HELLO, my name is Pat Tollefson
Hometown: I was born in Tower, Minnesota, and moved to Ely when I was four. I lived there for six years, moved to Starbuck for a year, then to Benson for my high school years. I consider Benson to be my hometown.
When and why did you join UMRA? I think it was in 2005. I retired in 2004. I wanted to stay connected to the University.
What was your very first job? I was a lifeguard at the Benson Swimming Pool.
What was your role at the University when you retired? I answered questions from prospective international students and new students, referring them to visa advisers when necessary. I did a financial aid information session at our semi-annual orientation programs. I helped international students stay in compliance with Immigration and Naturalization Service credit regulations. (They were kinder in those days before the INS was replaced by ICE.) I enjoyed working one-on-one with the students.
You have been involved as a volunteer with UMRA for many years. Please describe your experience and what, to you, are the benefits of volunteering? I was on the UMRA Board for two terms and founded the UMRA Book Club in 2011. I helped international students improve their English as the tutoring coordinator for the University Retirees Volunteer Center. I also tutored with a College of Education program and with Partners in English. I believe that improving their English language skills was undoubtedly helpful to international students. Even more in need were the permanent residents I tutored at our local library. It was good experience for me as I had always wanted to be a teacher, and tutoring is the next best thing.
Beyond UMRA, what is something else you enjoy doing in retirement? The first few years after retiring, I edited papers for students for a nominal fee. After being retired longer, I returned to my old musical and writing interests, singing in a women’s chorus, playing my bassoon in a municipal band, meeting with my writers group, swimming laps at Life Time Fitness, and church activities. And, of course, golf, which I enjoyed greatly with my husband along with camping and fishing. Recently, I joined a Shakespeare reading group, and we have gone through six or seven of his plays.
If you were competing in the 2026 Winter Olympics, what would like your sport to be? I would like to be a figure skater, something I enjoyed doing on my noon hours while working at the U.
What is a fun fact about you we might not know? Besides ice skating, I used to roller skate along East River Road when the international student office was located there.
News
One last reminder that the Nominating Committee is looking for your suggestions for candidates to serve on the UMRA Board—primarily president-elect, who serves as Program Committee chair for one year before becoming president; secretary; and up to five directors. The Board meets monthly from September through May and directors serve three-year terms.
Volunteerism is declining across the country, and the University Retirees Volunteer Center is gearing up to help reverse the trend. Please be on the lookout for a short survey in February or March. URVC wants to hear about your interests, experiences, and suggestions related to volunteering.
Meet UMRA member Nanette Hanks, a fourth-generation Texan who has hiked the Camino de Santiago in Spain nearly 40 times! She’s going back in June, and still has a couple places left if you’d like to join the group she will be leading.
There are some relatively easy things you can do to help protect yourself against identity theft and online and telephone fraud. Here are some New Year’s resolutions to help make your 2026 a safe year.
The third of Marilyn Erickson's three stories about her family history. She wrote each story “to check out the verbal family stories and connect them to documentation and photos.”
This third story is about Scandal in the Graveyard.
The second of Marilyn Erickson's three stories about her family history. She wrote each story “to check out the verbal family stories and connect them to documentation and photos.”
This second story is about the Sea Wing disaster.
The 2026 Nominating Committee is looking for your suggestions for candidates for UMRA board and officer positions. If you know of someone who might be willing to step up to an UMRA leadership role—and that someone could be you!—please contact Julie Sweitzer, Nominating Committee chair.
The University Retirees Volunteer Center greets 2026 with some exciting news: its office is moving to Morrill Hall, which houses the University’s administrative offices on the Twin Cities campus. The space is being provided by the office of Chris Gade, the vice president for communications, who oversees University Marketing Communications.
Meet UMRA member Pat Tollefson, founder of the UMRA Book Club (in 2011) and shining example of how volunteering and engaging in a variety of other activities can lead to a full life in retirement.
How would you like to participate in one or more informal afternoon group conversations at the Campus Club with University leaders—deans, center directors, department heads, for example—regarding their current situations and thoughts about the future?
Here’s how to make payments for UMRA events easily in the UMRA member portal, and how to use your UMRA membership card for on-campus parking and other discounts, including University Bookstores.
UMRA member Marilyn DeLong was one of three panelists who participated in a recent discussion and idea exchange on the value of shared writing groups as a means of community building, hosted by the national Association of Retirement Organizations in Higher Education.
Marilyn Erickson has an interesting set of three family history stories that she wrote “to check out the verbal family stories and connect them to documentation and photos.”