Floyd Elvin Ekstrom

Floyd Elvin Ekstrom

Age 88, formerly of Bloomington. Floyd Elvin Ekstrom was born August 11, 1935 at the U of M Hospital in Minneapolis, the first of fraternal twins and eventually the fourth of seven children. From age 5, he grew up on the family farm in Chaska, MN. He graduated from high school in 1953, worked at the “sugar factory,” and joined the army in 1958. After basic training and armor training, he was sent to Germany and was honorably discharged in 1961.

In 1965 he married Patricia Bauer. They had two daughters, Cheryl and Karen. After living in Minneapolis for 4 years, they lived in a Bloomington house for 54 years. Five grandchildren gave him joy – Katie, Tommy, Mae, Emma, Audrey, and a number of grand dogs too.

Most of Floyd’s life he worked as a trained mechanical inspector for a large company (final name Unisys), but the employment he loved most was after his second retirement as a “supply guy” for Gentle Transition, a moving company.

Floyd & Pat danced for 58 years, from the moment they met to just recently. He enjoyed old time dancing, square dancing, line dancing, and even tried a little round dancing. He loved to play 500 with his card club and family and also loved to play Solitaire.

Floyd had a number of other hobbies including coin collecting, card tricks, puzzles, tv contest shows, and keeping statistics/records on a variety of interests. He volunteered countless hours at church and was ready to offer a helping hand for neighbors. Farming was in his blood as he spent many weekends helping his brother on the family farm. It’s also where he learned how to fix anything and everything. Floyd and Pat enjoyed traveling to all 50 states and on several cruises. Floyd was a true man of service, and will be dearly missed by all.

Survived by wife, Patricia Ekstrom; daughters, Cheryl (Chris) Bjerke and Karen (Basil) Meyer; grandchildren, Katie and Tommy Bjerke, Mae, Emma and Audrey Meyer; loyal granddogs; brother, Francis (Jolene) Ekstrom; and other loving relatives and friends. Preceded in death by parents, Walter and Edna Ekstrom; siblings, Bernice (Charlie) Barris, Warren (Diane) Ekstrom, Eunice (Louis) Nichols, Florence (Bill) Halquist and Merrill (Shirley) Ekstrom.