NWA pilot Sigurd 'John' Trelstad, Jr.

 

~ IN MEMORY ~

Military veteran, NWA pilot Sigurd 'John' Trelstad, Jr.

October 26, 1941 ~ November 8, 2021

 

From our retired Northwest pilots group, we share this news:  ” NWA pilot Sigurd 'John' Trelstad, age 80, of Nisswa, MN passed away on 11/8/21 at the St Cloud VA hospital from complications of Parkinson's Disease. He was born in Chicago on October 26, 1941, to Sigurd John and Helen (Hudson) Trelstad. He grew up in Minneapolis and graduated from Washburn HS and the University of MN.  John entered the Navy and became a naval aviator, completing 2 tours in

Vietnam. He remained in the Naval Reserves until 1985. John was hired by Northwest Airlines on January 19, 1970 and laid off four months later, never to return to NWA line flying. After being furloughed from Northwest Airlines, he was employed as a detective for Hennepin County. He then went to work as a pilot for the MN DOT. From 1989 until his retirement in 2001,  he was employed by Cargill as a corporate pilot and achieved a dream of flying Gulfstreams (and other planes) to various places around the world.  John loved family, flying, being at the cabin on Gull Lake, and also the

beach house in Florida. He is survived by his wife Nola Johnson; sons Alex, Joseph (Pena), John Erick, and Geoffrey; brother Lee (Chris Stroemer); sister Nancy (Jerry) Cook, several grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and  in-laws. As per his request, no funeral will be held. The family will gather at a later date to celebrate his life. His remains will be interred at the VA cemetery in Little Falls. Family would like to give a special thanks to the staff at the VA BR unit for the compassionate care that they provided. Family asks that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Michael J Fox

Foundation for Parkinson's Research or the Parkinson's Foundation.  Arrangements have been entrusted to Brenny Family Funeral Chapel- Baxter.  Unfortunately, John's tenure at NWA was brief, he sounds like the kind of fellow many of us would have enjoyed flying with. Despite his layoff, John found a lifetime career in aviation. Well done, Sir. “

Information extracted from a family obituary.

Please see https://www.startribune.com/obituaries/detail/0000408207/    

Thank you,

~ Carol for the PCN