April Gulso

April Jean Gulso, 40, of Brainerd, entered in to the eternal kingdom of her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Sunday, November 25, 2018 after complications of heart surgery at Mayo Clinic Hospital, St. Mary’s Campus. A Celebration of April’s life will be held on Saturday, December 1, at 11 a.m. at the Journey North Community Church located at 6785 Woida Rd. N in Baxter. Family and friends are invited to gather beginning at 9 a.m.

April was born “a little fighter” in Cambridge, MN on February 1, 1978 to John Edward and Jeanne (Willson) Gulso. She was a survivor of congenital heart defects due to an extremely rare genetic condition which initiated research at Mayo Clinic. April had a strong faith, positive attitude, and appreciation for life that kept her smiling. She was the very essence of kindness and compassion, constantly seeing the good in people and committed to helping others. She participated in humanitarian, advocacy, and research work focused on the less fortunate and those living with genetic and congenital heart conditions.

April enjoyed gardening, canning, playing Scrabble, and cuddling up with her dachshunds to watch her favorite movies, soap operas, or sitcoms such as The Golden Girls. She liked to shop, fish, travel, and go on road trips. April loved adventures so much that she decided early in life to have a career as a travel agent, working in this field for more than 15 years. She later completed course work towards a business degree at Crown College, a private Christian college in St. Bonifacius.

April will be sadly missed by her mom, Jeanne (Denny) Roden; dad, John Gulso; brothers, Joseph (Stephanie) Gulso and Tyler Roden; sister, Amanda Gulso; grandfather, Donald Gulso; nieces and nephews, Seth, Tyler, Michael, Jeremiah, Isabella and Micah; aunts, Sherry Willson and Becky (Tony) Truman Gulso; uncles, Duane Willson and Donnie Gulso; many cousins and second cousins; and her fur baby, Zippy. She was preceded in death by her grandparents, Phillip and Norma Willson and Evelyn Gulso, and aunt, Susan Gulso.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to advance the work that April benefited from at the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research with the designation: Congenital Heart Disease at the website https://philanthropy.mayoclinic.org/