SUSAN MILA LIGDA

SUSAN MILA LIGDAFemale View treeBorn: 1936-10-07
Father: VICTOR WORTHINGTON LIGDAMother: CAROLINE FIELD
Children: none
Siblings: VICTORIA ROSE LIGDA, PAUL CHARLES LIGDA

Susan was the second child and only daughter born to Victor and Caroline Ligda.

After graduating from Presidio Jr. High School in 1951, Susan attended George Washington High School in San Francisco.  She was an excellent student and was elected Vice President of her Sophomore Class.  She graduated in 1954.

Susan attended San Francisco City College for the 1954-55 school year.  To earn spending money, she took a part time job at Mannings Cafeteria where she met and began dating Paul Lindstedt who was beginning a career in the restaurant industry.  In the Fall of 1955, Susan transferred to the University of California, Berkeley, but she was more interested in developing her relationship with Paul than in remaining in school to earn a degree.  Her mother, hoping the romance would cool, arranged for Susan to join her brother, Paul, on a tour of Europe after his graduation from college in 1956.  With her mother, Susan flew to New York where she and Paul sailed for Europe on the Queen Elizabeth I on February 17, 1956.  They joined a tour in Southampton which took them on a month long tour ending in Paris.  During the trip, Susan used her available savings to shop for things she felt she would need after her marriage.  When the tour ended, Paul extended his stay, but Susan came home.  She and Paul 1 were married on August 19, 1956.

The Lindstedts’ first home was a rented apartment on Geary Boulevard, a few blocks from her mother’s home at 34 Pt. Lobos.  Shortly thereafter, her mother helped them with the purchase of their first home at 1224 South Mayfair in the Westlake District of Daly City.

From the beginning of their marriage, Susan and Paul were active members of their church.  They had three children, all born in San Francisco while they lived in Westlake: Pamela Sue born October 8, 1957; David Paul born March 18, 1959; and Paul Michael born May 10, 1961.  Their children were all raised in the church with Christian backgrounds.

In 1965, Paul was given the opportunity of managing a new Mannings Restaurant opening in Rossmoor in the East Bay.  The Lindstedts sold their home in Westlake and moved to Walnut Creek where they bought a home at 927 Quiet Place Court.  Paul remained with Mannings until 1969 when he resigned to accept an offer from Robert E. Farrell to join his growing chain of Ice Cream Parlours.  In 1971, Paul was promoted to Vice President of Operations in Portland.  The Lindstedts moved to Oregon where they bought a new home at 73 Touchstone Drive in Lake Oswego.  All three of their children graduated from Lake Oswego High.  Pamela and David went on to graduate from the University of Oregon. 2  Paul would begin his college work there, but later transfer to Long Beach State University where he graduated.

Bob Farrell eventually sold Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlours to Marriotts.  Over a period, that company brought in their own people for the management positions.  Paul was squeezed out in 1976.  For several months, he was unable to find work.  Susan noted, in e

xplaining why they could not come to California to attend her brother’s wedding in August of 1977: “We know God has something in store for us but . . . may wait until the very end of our endurance to supply.  In the meantime, we need to be careful with what money we have . . .”  Paul ultimately put his job hunt on hold to open a restaurant he named Pamburger.  Every member of the family chipped in to make the venture a success.   David cooked three nights/week while he was home from college.

In 1979, Paul sold Pamburger and the Lindstedts returned to California.  They bought a home at 847 Valparaiso Avenue in Menlo Park.   While Paul worked in various capacities in the food service industry, Susan took a job as an aide to refugee students in the Sequoia Unified High School District.  Her work as an aide provided the opportunity to tutor many of the students in the schools as well as other refugees connected with the Peninsula Bible Church she attended.  Susan took a deep liking to those she taught.  She and Paul welcomed many of her students as a part of their family.

Pamela married Michael Cook in Portland on July 23, 1983.[refMike and Pamela Cook had four children: Jason Michael born April 3, 1987; Garrett Paul born November 21, 1989; Caroline Ashley born September 30, 1991; and Annelise born September 17, 1993.[/ref]

David married Ruth DeHart in California on May 12, 1984. 3

In 1995, Jim Omundson, a close friend of the Lindstedts, offered Paul a partnership in a restaurant to be built in Newberg, Oregon.  Paul accepted.  The Lindstedts sold their home in Menlo Park.  With the profits from that sale, they moved to Newberg where, with Jim Omundson’s help, they built a new home at 14450 NE Rex Hill Court.  The restaurant, JP Founders, opened in July, 1996.  Despite the Lindstedts best efforts,  JP Founders did not attract enough business to allow payment of the construction loans.  After less than two years, the restaurant had to be sold at a considerable loss.  The Lindstedts sold their home in Newberg and moved to Siskiyou County, California where they purchased a smaller home on 25 acres at 734 Oak Hill Lane in Ft. Jones.  Susan commented: “We’re loving the beauty, quiet, and luxury of 25 acres, none of which has to be tended to . . . The sheep graze on the dried grass and that’s enough to keep it down.”

Notes:

  1. Paul Arnold Lindstedt was born June 14, 1936 in San Francisco.  He was a graduate of Lincoln High School in that city
  2. David graduated summa cum laude with a BS in Journalism/Advertising in June, 1981.
  3. David and Ruth had four children: Michele Kristine born March 1, 1987; Michael David born February 26, 1989; Kayla Marie born November 3, 1991; and Jacob William born October 24, 1996.