Lydia Serov

A Celebration of Life for Lydia Serov will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, May 16 in the backyard of her home at 8 Brook Street in Morris.

Lydia Serov, of Morris, MN, died Thursday, May 7 at the age of 94.

Lydia was born in Moscow, Russia in 1932 and immigrated to Minnesota in 1988. She settled in St. Paul with her daughter Julia and husband Alexander, to whom she was married for 52 years. Lydia studied and spoke French, English, Latin, and Spanish alongside her native Russian. She worked as a professional translator and interpreter, both in Russia and in St. Paul, Minnesota. She moved in with her daughter’s family in Morris 11 years ago following the death of her husband. She was an exceptionally educated individual, selfless, humble, and a kind and gentle soul who always supported her family.

Lydia was born on January 19, 1932, in Moscow, USSR in the family of Yakov Yakovlevich Slobodskoy, Chemist, and Ida Isaakovna Mirrer, Physicist. She was 8 years old when the Great Patriotic War (World War 2 in Russia) started. Her father was a highly regarded specialist in his field and as such was sent to work at a factory in Chelyabinsk, eastern part of Russia. As a child in wartime, Lydia joined her mother Ida in knitting necessary items for the front line and getting a worker's food ration for it. Later during the war, the family returned to Moscow. Lydia was a particularly good student and managed to complete all of her schoolwork in a minimal amount of time despite war and family evacuation.

After graduating high school, she enrolled in Moscow State Linguistics University (Maurice Thorez Institute of Foreign Languages), specializing in French language. Lydia enjoyed committing to memory pages of Latin, French and Spanish poetry, being in gymnastics club, dancing, figure skating, cross-country skiing, and camping.

After college she worked in a printing house proofreading a newspaper. Later Lydia worked as an interpreter in the premier Moscow Hotel Intourist, designated exclusively for foreign business delegations.

Lydia married Alexander Alexandrovich Serov in 1963, and they had a daughter named Yulia in 1967.

Lydia worked in the Russian Federal Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) for 10 years as a French-Russian translator.

Her hobbies included hiking, picking wild berries, mushrooms and herbs, and making medicinal teas. She enjoyed teaching her daughter the importance of morning exercises. She liked crocheting, knitting, darning, and teaching English and French to Yulia.

Upon immigrating to America in 1988, Lydia immediately started working in this country. She worked as an office assistant at the University of Minnesota Pancreas Transplant Registry in Minneapolis, as a Russian-English medical interpreter and in TSA in Minneapolis/Saint Paul International Airport. She retired at the age of 72. She adored her grandchildren Yasha, Ira, Sara and Isaac and had a big influence in their lives.

Lydia is preceded in death by her husband Alexander Serov. Lydia is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Dr. Julia and Marshall Hoffman of Morris; brother Vladimir Slobodskoy of Newton, Massachusetts; and grandchildren, Yasha, Ira, Sara, and Isaac.

Memorials preferred to Alzheimer’s Association.