Orville Donald Holmquist

Holmquist, Orville Beloved Husband, Father, Grandfather & Great-Grandfather Age 88, of Maplewood, passed away on 7/4/2012. Preceded in death by parents William and Myrtle (Ditlevson) Holmquist and sister Lorraine Templin. Survived by loving wife of 64 years, Barbara, daughter Jeanne (John) Buck, son William; grandchildren Emily (Scott) Hansen and Julia (Ryan) Donnelly; great grandchildren Anthony and Evelyn Hansen and Rowan and Elliott Donnelly and many friends and relatives. Mass of Christian burial Friday 7/13/2012, 11:00 am at St. Mary of the Lake Catholic Church, 4690 Bald Eagle Boulevard, White Bear Lake with visitation 1 hour prior to Mass. Interment at St. Mary of the Lake Cemetery. Orville was born Dec. 16, 1923 on the farm of his Swedish immigrant grandparents in Cosmos Township of Meeker County, MN. By age four the family moved into Cosmos where his father managed the Holm Brothers hardware store. He attended Cosmos School District #93 through the 8th grade and graduated from Litchfield High School in 1941. He later attended the Minnesota School of Business and the University of Minnesota. He enlisted in the Navy and was stationed at Camp Farragut, ID, Oxnard, CA and in the Philippines. After over 3 years of Navy service Orville returned to Minnesota and worked as a fishing guide at a resort on Big Pine Lake. He met his future wife at the resort and they were married at Perham, MN on June 15, 1948. He spent nearly his entire career in real estate in Cosmos and Hutchinson and was an avid hunter, fisherman, trapper and loved to travel. He was also an award winning painter in oil, acrylics and watercolor. And he loved aebleskiver breakfasts at the Danish American Center in Mpls with his entire family present. He was a loving, kind hearted man who will be missed by all.