The funeral service for Nathaniel &uot;Tannie&uot; Ohnstad, of

Ellendale, will be held 2 p.m. Thursday, May 20, 2004, at the First Lutheran Church in Ellendale. The Rev. Arne Halbakken will officiate. Interment will be in the First Lutheran Cemetery, Ellendale. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Bonnerup Funeral Service, Ellendale, and one hour before the service at the church.

Nathaniel &uot;Tannie&uot;

passed away on May 17, 2004 the Prairie Manor Care Center in Blooming Prairie.

He was 89.

Tannie was born Jan. 20, 1915, to Gabriel and Marie (Haugen) Ohnstad of Berlin Township. He graduated from Ellendale High School in 1933, and later served there as the baseball, basketball, and football coach in 1946, when his team won the Baseball State Championship.

He married Grace Gumbusky on August 26, 1937, and they had two

children, Janice (Ohnstad) Anderson and Mark G. Ohnstad.

Besides operating the Ohnstad Century Farm, Tannie was also active in the First Lutheran Church of Ellendale serving as Sunday School Superintendent for nine years, Board of Deacons three years, President of Lutheran Brotherhood (Albert Lea Conference), and church custodian.

In addition, Tannie participated in various civic organizations such as three years with the Zoning and Planning Commission for Steele County, the Elks, Post #813 of Albert Lea, and the Good Samaritan Board for three years.

Throughout his life he worked at several retail businesses including Owatonna Shoe Company, Gildners, Leutholds/St. Clair, J.C. Penney in Owatonna, and St. Paul Clothiers in both Owatonna and Albert Lea. His two favorite pastimes were sports and music. He served as a referee for various games throughout the conference which included umpiring and scorekeeping. His lifelong passion, though was band music, from playing saxophone in the Ellendale Community Band as a teenager to personally sponsoring the St. Olaf Band when they appeared in concert at Ellendale in 1966.

Tannie was preceded in death by his parents: Gabriel and Marie; infant sister and brother; and infant son, Mark.

He is survived by his wife, Grace, of 66 years: daughter, Jan Anderson; son-in-law, Jim Anderson; and granddaughter, Jodi Anderson of Andover, Minn.

For his quick wit, sense of humor and love of music and family, he will be dearly missed and remembered.

Any memorials will be donated to the First Lutheran Church and to NRHEG High School for sports and music education.