Thief River Falls \u2013 Richard Allan Kjensrud, of Thief River Falls, passed away peacefully on Friday, April 17, 2026, at his home surrounded by his loving family.
\nRichard was born on August 22, 1940, in Mayville, ND, to Ellert Norton Kjensrud and Julia (Groven) Kjensrud. He was baptized at home in Portland, ND, and later confirmed at Bruflat Lutheran Church in Portland.
\nHe attended country school in Portland, ND, graduated from Clearbrook High School in Minnesota, and continued his education at college in Bemidji before completing vocational training in electronics in Thief River Falls.
\nDuring vocational school, Richard met the love of his life, Patricia Vatsaas. The couple married on March 25, 1961 at Oak Ridge Lutheran Church near Thief River Falls and made their home in the Twin Cities for 11 years. To this union, three children were born, Karen, Tim and Eric. In 1971, they made their home on a farm in Holt.
\nRichard dedicated his working life to being a farmer, and served over 30 years with the Minnesota Department of Transportation. He was proud of his strong work ethic and commitment to his community. He was a member of the Teamsters Union, and Thief River Falls Eagles Club.
\nFaith was an important part of Richard\u2019s life. He was an active member of Nazareth Lutheran Church, where he served on the church council and played a key role in helping build the new church.
\nRichard enjoyed woodworking and carving, solving puzzles, reading, playing cards and cribbage, camping, hunting, fishing, and driving horses. He and his wife Patricia attended H\u00f8st Fest annually for over 30 years, celebrating his Norwegian roots. Above all, Richard treasured time spent with his children, grandchildren, and great\u2011grandchildren.
\nRichard is survived by his loving wife, Patricia (Vatsaas) Kjensrud; children, Karen (Kurt) Dvergsten, Tim (Andrea) Kjensrud, and Eric (Jennifer) Kjensrud; grandchildren, Duane Erickson, Dustin (Liz) Erickson, Danica (Joe) Marana, Vanessa (Max) Thompson, Kathleen (Sean Paine) Kjensrud, Heather Kjensrud, and Logan (Johanna) Dvergsten; and great\u2011grandchildren, Merritt, Will, Hallie, and Henley Marana; Rowen, Brooks, and Tate Thompson; Breanna Kjensrud; Portia and Hudson Merck; Hunter Hensrud; Camden and Baby Boy Dvergsten. He is also survived by his sisters, Carol (Bob) Dahl and Christine (Marty) Howes; stepsiblings, Julie (Dick) Kroenig, Gary (Jean) Oen, Jo (Les) Carpenter, and Jan Oen (Don Thompson); sister-in-law, JoAnn (Delray) Offerdahl; and many nieces and nephews.
\nRichard was preceded in death by his parents, Ellert Kjensrud and Julia Kjensrud Oen; stepfather, Harry Oen; parents-in\u2011law, Bendick and Bernice Vatsaas; brothers\u2011in\u2011law, Bendick Jr. (Lou) Vatsaas, Jerry (Juanita) Vatsaas, and Duane (Pauline) Vatsaas; and sister\u2011in\u2011law, Inga (Jim) Kennedy.
\nRichard will be remembered for his steady presence, skilled hands, deep faith, and unwavering love for his family. He will be deeply missed and fondly remembered by all who knew him.
\nVisitation will begin at 1 p.m., with the service to celebrate Richard\u2019s life at 2 p.m., on Friday, April 24, 2026, at Nazareth Lutheran Church in Holt, with Russ Steer officiating.
\nBurial will follow at Holt Cemetery.
\nCondolences may be sent at www.johnsonfuneralservice.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Thief River Falls \u2013 Richard Allan Kjensrud, of Thief River Falls, passed away peacefully on Friday, April 17, 2026, at his home surrounded by his loving family. Richard was born on August 22, 1940, in Mayville, ND, to Ellert Norton Kjensrud and Julia (Groven) Kjensrud. He was baptized at home in Portland, ND, and later… Continue reading Richard Kjensrud, 85<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26233,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_wpscp_schedule_draft_date":"","_wpscp_schedule_republish_date":"","_wpscppro_advance_schedule":false,"_wpscppro_advance_schedule_date":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":null,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"default","_google_business_share_type":"default","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12],"tags":[827,16638,2234,3028,10702,907,824,825,1862,569],"class_list":["post-26232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","tag-falls","tag-kjensrud","tag-northern","tag-official","tag-page","tag-richard","tag-river","tag-thief","tag-times","tag-watch","entry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26232"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26232\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26317,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26232\/revisions\/26317"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26233"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/trfnews.i234.me\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}