vala Svennungsen, Josephine Moore, Marcella Stillman and Josh Moore; plus her great-grandchildren; several nieces and nephews; her sister-in-law, Doris Runsvold of Fargo, N.D.; and her relatives in Norway.
Jennie's family would like to thank Dr. Dan McIntosh, Dr. Lee Gould, and the staff at Royal Plaza for their kind and thoughtful attention to Jennie the past several years.
A service honoring Jennie Runsvold's life will be held at 11 a.m. April 10 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Lewiston. Those wishing to make a donation in Jennie's name may do so by contributing to the Salvation Army or to Trinity Lutheran Church.
