Edina youth hockey enthusiast Bud Sorem dies

Lloyd (Bud) Sorem, a World War II Navy veteran, Edina businessman and sports enthusiast, died Jan. 5 at age 89.

Sorem was an early leader of the Edina Hockey Association in the 1960s and '70s. His contribution to youth sports in Edina was recognized in 2000 with his induction into the Edina High School Hall of Fame.

"He didn't tell us when he got inducted. That was the kind of guy he was," said his son Ron Sorem, of Edina.

Sorem coached in an era of outdoor hockey, and his duties included shoveling snow off outdoor rinks, the school's website says. Starting with peewee players, Sorem made his mark as a coach with boys' bantam hockey teams that won state championships in 1970 and 1971.

As a coach, Sorem was a fierce competitor but made playing fun for kids and built their confidence, his son said.

Sorem was also part of the group that helped bring about the building of Edina's Braemar Arena, which opened in 1965.

Sorem, 6-feet-2 and 225 pounds in his prime, played varsity football and basketball at Minneapolis Central High School. Later in life he enjoyed golf, jogging and tennis. He was a longtime member of the Edina Country Club.

After his graduation from Central in 1939, Sorem taught a high school gym class for a while, then worked for Western Union delivering telegrams by bicycle. He later worked in western Minnesota, living out of a rail car and stringing power lines.

He married childhood sweetheart Marian Johnson shortly before enlisting in the Navy, Ron Sorem said. He served in the South Pacific during World War II aboard the attack transport USS Menifee. While in the war, Sorem plotted his path into business, deciding to go into sales. He explained to his son that "you have a lot of time to think when you are out on night watch in the middle of the ocean."

He returned from the war and went to Minnesota School of Business. He built a successful career, first as a partner of Famous Foods, a fruit, produce and poultry distribution company. In 1953 he founded his own food brokerage company -- L.S. Sorem & Associates, which he ran until he retired in 1996.

"Everywhere you went it was 'Hey Bud!'" said Ron Sorem. Business associates from Campbell and Nabisco "have written us letters saying how very popular he was and how well respected he was."

In addition to his son Ron, he is survived by his partner of 31 years, Florence Hargarten; three other children, Terry, Val and Julie; 12 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. Services have been held.