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John D. Runsvold, Owner / Funeral Director
John Runsvold, licensed funeral director and owner of Hanson-Runsvold Funeral Home, grew up in Fargo and graduated Fargo North High School in 1971. John attended North Dakota State University, for two years, before graduating from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, with a B.S. degree in Mortuary Science. In 1975, he joined his grandfather Joseph, his father James, and Neal Bradburn at Hanson-Runsvold. John and his wife, Cydney, have owned the funeral home since 1982. He is active in the F/M community, including past president of the Fargo-Moorhead Sertoma Club, past Master of East Gate Masonic Lodge and past president of Hospice of the Red River Valley. He is active in First Lutheran Church, including past president of the foundation, past chairman of the television committee, past member of the properties committee, the church council and youth committee. He also served on the University Lutheran Center Board at North Dakota State University. In 2013 he was inducted into the Fargo North Hall of Fame and was named Honorary Chairman of the North Dakota Open. John is currently involved with the Fargo/Moorhead Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Group and The Angel of Hope group of Fargo.John has been active on the state level serving as Southeast District Governor and past President of the North Dakota Funeral Directors Association. He served the state of North Dakota as a member of the North Dakota State Board of Funeral Service for ten years, and is a past president of that board. He has been involved on the national level with the National Funeral Directors Association, serving on the audit and pursuit of excellence committees. He served on the national board exam, by-law, executive, international and education committees of the International Conference of Funeral Service Examining Boards. He is past district governor and past president of that board. He served on the Committee on Accreditation of the American Board of Funeral Service Education and is a former member of their by-law and curriculum review committees. John also served on the American Red Cross Tissue Donation Liaison Committee.John and his wife Cydney have a son, Jordan (Jeny) Runsvold; two daughters, Rachel Blankenship and Lauren (Jay) Siebels; and 6 grandchildren, Emily and Jack Runsvold, Jett and Lillian Blankenship and Emmett and Harper Siebels. John and Cyd make their home in Fargo.
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Cydney Runsvold, Owner
Cyd Runsvold is the Marketing & Public Relations Director for Hanson-Runsvold and is the co-owner of the firm with her husband, John. She also continues to work as a Pharmacist at Northport Drug in Fargo.Cyd is the daughter of Doug & Lil Stoelting, grew up in Fargo and graduated Fargo North High School. Cyd received her Pharmacy degree from North Dakota State University in 1977.She is active in the community, currently serving on the Red River Youth for Christ Board of Directors, the NDSU Alumni Association Board and enjoys supporting the NDSU College of Pharmacy. She served on the NDSU search committee responsible for hiring Athletic Director, Gene Taylor. Cyd also served on the High School Girls Hockey Association Board for Fargo Schools, responsible for launching the sanctioned North Dakota High School Girls Hockey Program for Fargo.Among other interests, Cyd has served on the F-M Symphony Guild Board, the F-M Sertoma Auxiliary, First Lutheran Church Council and Building Committee, as chairman of the Youth Committee, Fargo Country Club Building and House Committees and various committees with the Fargo Public Schools. She is an active member of P.E.O. in Fargo.Cyd and her husband, John, have a son, Jordan (wife, Jeny) and two daughters, Rachel (Jared) Blankenship and Lauren (Jay) Siebels, and 5 grandchildren Emily and Jack Runsvold, Jett and Lillian Blankenship and Emmett Siebels. They make their home in Fargo.
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Alex Rydell, Funeral Director
Alex Rydell is a funeral director who was born and raised in Fargo, ND. He has been serving families and finding ways to creatively honor their loved ones since 2007 with Hanson-Runsvold Funeral Home. He is passionate about the need for communities to come together and support one another when someone dies. Alex graduated from Fargo North High School in 2002. After briefly pursuing a music degree at St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN, he found his true calling was in the funeral profession. He spent the next two years at the University of North Dakota after which he entered the University of Minnesota – TC Program of Mortuary Science. He graduated from UMN in May 2007 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mortuary Science.His love for music is still very prominent in his life, as he plays fiddle in the local Irish band “Poitin” and is also an active musician at First Lutheran Church of Fargo. His passion is serving the Fargo-Moorhead community through the ministry of funeral service and is grateful for the opportunity he has to help families honor the lives of their loved ones in a meaningful way.Alex has served on the board of the North Dakota Funeral Directors Association for many years and currently serves as the immediate past-president. He also serves on the boards of Hope Blooms, FM Area Youth Symphonies, and Soul Solutions Recovery Center.
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Jacques Boucher, Funeral Director
Jacques Boucher, Licensed Funeral Director and Manager of Hanson-Runsvold received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Mortuary Science at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis in 1996 after careers in law enforcement and Emergency Medical Services. He worked in Detroit Lakes for two years before joining the Hanson-Runsvold staff in 1998.
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Miranda Lavelle, Licensed Funeral Director - ND
Miranda (Mastrud) Lavelle was born and raised in Fargo, ND. The daughter of the late Patsy Evenson and the late Leslie “Pinky” Mastrud, she is a graduate of Fargo North High in 2000. She continued her education at NDSU and Minnesota State University – Moorhead, earning a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education.Miranda married her husband, Zach Lavelle in 2010 in New Town, ND. They make their home not far away from the funeral home on the Red River by Lindenwood Park. They love to travel the world, work on home projects, play with their brood of animals, go to concerts and comedy shows, and running their woodworking studio. Miranda has also found her passion for old Volkswagen cars! You might see her in her 1971 Super Beetle, Buttercup, or her yellow 1982 Kombi Camper Van, Little Miss Sunshine.In 2016, Miranda started working at Hanson-Runsvold Funeral Home as a night attendant. She soon realized she found her true calling of working with families in their time of need. She attended the Pittsburgh Institute of Mortuary Science, graduating in 2020 with an associate’s degree in Specialized Technology (Funeral Service Arts and Sciences) and was licensed as a funeral director in 2022.
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Simone Simpson, Licensed Funeral Director - ND and MN
Simone grew up in Minneapolis, MN, where she graduated from Patrick Henry High School in 2013. She attended the University of Minnesota and graduated with her Bachelor of Science in Mortuary Science in 2019. She completed her internship in Breckenridge, MN, and worked in Wahpeton, ND, before moving to Fargo, ND, in 2022.Before entering the mortuary science program, Simone served as a Petroleum Supply Sergeant in the Minnesota Army National Guard. She earned second place in the MN state Best Warrior Competition and graduated on the Commandant’s List with honors from the Basic Leaders Course in Fort Dix, NJ. Simone was honorably discharged in 2022.Simone has always been passionate about working with animals. She is a certified dog trainer and volunteers at 4 Luv of Dog Rescue in Moorhead, MN. Her goals have continuously been to incorporate animals within funeral service and is looking forward to utilizing her skills to do so in Fargo.
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Brett Peterson, Licensed Funeral Director - ND
Brett is a funeral director with Hanson Runsvold Funeral Home; she has been with the company since 2019 and graduated from the Pittsburg Institute of Mortuary Science in 2023.Brett is originally from Brandon, Minnesota, graduating from Brandon-Evansville Highschool in 2017. She moved to Fargo in 2019 to attend Rasmussen College of Nursing. When the Covid-19 pandemic started, she made a career change and joined the team at Hanson-Runsvold, where she found her calling in funeral service. In her free time, she enjoys camping and spending time outdoors, working on a watercolor painting, or hanging out with her two sphynx cats.
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Sandy Lytle, Office Administrator
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Vince Dicks, Funeral Assistant
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Keith Kilber, Funeral Assistant
Keith joined the Hanson-Runsvold team in September of 2014. He and his wife, Pat, relocated to Fargo, ND from Dickinson, ND upon Keith retiring from Job Service ND after 36 years of service. He wanted to continue working with people in a professional manner and Hanson-Runsvold afforded him the opportunity to do just that.
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Julie Staigle, Support Staff
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Kay Jastram, Support Staff
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Hannah Floberg, Grief Support
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Wendy Iwerks, Grief Support
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Carol Staiger, Support Staff
