Marvin Ramstad, the father of former 3rd District Congressman Jim Ramstad and Minnesota tax court judge Sheryl Ramstad, died Wednesday of respiratory failure at Methodist Hospital in St. Louis Park. He was 89.

The elder Ramstad, who had grown up on a farm in North Dakota, panned for gold in the Yukon, lettered in football at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Wash., served in the Navy and was active in the political campaigns of both of his children after retiring from his car dealership in Jamestown, N.D., and moving to the Twin Cities in 1984.

Jim Ramstad, who retired from Congress after last session, said his father instilled the work ethic and a love of country and sports in both of his children.

(Sheryl Ramstad lost, by a razor-thin margin, in a race for Hennepin County district attorney to Amy Klobuchar in 1998. She later became commissioner of corrections before being appointed to the tax court by Gov.Tim Pawlenty.)

Services for Marvin Ramstad will be held at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Wayzata Community Church.