Julia "Judy" Sten

Life and Memories
by Annette Sten

Julia “Judy” Sten, formerly of rural Argyle, MN, passed away on February 18, 2025, at the Thief River Falls Care center. She lived four years with pancreatic cancer and was fortunate compared to a lot of people with that cancer.

Judy was born on June 26, 1947, in Warren, MN, to Edward and Inez (McKeever) Kostrzewski. She was nicknamed “Judy” by her Polish dad, who couldn't pronounce “Julia.” She was raised near Florian, MN. She went to Englund Country School in Nelson Park Township where she met her two best friends, twins Janet and Janice Banaszewski.

She graduated from Stephen High School in 1965. While in school she (like other kids would walk up town at noon time) sparked the interest of a young guy on his break from work that would go driving up and down the streets of Stephen. He even brought his mom up town to show her the gal he was interested in- that gal named Judy. It was nice how it happened, no technology involved there. The Good Old Days!

She went to meet her dad after the school play at the local pub, the “Why Not,” where this young guy also was there that night. He was able to impress his future father-in-law by buying him a hamburger, which to Edward was a true delicacy. Judy was also impressed. Her future-husband wanted to see what kind of cook she might be by coaxing Judy to fry minute steak, which she found out does take longer than a minute. He was testing her to see if he was going to gain ten pounds a year- or lose twenty!

Judy and Arvid Gunnar Sten were married on February 25, 1965, which was a nice day for that year. She traveled with her father-in-law to Fort Riley, Kansas, to be with Arvid during basic training. During the trip, she was brushing her teeth so hard she broke her toothbrush! Gunnar couldn't stop laughing at that one. In Fort Riley their son, Michael, was born. She moved back to Stephen with her in-laws while waiting for Arvid to come back from Vietnam.

Back in the 60s and 70s, it was a calling to be a housewife- which she thoroughly enjoyed out on the farm. She also worked seasonal jobs, including potatoes where she met her good friend, Valerie, and worked alongside her aunt, Angeline Kostrzewski, on the harvester. She could call them up to six times a day on the landline phone just to gather the latest news. She also worked at Florian Park and at the turkey plant in Thief River Falls.

She loved living on the farm and looked forward to us kids coming home from school. She would have homemade rolls or pudding ready for us. She taught me to bake and cook at a young age because she had the patience and the time it took for all that. Before I started going to school, I would sit on top of the kitchen table playing KROX radio BINGO with her using buttons from old glass jars. There won't ever be radio BINGO again: that was a simpler life.

She would get up at 4:15 AM with my dad to make him breakfast and pack his lunch before he left for work. And she loved every minute after he left, crawling back into bed. She liked to keep the home fires burning in the basement so Dad and the kids could come home to a cozy house. Mom and us kids would help get that precious commodity, wood, which wasn't easy work!

She liked to sew, embroider pillow cases, and make homemade bread, which she put a lot of love into, bundling it up like a baby to keep it warm by the chimney so it would rise. She also liked gardening and would sell potatoes, corn and tomatoes. She had a knack for canning peaches, pears, and raspberries, and loved making beets and dill pickles. And for being Polish, she really knew how to make lutefisk.

Her mother-in-law, Betty, was worried she would want to have a lot of kids since Judy's dad came from a big Polish family. But it was enough to have two.

She will be at peace now with my dad. She will always be remembered by her daughter, Annette; son, Micahel (Julie), and step-grandkids, Shannen Pikarski and Charlotte Pikarski (Cris); great-grandchildren, Julian, Blade, Treyten, Avanah, and Santiago; a great-great-grandson, Jameson; and her siblings, Vernon Kostrzewski, Birdean (Maureen) Kostrzewski, Dale Kostrzewski (Peggy Guzek), and Yvonne (Tim) Bergerson; and sister-in-law, Linda (John) Meek.

Ma is preceded in death be her husband, Arvid (d. Oct. 21, 2021); parents, Edward and Inez; little nephew, Ervin Kostrzewski; and in-laws, Gunnar and Betty Sten.


Ma, I will always cherish the time I lived with and helped you at your little house in TR. May you rest in peace now with Dad.
- Annette
 

MASS OF CHRISTIAN BURIAL: Thursday, February 27, 2025, at 10:30 AM, in St. Stephen Catholic Church, Stephen, MN.
VISITATION: The evening before, Wednesday, February 26, from 5:00 - 6:30 PM, in DuBore Funeral Home, Warren, MN; and one hour prior to Mass.
INTERMENT: Next to her husband, Arvid, in St. Stephen Catholic Cemetery.