Services for Charles Abram Lent Jr.
Charles Abram Lent Jr., age 83 of Erskine, MN passed away on Friday, October 30, 2015 at his home with family members by his side. The funeral will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, at Grace Lutheran Church in Erskine with the Rev. Steven Trandem officiating. Visitation will be held for an hour before the funeral. Interment will be in Fairview Cemetery in rural Erskine. Arrangements are with Carlin-Hoialmen Funeral Home of Erskine. Messages of condolence may be sent at www.carlinhoialmen.com.
Charles Abram Lent Jr. was born Feb. 5, 1932, in Minneapolis to Charles and Martha (Muri) Lent. He had three older sisters: Catherine, Grace and Virginia. He attended Edison High School. He later moved to Minnewaukan, N.D., with his family after his father retired from the police force.
He met Norma Verena Nissen in 1950 when both were students at Minot State University in Minot, N.D. They married on June 18, 1951, and were married for 64 years. Chuck and Norma lived in Fargo, N.D., Minnewaukan and Erskine. They had four children: Laurie, Roger, Robert and Steven. Roger died in 1989.
Chuck served in the U.S. Army from 1952 to 1954 and was stationed in Korea during the Korean War.
He received a pharmacy degree from North Dakota State University in Fargo, N.D., in 1958. He worked at a pharmacy in Moorhead, Minnesota, for three years before moving to Erskine to purchase the local drugstore from Ray and Cleo Vollrath. They expanded the drugstore in the 1970s when they purchased the store next door and remodeled. The drugstore was part of the Erskine business community until 2004 when Chuck and Norma retired. They lived in town for many years before moving to Union Lake, where they enjoyed pontoon rides, sitting on the deck, and watching sunsets. They moved back to town in 2013.
Chuck enjoyed traveling, hunting, boating, poetry, music, anything Irish, and visiting with friends over a beer. He never missed the weather report. He was a big "Star Trek" fan and loved to watch Minnesota sports, especially the Vikings, the Twins and Gopher football. His favorite poem was “The Raven” by Edgar Allen Poe, one of his favorite authors. He also enjoyed fantasy and recently watched all three “Lord of the Rings” movies in three days.
Survivors include his wife, Norma of Erskine; his daughter, Laurie Swenson, who lived with them in Erskine; sons, Robert (Teresa) Lent of Minneapolis and Steven Lent of Minneapolis; three grandchildren, Megan Violette (Ryan) of Red Lake Falls, Nicholas Swenson of Crookston and Erskine, and Nissa Lent of Minneapolis; and a great-granddaughter, Jada Violette of Red Lake Falls.
He was preceded in death by his parents; a son, Roger; his sisters, Catherine Murray, Grace Spillios and Virginia Stahl, all of California; and a special nephew, Edward “Pepper” Murray, who came to Erskine from California and lived with Chuck and his family until buying a house down the street.
