Brit Stromstad

Brit (Repp) Stromstad, age 101, died August 18, 2019 two months shy of her 102nd birthday.  She was a resident of Essentia Oak Crossing, Detroit Lakes, Minnesota for the past three years. Brit was born in 1917 in the mountain village of Boverdal, Norway, the daughter of Guttorm and Kari (Slaalien) Repp.  Her mother died when Brit was five years old and thereafter Guttorm and Aunt Kari-Most raised her along with her siblings John, Olav, Ymbjorg, Torstein, and Karl on the Repp family farm.  She enjoyed skiing, mountain climbing and hiking in Norway.  As a young woman she became a hospital nurse in Oslo and Lom. In 1950 she came to America by ship to visit her cousin in Moorhead, Minnesota.  Soon she met Anton Stromstad whom she married in the fall of 1950.  They moved to Audubon, Minnesota to a small dairy farm where they raised two daughters, Karen and Kristine.  Brit enjoyed her flowers and vegetable gardening.  She continued her love for her home country Norway throughout her lifetime, making pastries, lutefisk and lefse, Norsk sewing and Rosemaling as well as speaking Norwegian to family and friends to pass along her heritage.  She returned to her home country for four family trips.  She will be remembered as a kind soft spoken Mor, Bestemor, and Old Mama. Brit is survived by two daughters, Karen (Joe) Glenz, of Detroit Lakes, MN; and Kristine (Ray) Johnston, of Detroit Lakes, MN; four grandchildren, Theresa (Richard) Wagner, Kyle (Amanda) Johnston, Kasey (Crystal) Johnston, and Kelley (Sara) Johnston; nine great grandchildren, Michael, Jennifer, and Hunter Hamre, Audreana, Cole, and Broden Fleisher, Kyler and Noah Johnston, and Gavin Krause-Opitz; grandson in law, Mike Fleisher; and many nieces and nephews in Norway. Preceding her in death is her husband Anton (1996), a beloved granddaughter Sonia Glenz Fleisher (2016); four brothers, John, Olav, Torstein, and Karl Repp; one sister, Ymbjorg Sletten; and her parents.