Lillian G. Ostrand was born on February 3, 1915, the daughter of Andrew and Edla Ostrand of Crystal Falls, Michigan. She had two siblings, Evald Waldemar ("Waldy") and Viola (d. 1939). Their parents, both Swedish immigrants, came to the United States in the early 20th century. Lillian Ostrand received a nursing diploma from Chicago's Augustana Hospital in 1937 and joined the United States Army Nurse Corps in May 1942. From July 1944-August 1945 she served with the 123rd General Hospital at Camp Ellis, Illinois (July 1944), and in England (July 1944-August 1945), where she attained the rank of captain. After the war, she lived in Washtenaw County, Michigan, where she worked for the county health department. Ostrand earned a bachelor's degree in public health nursing from the University of Michigan in the late 1940s or early 1950s and moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She returned to Ann Arbor in 1955 and became a lecturer (1955-1969) and professor (1969-1978) for the University of Michigan's public health nursing program, from which she received a master's degree in 1957. Lillian G. Ostrand died on July 5, 2007.
From the guide to the Lillian Ostrand papers, Ostrand, Lillian papers, 1944-1995, 1944-1945, (William L. Clements Library, University of Michigan)
