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Rolland Loken

April 7, 1929-March 28, 2020

Rolland Loken, 90,

longtime Velva business

owner and civic leader

died on March 28, 2020 in

a Velva Care Center.

Rolland Virgil Loken

was born on April 7, 1929

in Velva to Andrew M.

and Elmyra (Aiken) Loken

where he was raised. He

was baptized and con-

firmed in the Lutheran

faith and educated in the

Velva Public School.

Rolland married Iona

Hystad on June 25, 1953

at North Prairie Lutheran

Church, rural Simcoe.

They made their home in

Velva where Rolly was

employed at Krebsbach’s

IH dealership. He later

was employed at Burgess

Chevrolet and Implement

Company and became

part owner. In 1977, he

was joined in ownership

by Rod Loken and Vernon

Wunderlich when the

business became LW

Chevrolet. Rolly sold his

interest in the business in

1981 and in 1982 he built

a brick building near

Main Street and owned

and operated Rolly’s Parts

Center there until he re-

tired in 1991. Most im-

portantly, he and Iona

were blessed with four

children, seven grandchil-dren and seven

great-grandchildren and a

foreign exchange student

daughter from Norway.

Rolly was a member of

Oak Valley Lutheran

Church where he served

on the church council. He

was a member of the Vel-

va City Commission, Vel-

va Park Board and Velva

Clinic Board. He was also

a charter member of the

Velva Lions Club. He held

membership in the Star

City Golf Club and several

heritage organizations. He

especially enjoyed partici-pating in Velva bowling

leagues, hunting, fishing,

attending Velva sporting

events, events of his chil-

dren and grandchildren

and golfing (carding a

hole-in-one at the age of

79). Rolly also enjoyed

traveling with family and

friends and because he

lived in Velva all his life

he often would say he

“never got out of town.”

However, he was for-

tunate to travel to Norway

four times, visiting the

birthplace of his paternal

grandfather, as well as

their Norwegian daughter

and her family and many

of Iona’s relatives. He also

traveled to Alaska, Wash-

ington, D.C. and

numerous places in the

US and Canada.

Rolly’s loving family

includes: his wife of 67

years, Iona; sons: Rodney

(Marlys) Loken of Velva

and Richard (Mary) Loken

of Rochester, MN;

daughters: Jackie

Schmaltz of Velva and

Lisa (Marty) Heim of

North Salt Lake, Utah;

foreign exchange student

daughter Eirin Ruud

(Snorre) Nordstrand of

Norway and their chil-

dren; grandchildren: Jen-

nifer (Jon) Striha, Maggie

(Ryan) Albrecht, Miranda

(Erik) Lindstrom, Zachary,

Bryce and Seth (Sarah)

Loken, Kaiden Heim;

great grandchildren:

Emma and Carsten Striha,

Lila and Isak Albrecht,

Eloise and Olivia

Lindstrom, Raegan Loken;

sister-in-law: Elizabeth

Loken of Velva and

several nieces, nephews

and cousins.

Rolly was preceded in

death by: his parents, sis-

ters: Anna Marie Loken,

June Willoughby, Ella

(Don) Stafford and brother

Marvin Loken.

An informal Service of

Remembrance of Rolly

Loken will be held Satur-

day, June 12, 2021 at

10:30 a.m. in Oak Valley

Lutheran Church – Velva.

Face coverings and social

distancing are en-

couraged.

A private family re-

viewal and later graveside

service with burial of

cremains were previously

held due to the Corona-

virus Pandemic.

The family ack-

nowledges, with grateful

thanks, the outpouring of

condolences and memori-al gifts at the time of

Rolly’s passing. Now we

remember with thanks to

God for the 90-plus years

he was granted, and the

times shared with family,

friends and acquain-

tances.

Memories and con-

dolences can be shared at

www.thomasfamily

funeralhome.com.