Erika D. Gruenberg

Oct. 19, 1979 – Apr. 9, 2020

Erika D. Gruenberg, 40,

Grand Forks, ND, died

Thursday, April 9, 2020

in Grand Forks.

Erika Dawn (Olson)

Gruenberg was born to

Ardell and Karen (Sund-

quist) Olson on October

19, 1979 at McVille, North

Dakota. She spent her

childhood years on a farm

in the Sheyenne River

Valley near Aneta, North

Dakota. She was baptized

at Norway Lutheran

Church and confirmed at

Sundahl Lutheran

Church.

A lifelong love of sports

began at an early age start-

ing with t-ball, ice skat-

ing, and swimming. Erika

later participated in play-

ing softball, volleyball,

track, and basketball. In

high school at Edmore,

North Dakota, in addition

to sports, Erika took part

in most of the small town

high school activities of-

fered such as playing the

flute in the band and sing-

ing in the chorus. She at-

tended Northland Com-

munity and Technical

College in East Grand

Forks, Minnesota for med-

ical transcription, and gra-

duated from the Universi-

ty of North Dakota, Grand

Forks, North Dakota with

a bachelor’s degree in

Communications.

Erika married the love

of her life Joshua Gruen-

berg on September 9,

2006 at Turtle River State

Park, Arvilla, North Dako-

ta. They spent 16 years,

to the day, together as a

couple. Erika and Joshua

lived in Grand Forks,

where they enjoyed

spending time with their

many friends.

Erika worked at Nordi-

an Health Care Solutions

as a team leader Medicare

fraud specialist. She com-

pleted her work life out-

side the home as parapro-

fessional at Discovery Ele-

mentary. Erika loved

working with the kids in

the school up until

mid-2019 when she joked

that she “retired”. She

was also a partner with

her husband Joshua in PS

Garage Doors, a company

they purchased together

in October 2018.

Erika’s love of sports

and the outdoors were

passed on to her sons Jake

and Kale. Her greatest

joys in life were attending

her boys’ sporting events,

and simply spending time

with family at home, or at

the lake. Erika will al-

ways be remembered for

her strong spirit, quick

wit, quirky sense of

humor, determination,

and passion. She can be

described as the ultimate

sports mom who gave her

all to attend her boy’s

football, soccer, and hock-

ey games, and as a true

and loyal friend to many.

Lives were changed for-

ever when Erika entered

heaven’s gates on April 9,

2020 following a hard

fought battle against

metastatic breast cancer.

She is survived by her

husband Joshua; sons

Jacob Grandstrand and

Kale Gruenberg; father,

Ardell Olson (Tina);

mother, Karen Olson

(Ove); sisters Andrea Ol-

son and Adria Smith (Ja-

son); brother, Cruz Olson;

brother-in-law Justin

Gruenberg (RaChelle),

mother-in-law, Sheila

Paul (Tim);

brother-in-law, Rhett Paul

(Whitney);

grandmothers-in-law,

Theresa Gruenberg and

Grace Paul, niece, Chiara

Olson and nephews Tris-

tan and Kyan Olson,

Beckett and Remy Smith,

and Rekker and Chuckie

Gruenberg. Survivors

also include numerous

aunts and uncles, cousins,

and many friends who

were very special to her.

She was preceded in

death by her grandparents

Alfred and Eleanor Olson;

Arnold and MaryAnn

Sundquist,

grandfather-in-law Fred

Gruenberg, and

father-in-law Robert

Gruenberg. A family ser-

vice was held in her home

on April 13, 2020.

The family expresses

their sincere appreciation

to the Altru Cancer Clinic

and Altru Hospice staffs

for their compassionate

care, and to the many

friends and family

members that have sup-

ported them throughout

this very difficult time.

A celebration of Erika’s

life and sharing of

memories for friends and

family will be held at the

Alerus Center, 1200 S

42nd Street, Grand Forks,

North Dakota at 5:30 pm

November 18, 2020. CO-

VID precautions will be

observed. Live stream of

the service will be avail-

able through a link that

will appear on the

Amundson Funeral Home

website

(www.amundsonfuneralh

ome.com) at a future date.

Following the service,

there will be a reception

at PS Garage Offices, 4733

Demers Avenue. A private

committal service will

held at Silent Hill

Cemetery, Aneta, North

Dakota. Arrangements are

with Amundson Funeral

Home, Grand Forks.