Paul Leon Saurdiff Jr.

Paul Leon Saurdiff Jr., 83, passed away peacefully in the comfort of his home, surrounded by his loving family, Tuesday, March 17th, 2026. A service to remember and celebrate his life will be held Saturday, March 28th, 2026, at 1:00pm in the fellowship hall at Calvary Lutheran Church, in Grand Forks, ND. Visitation with the family will be held an hour prior to services.

Paul was born on March 31, 1942, in Thief River Falls, Minnesota, to Paul Sr. and Selma (Dalos) Saurdiff. He was raised in Grygla, Minnesota, where he attended grades 1 through 8. As a young boy, he took on his first job delivering newspapers by bicycle, beginning a lifelong pattern of hard work and responsibility.

He attended Lincoln High School in Thief River Falls, where he played baseball for the Prowlers and was part of the 1960 graduating class. During his high school and college years, Paul spent weekends working with Saurdiff Trucking, loading freight, gravel, and cattle and delivering to the South St. Paul Shippers Club.

Paul went on to attend Bemidji State College, earning a degree in Business Education in 1964 and also began serving as a member of the U.S. National Guard. Paul began his career teaching in Lancaster, Minnesota, and then moved to Winnemucca, Nevada, where he worked as a business education teacher and baseball coach at Albert High School from 1965 to 1966. He later relocated to Minneapolis, where he joined Bemis Company Incorporated as an internal auditor. His role took him across the United States and Canada over the next five years.

It was a trip home to Grygla for the Fall Festival in 1971 that would change his life—there he met Julie Hagen outside Diamond Jim’s. Paul and Julie were married on July 6, 1974, at Grace Lutheran Church in Grygla, and soon made their home in Grand Forks, North Dakota, where they raised their two children, Brandi and Mike.

In January 1975, Paul began his long and dedicated career with Rydell Chevrolet as the Controller, where he worked for over 30 years. Even after retirement, Paul remained active. In 2009, he began working at Elite Property Management, where he continued until March 10th, 2026, as the accountant.

Paul had a deep love for the outdoors. He enjoyed fishing and deer hunting, as well as hunting elk, mule deer, and antelope. He cherished time spent at Lake of the Woods and looked forward to annual fishing trips to Minaki, Ontario. He especially enjoyed fly-in fishing adventures by float plane with Leonard Rydell.

As a devoted father and grandfather, he cherished time spent playing catch with his son Mike, and he was extremely proud of teaching all of his grandsons - Koby, Saylor, Byrton and McCoy how to ride a bike. Paul’s sense of humor made him a natural storyteller. He was the king of teasing his siblings, children, and especially his grandsons. He also enjoyed simple traditions like ice cream trips to Thompson and sharing his love of fishing, leaving his grandsons with lasting memories.

Paul made many lifelong friends and will be remembered for his strong work ethic, his dedication to family, his love of the outdoors, and his playful spirit.

“We had some damn good years”, Paul Saurdiff, March 15th, 2026…his last words.

He will be deeply missed and forever remembered by all who knew and loved him.

He is survived by his wife, Julie; daughter, Brandi (Darrin Kuenzel); son, Mike (Kristal Jordan); grandsons, Koby, Saylor, Byrton, and McCoy; brothers, David Saurdiff, Steve (Susan) Saurdiff, and Lee (Betsy) Saurdiff; sisters, Diane Sandahl, Susan (William) Hamilton, and Jill (Lee) Olson; sister-in-law, Diane Saurdiff and numerous nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; sister, Sharon and her husband, Tony Kojozed Sr.; brother, Richard Saurdiff; brother-in-law, Bruce Sandahl; sister-in-law, Gwen Saurdiff; and nephew, Carl Sandahl.

If you wish, memorials may be directed to Calvary Lutheran Church in Grand Forks or the Kidney Cancer Foundation.