Patricia A. Norine

Patricia Anne Norine (nee Skoog) was born in Litchfield, Minnesota, on December 26, 1942; baptized at Gethsemane Lutheran in Dassel, Minnesota on February 21, 1943; and also confirmed in her faith there on May 19, 1957. She entered eternal life with her Savior Jesus Christ on May 9, 2023, in Grand Forks, North Dakota.  She was 80 years old.

Pat was a daughter, sister, mother, grandmother, and child of God. She was also a hometown Dassel girl, with a Swedish heritage that she would tell you all about if she were still here.  She was born to Jady and Lillian Skoog the day after Christmas in 1942. Her childhood in her hometown was filled with memories of her family, her beloved younger sister Jadynne, “Punky”, (Patty and Punky – the Skoog Girls) as well as her friends at school and church. She would tell you she was a cautious and obedient child. She never claimed to be very athletic, but she was a good swimmer and she played well with others. In her last years, she enjoyed meeting and reminiscing with her lifelong Dassel friends that she knew “since she was six”, she’d tell you.

After high school, Pat attended 3 ½ years of college. She talked fondly of being part of the Blue Line cheer club at Gustavus Adolphus College. She always wanted to finish college but she chose instead to marry hometown Dassel boy LeRoy on May 8, 1963, and move to Glendive, Montana where he worked in broadcasting. Shortly thereafter, they moved to Marshall, Minnesota and Pat became a church secretary using her 2-year degree in Parish Work. After 6 years of marriage, they adopted son Jonz. LeRoy’s work took them to Norfolk, Nebraska, and then Tulsa, Oklahoma, where they adopted a little girl, Amy. The family moved to the Ozarks at Siloam Springs, Arkansas for a couple of years and she thought it would be a good idea to host a high school German foreign exchange student just at the same time LeRoy’s work took him back to Minnesota. That year she was practically a single parent of 2 challenging high school boys and a middle school girl before the family joined LeRoy in Buffalo, Minnesota. During these years, she served as a summer camp cook at a Lutheran Bible Camp in the Ozark foothills of Oklahoma.  As the children moved out of the house, Pat returned to parish work as the secretary at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Buffalo for almost 2 decades. LeRoy preceded her in death in 1998 when he was just 57 years old.  Pat mourned his death and then dedicated her retirement time to helping singles and widows with the Project Compassion Ministry at the church.

Pat believed that with faith in Christ as a guiding light, hard work, and a belief in yourself, a person could accomplish anything. She felt that God would bring people into your life at just the right time to help you, to redirect you, to strengthen you, and to see you through.

Pat had a quirky and upbeat sense of the world. A conversation with Pat was always interesting and an exercise in mental agility. She had a talent for making the ordinary more interesting.  Listening to one of her many stories was like turning on a television show halfway through, and just as you were getting up to speed on the plot, she’d change the channel on you and launch into a completely different but equally entertaining story. She traveled the world with both family and friends, visiting New Zealand, Tahiti, Europe, the Holy Land, and Panama at various times during her life.

Pat died one day after what would have been her 60^th wedding anniversary to LeRoy.  She was also preceded in death by parents Jady and Lilian Skoog. Survived by sister Jadynne (Don) Berg, Venice, Florida; son Jonz (Karina) Norine, Redding, California; daughter Amy (Troy) Noeldner, Grand Forks, North Dakota; grandchildren Madisynn Noeldner, Lars Norine, Nils Norine, JD Noeldner; and wonderful nieces, nephews, and great-nieces and great-nephews who were very special to her - Melissa, Mike, Paul, Todd, Carrie, Heidi, Michaela, Grace, Lucas, Derrick, and Joshua.

Instead of gifts or flowers, Pat would love it if you donated in her honor to the Project Compassion Ministry which was so important to her. https://www.stjohnsbuffalo.org/compassion/

A Christian Funeral is planned for June 23, 2023, at 11 am at St. John’s Lutheran Church, 302 Second Street Northeast, Buffalo, MN followed by interment at 2:30 pm at the Dassel Community Cemetery 238^th St., Dassel, MN.