Alyce Marie Berglund

Alyce Berglund, 101, passed away at her home at the Grande Ronde Retirement Residence on June 16, 2017. She was born in Little Falls, Minnesota, on September 17, 1915, the third of Fred and Marie (Gudmunson) Carlson's nine children. In the 1920s her family moved to Willmar, Minnesota, where Alyce graduated from high school in 1933. The first of her immediate family to move west, she settled in Mt. Vernon, Washington, where she met and married her husband, Paul, in 1942.


Over their years together, they developed a yen for new places and for travel. Over Paul's career and during their retirement, they resided in eight communities in Washington State and one in Idaho. They traveled to Alaska many times, once in a VW bug. In retirement, they crisscrossed the US by RV and traveled to Hawaii, Europe and New Zealand.


When her husband died, Alyce joined her son and family in La Grande, Oregon, where she settled into the community of the Grande Ronde Retirement Residence for ten years. At 95, her adventurous spirit still alive and well, she made her last cross-country trip with her daughter and son-in-law in a vintage Land Rover, and at 99 she made her last car trip from Minnesota to New Hampshire.


A consummate homemaker and crossword aficionado, Alyce will best be remembered by those who knew her for her exceptionally warm, caring spirit and remarkable wittiness. Her son-in-law once inquired about her early adult life, and she quipped, "Well, I was young once!" No more Q&A.


Alyce was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Paul Berglund, and eight of her nine siblings. She is survived by her children, Michael Berglund of La Grande, Oregon, and Jerryne Cole of Denali National Park, Alaska, 5 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren.


Alyce's family will gather in Alaska to celebrate her long, full life, and according to their wishes, will spread their parents' ashes in a remote area of the Alaska Range they both loved.


Online condolences may be shared with the family at www.danielsknopp.com. Contributions in Alyce's memory can be made to: GR Fundraising, 1809 Gekeler Lane, La Grande, OR 97850. Attn: Heather. Donations to this fund will be distributed at holiday time to the staff who cared for Alyce.

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