Eleanor ‘Tommy’ Stydnicki, 90

Published 9:44 am Tuesday, January 12, 2016

Eleanor “Tommy” Stydnicki, 90, passed away Saturday, Jan. 9, 2016.

Eleanor ‘Tommy’ Stydnicki, 90

Hilda Eleanor Thomsen Stydnicki was born to Mr. and Mrs. Askel Thomsen in Minneota, Minnesota, on Nov. 16, 1925. The family later changed the spelling of the surname to Thompson.

At age 3, her family moved to Dawson, Minnesota, where she attended schools. She graduated from Dawson High School in May 1944.

Tommy enrolled at Dakota Wesleyan University in Mitchell, South Dakota, as a Cadet Nurse during World War II, graduating from the Methodist Hospital program in June 1947.

She married Stan Stydnicki of Elyria, Ohio, in 1948. They met while both were attending Dakota Wesleyan University.

Mrs. Stydnicki worked in hospitals in Kansas City, Missouri; Austin, Minnesota; and at the Northfield City Hospital in Northfield, Minnesota, where her husband owned and operated the radio station KYMN.

Tommy enjoyed traveling, reading and quilting. She made many queen-sized quilts and smaller wall hangings and table runners, which she gifted to family members over the years.

She was preceded in death by her husband; her parents; four brothers: Arna, Ole, Andrew, and Alvin Thompson; and a sister, Anna Thompson Sigurdson.

She is survived by a daughter, Mary, and her husband, Walter Johnston, of Woodstock, Maryland; son, Michael and his wife, Diane, of Brainerd, Minnesota; as well as many nieces and nephews.

Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11 a.m., Friday, Jan. 15, 2016, at St. Andrew’s Catholic Church in Brainerd. Family and friends are invited to gather one hour prior to services. Interment will take place at Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery near Camp Ripley. Arrangements have been entrusted to Brenny Funeral Chapel in Baxter, Minnesota.