Funeral services for Obert “Obe” Blackstad, 89, of St. James, Minnesota, will be held Friday morning, March 14, 2014, at 11 a.m., at First Lutheran Church in St. James, located at 716 6th Avenue South. Officiating will be the Reverend K. Christian Johnson.
Interment will be in Mount Hope Cemetery in St. James.
Visitation will be held Thursday, March 13, 2014, from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the St. James Chapel of Sturm Funeral Home, located at 906 10th Avenue South, in St. James. Another visitation will be held at the church the morning of the funeral from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.
A Masonic service will be held at 5 p.m. on Thursday at the funeral home.
Obert “Obe” Blackstad was born on December 20, 1924 at the family farm in rural St. James, the son of Ole G. & Marie (Nesseth) Blackstad. He was baptized and confirmed at Albion Church in Albin Township, Brown County, Minnesota and received his education in District 36 and high school in St. James until 11th grade. From there he went on to attend the U of M Agriculture School for two years. He returned home to start farming on the family farm with his father. Obert lost his father at a young age and took on all the responsibilities of the family farm business from that point on.
On September 2, 1956, Obert was united in marriage to Myrna Jean Hoffmann at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Darfur, Minnesota. Not only did they share a birthday, but they shared their love for the children that blessed their marriage, Mary and Tom. After marriage, Obe and Myrna resided on the family farm where they crop-farmed corn and soybeans as well as raised cattle, pigs and chickens.
This last week Obert was taken to the Immanuel St. Joseph’s Hospital in Mankato, Minnesota, where he passed away with family by his side on Sunday evening, March 9, 2014.
Obe was a member of the Central Livestock Shipping Association, Pork Producers, Cattle Producers, Farm Bureau, was a Director at LaSalle Locker, Trojan Pfizer and Dekalb Seed dealer and part of the original owner group of the Watonwan County Feeder Pig Co-op, as well as a member of the Masonic Lodge and the Zuhrah Shrine.
Obe was also a longtime member of the First Lutheran Church where it was a highlight of his week to attend and sit in the 5th row from the back every Sunday. No Sunday was complete without breakfast after church at the Hometown Café in St. James with friends and family. Obe had many other enjoyments in life but most importantly was spending time with his family. He enjoyed every minute with his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, but no matter how much time he spent with them, he always wished for more time, as a minute more was never enough. He also loved and adored his pets. Buster, Sophie and his cat “Fluffy” were his current favorites as well as his black labs and German Shepherds from the past. He loved to go camping, hunting and fishing, and buying his weekly Powerball ticket. He may have never won big, he really was the luckiest man on earth.
Obert is survived by his wife of 57 years, Myrna Blackstad of St. James; two children, Mary (Glenn) Runge of St. James and Tom Blackstad of St. James; three grandchildren, Scott (Samantha) Runge of St. James, Sara Runge of San Francisco, California, and Susan (Dan) Bottin of St. James; four great-grandchildren, Jacob, Keeley and Katelyn Runge and Emma Bottin all of St. James; brother-in-law and sister-in-law Marvin and Lorraine Hoffman of St. James; nephew Larry(Peggy) Hoffman and niece Lisa(Kevin) Krahn, s well as many other cousins.
Preceding him in death were his parents Ole G. and Marie, sister and brother-in-law Mayme and Benny Pagenkopf and infant son.
