Marilyn Elaine (Oien) Ringham

Marilyn Elaine Ringham was born to Paul and Nina Oien on April 19th, 1932, in Devils Lake, North Dakota. She passed away peacefully on Sunday, April 7th, 2024, at Heart 2 Home in Mendota Heights, MN.

The sight and subtle colors of the prairie, like a vast inland ocean, was one of Marilyn’s first loves- along with weekly visits to the local movie theater. She attended Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, graduating with a degree in art and education. It was there that she met Stuart “Dewey” Ringham, whose hearty laugh and lively blue eyes matched her own joy in life and captured her heart. They were married on June 12th, 1955. The start of their lives together brought them from Fargo, ND to Decorah, IA and back to Moorhead, MN, following Dewey’s teaching career. Marilyn became the office manager for the Concordia C-400 club. During the school year, she immersed herself in the arts and music scene of the Fargo-Moorhead area. Marilyn’s free time was spent at Krismarken, the treasured family cabin built by her parents on Lake Kabekona. Life at the cabin was filled with reading books in the sunshine and raising her children and grandchildren. Marilyn and Dewey retired to Krismarken at the end of their tenure at Concordia where they both became a part of the lively Kabekona Lake Association community. Music continued to saturate Marilyn’s life, whether it be singing in the Kabekona Singers and Hope Lutheran Church choir or bursting into song along with whatever melody Dewey might be playing on the accordion. Their lives together graced them with two children, Mark and Kristen. After Dewey’s death, Marilyn split her time between Kabekona and Minneapolis, occasionally voyaging along with Mark and Sue on their boat, Plane Relief, or exploring ancient civilization sites and attending shows at the Guthrie with Kristen. Most recently, she lived in Heart 2 Home in Mendota Heights, MN, where their loving care made her feel almost like she had returned to her beloved cabin on Kabekona. Marilyn will be remembered for her joy in eating dessert first, stargazing, life-long love of learning, and passing on her Scandinavian heritage through baking, hardanger embroidery, Norse mythology, and Swedish meatballs.

Marilyn is preceded in death by her father, Paul Oien; mother, Nina (Anderson) Oien; and husband, Stuart Ringham.

Marilyn is survived by her daughter, Kristen; son, Mark (Sue), and grandchildren, Karna and Brynna.

A memorial service for Marilyn will be on Friday, April 12th, 2024, at 3:00 p.m., with a 1-hour visitation prior to her service, all to be held at Northern Peace Funeral Home in Walker, MN. Pastor Matthew McWaters will officiate.

In lieu of flowers the family prefer memorials be sent to either Kabekona Lake Foundation P.O. Box 8 LaPorte, MN, 56484 or to Hope Lutheran Church Choir P.O. Box 506 Walker, MN, 56484, as Marilyn was passionate about both in her life.

Marilyn’s care has been entrusted to Northern Peace Funeral Home of Walker, MN. Online condolences for the family may be left at www.northernpeace.com

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