Paper bags at Lunds are imprinted with the words "thank you" in a dozen languages. That is just one of the innovative ideas Patricia Lund came up with to add a personal touch to customers' grocery-shopping experiences.

Lund, of Edina, was never short on ideas during a four-decade career in which she rose from switchboard operator to senior vice president of consumer relations and advertising. She was responsible for recipe cards to help shoppers create home meals and for providing one-on-one advice on party planning.

Her signature weekly newspaper advertisements weaving history, literature, Bible quotes and food tips generated bags of fan mail from appreciative customers.

She died Jan. 24 at age 96.

"She wrote such beautiful copy," said Jack Farrell, president of local wine retailer Haskell's. "I ran into an English professor who said she always used her ads for English class because they were so succinct and used descriptive words. She was very talented and creative. She wanted Lunds to stand apart, and it did."

In fact, it was her idea to call the supermarket Lunds. In 1964, Russell T. Lund was a partner in a company that ran the former Hove's store on Lake Street. When the store lost its lease and the partnership dissolved, it was Pat who encouraged him to put his name on it, said Tres Lund, current chairman and CEO.

Born in 1912 in Hallock, Minn., she began her career at the grocery in 1940 just after Russell Lund opened the Lake Street location. As a business school student, she answered phones on the switchboard one day a week. She eventually went full time at a salary of $75 a week.

When she rose to the rank of advertising copy writer, she started writing the distinctive Lunds advertisements chock full of cooking suggestions, many of which appeared in the Star Tribune.

She became Russell Lund's personal secretary, a role she would fill for 35 years, and married him in 1980 after both of their spouses had died.

Lund was a strong supporter of the arts and civic causes. As chairwoman of the board of Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, Minn., she met King Carl Gustav of Sweden in the 1970s, helped dedicate a new hockey arena for the college and was active with the Gustavus Library Associates, which over the years has raised more than $6 million for library endowment, said Patty Lindell, former board member and wife of Edward Lindell, the college's president from 1975 to 1980.

"Pat was an avid and devout supporter of the school," Patty Lindell said. "She had a delightful sense of humor and wit. She was equally at ease with new employees at Lunds as she was meeting kings and queens. Pat knew how to enjoy life and people."

Among her actions on behalf of the arts, Lund gave a grant to KTCA-TV to underwrite the cost of airing Queen Elizabeth's visit to Washington, D.C., and was a longtime supporter of the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, the Minnesota Opera and VocalEssence.

"She knew the importance of the arts in our lives and followed through on this with encouraging words and gracious giving," said VocalEssence artistic director Philip Brunelle.

Lund is survived by a son, Jon Hummel of Minnetonka, six grandchildren, five great-grandchildren and a sister, Lois Racine. Services will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday at Mount Olivet Lutheran Church in Minneapolis, where Lund was a member for 70 years.