Memorial services for Lyle J. Strand of Albert Lea will be held at 2 p.m. Wednesday, July 24, at the Grace Lutheran Church. The Rev. Todd Walsh will officiate. Visitation will be held Tuesday, July 23, at the Bonnerup Funeral Service from 4-8 p.m., and one hour prior to the service at the church. Masonic services will be Tuesday evening at 7:30 p.m. Interment will be in Ft. Snelling Cemetery, Minneapolis. Military honors will be accorded by the Albert Lea area veterans groups.

Mr. Strand died Sunday evening, July 21, 2002, at the Minneapolis Veterans Hospital. He was 77 years of age.

Lyle was born May 15, 1925, in Waseca County the son of Arthur and Ella (Berg) Strand. He was a graduate of New Richland High School and attended the Dunwoody Institute in Minneapolis.

Lyle enlisted in the U.S. Navy in 1943 and served aboard the USS Hansford during VJ Day in Japan, and the USS Cumberland Sound. In 1948 he enlisted in the U.S. Army and served in the U.S. Army Security Agency for the next 20 years, attaining the rank of Command Sergeant Major.

Lyle was united in marriage to Ruth Hatle on Aug. 20, 1952, in Northwood Iowa. During his time in the service he was stationed in Germany, Massachusetts, Virginia, the Philippines, and Alaska. He also served in Vietnam starting in 1965.

Lyle had lived in Albert Lea since his retirement from the military in 1968. He was a member of Grace Lutheran Church. He was also a member of the VFW, American Legion, DAV, Cooties, Eagles, Elks and Moose Lodges, and the Haymarket Masonic Lodge in Haymarket, Va.

Lyle was employed for 23 years at the Strand Hammer Accounting Firm in Albert Lea.

Lyle was an avid sports fan and enjoyed playing baseball first with a team in New Richland, and in the military. He loved to follow the Minnesota Twins, play golf, and go fishing with his friends. Lyle also loved to read, especially western novels.

Lyle is survived by his wife, Ruth of Albert Lea; children: Lynn and his wife Nancy of Inver Grove Heights, Minn., Terry and his wife Sandra of Owatonna, and

Jayne and her husband Brian Vairma of Albert Lea; mother, Ella Strand of Albert Lea; grandchildren: Ivy and her husband Dan Evans, Levi Strand, Nicole Strand, Shelly Strand, Ami Porter, Meagan Zahorik, Brooke Zahorik, Chris Vairma, and Yvonne Vairma; great-grandchildren: Logan Evans and Tyler Johnson; brothers: Dale and his wife Kathy Strand of Sarasota, Fla., and Vern and his wife Shirley Strand of Albert Lea; sisters: Elaine and her husband Casper Munson of Albert Lea, and LaJune and her husband Dwayne Hagen of Geneva; and sisters-in-law: Elaine Johnson and her friend Don Bartness of New Richland, Edith and her husband John Hansen of Lake Stevens, Wash., Avis and her husband Glen Wobschall of Waseca, Rebecca Stephenson and her husband Charles of Albert Lea, and Alice Hatle of New Richland.

Lyle was preceded in death by his father, Arthur.

Memorials preferred in lieu of flowers.