A memorial service has been planned for Gary Shulze, the former co-owner of Once Upon a Crime Mystery Bookstore. Shulze, 66, died last week, just days after he and his wife, Pat Frovarp, sold their store. "I just think Gary was holding on until the sale was final," Frovarp said. Shulze had been battling leukemia for several years.

The memorial will be in the form of an open house at the bookstore, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 24. The bookstore, which Frovarp and Shulze owned together for many years, is at 604 W. 26th St. in Minneapolis. In 2011, it won the Raven Award from the Mystery Writers of America.

Frovarp has requested that instead of flowers or memorials, people buy books--especially from Once Upon a Crime. "If anyone sends cash--and some people already have--I'm going to donate it to the Memorial Blood Bank and Second Harvest food bank," she said. "They [the blood bank] saved Gary's life many, many times.

"We had a good run," she said. "I wish it could have been a lot longer."