Trygve Lonnebotn

Merrimac- Trygve Lonnebotn passed away on April 29, 2014 from heart failure.
Trygve was born and grew up in Bergen, Norway. He remembered the German occupation of Norway during World War Two well as their house was right next to a German camp.
After completing his mandatory military service, he attended the Technical University in Trondheim, Norway, graduating in 1963 with a Master's Degree in Chemical Engineering.
In the summer of 1963, he worked as a lab technician at Ray-O-Vac corporation (now Spectrum Brands). He was offered a permanent position there and returned in 1965. Over the years he held many positions of increasing responsibility in the company. These included plant manager, general manager of the button cell business, Vice President of Technology and Executive Vice President of Operations. Trygve retired in 1999.
He was involved in many Norwegian-American organizations. This included the Norwegian Luncheon Club Madison Torske Klubben Charitable Foundation focusing on providing scholarships to Norwegian graduate students attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He also served as the president of the Madison-Oslo Sister City Committee and as a trustee at the Vesterheim Museum.
In 1996 he was appointed Honorary Consul representing Norway for the state of Wisconsin. In 2005, he was awarded the Order of Merit, Knight First Class, by the king of Norway.
Trygve is survived by his samboer of more than twenty years, Melany Stinson Newby, Grynet Lonnebotn, mother of his children, and also by his daughter Anne Lindblom (Scott) and their children Christian and Cecilie and by his son Paal Lonnebotn (Kathleen) and their children Jack, Mya, and Ava. He also has a brother, Petten, and a sister, Ingri, in Norway and numerous cousins.
A visitation to honor Trygve's life will be held Sunday May 4, 2014 at the Cress Center, 6021 University Ave., Madison, WI. 53705 from 4-6pm . Funeral services will be held at the Cress Center Monday, May 5, 2014 at 11:00am with a visitation one hour prior to service time.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be donated to the Madison Torske Klubben Foundation, Treasurer Raymond Weihofen, 3590 Sabaka Trail, Verona, WI. 53593
The family would like to extend their gratitude to Agrace HospiceCare, INC. for the care and support they provided. Trygve left us the way he tried to live, with a smile on his lips and a song in his heart.