Helen L (Molly) EGILSRUD

Notes:

She may have been called Molly. Her maiden name is shown as Sverdrup in her son Johan’s birth certificate.

Helen L. "Molly" Sverdrup of St. Louis, a patron of the arts for more than 50 years, died Tuesday (Oct. 7, 1997) at her home after a long illness. She was 95.

Mrs. Sverdrup was born in Tromso, Norway. She came to the United States in 1915 with her father, Dr. Kristian Egilsrud, a surgeon. In 1923, she earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of Minnesota.

She was the widow of Leif J. Sverdrup, founder of Sverdrup Corp., an international engineering, architectural and construction company. He died in 1976.

For most of her life, Mrs. Sverdrup was active in many educational, arts and philanthropic groups. She was a trustee of the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, a board member of the Opera Theatre of St. Louis and an emeritus trustee of Webster University, where she established the Sverdrup Fund for International Study.

She endowed scholarship funds and distinguished lecture series at Culver-Stockton College in Canton, Mo., and Augsburg College in Minneapolis. She also was a benefactor of the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the National Cathedral in Washington and a supporter of the Norwegian Society.

In 1975, she was honored as a Globe-Democrat Woman of Achievement for fine arts.

The funeral service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at St. Michael and St. George Episcopal Church, 6345 Wydown Boulevard, Clayton. The body will be cremated.

Among the survivors is a son, Yohan M. "Jack" Sverdrup of St. Louis.

Died:
SSDI last residence St. Louis

Helen married Leif Johan “Jack” SVERDRUP on 26 Nov 1924 in Hennepin County, Minnesota. Leif (son of Johan Edvard SVERDRUP and Maria VALLAN) was born on 11 Jan 1898 in Ytre Sulen, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway; died in Jan 1976 in Missouri; was buried in Valhalla Cemetery, Hanley Hills, St. Louis County, Missouri. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Johan SVERDRUP was born on 23 Apr 1926 in Hennepin County, Minnesota; died on 15 May 2002 in Missouri; was buried in Valhalla Cemetery, Hanley Hills, St. Louis County, Missouri.
2. Ralph Lee SVERDRUP was born in 1928 in New York; died in 1952; was buried in Valhalla Cemetery, Hanley Hills, St. Louis County, Missouri.