Marian R. Kohlmeyer

Marian Kohlmeyer, 88, a resident of Fergus Falls, died Saturday, October 11, 2014 at PioneerCare.

Marian Ruth Dallman Kohlmeyer Strand was born March 11, 1926. She was the youngest of four children born to Henry and Emma (Bartlett) Dallman in Hutchinson. She was baptized and confirmed at Acoma Lutheran Church in rural McLeod County.

During high school she lived “in town” with her oldest sister, Esther, and worked in the office of Dr. Schaalp, sparking her interest in medicine. She excelled academically and won many honors before graduating as salutatorian of her class at Hutchinson High School.

She earned a bachelor of science degree in medical technology at the University of Minnesota. She became national president of her professional sorority and remained active nationally for some time. She was a Red Cross volunteer for blood drives in communities she lived in across the country.

She was employed at St. Luke’s Hospital in Fargo when she met Dr. Albert C. Kohlmeyer. They were wed July 16, 1949. She did lab work, assisting her husband’s medical general practice in Larimore, N.D.
As her husband fulfilled his military service obligation at Ft. Sill, Lawton, Okla., and psychiatric residency at Boston, Mass., Marian continued part-time lab work. She was active in Girl Scouts, serving as leader for Brownies and Girl Scouts, camp counselor and council president.

When the family moved to Fargo-Moorhead, she assumed a leadership role in the community organizations she was a part of, including the FM Symphony auxiliary, the United Way board of directors, St. Luke’s Hospital Auxiliary and Antiquarians, a group devoted to the historical significance of antiques.

She established Antiquarians II in Fergus Falls after moving there in 1972 and was an active volunteer with the Otter Tail County Historical Museum. She researched, wrote and performed educational programs and wrote a newspaper column on the museum’s activities for 13 years. For a time in the 1980s, she was the museum’s curator. She conducted interviews and collected information as an employee of the Gallup Poll.

She and her husband retired to their lake property in Park Rapids, Minn., where she was secretary of the Little Sand Lake Association and active in Sons of Norway. Her husband died in 1992.

In 1997, she married Dick Strand. The two had been friends since their families were friends in Larimore. The couple lived in Fergus Falls. Mr. Strand died in 2010.

She was preceded in death by her parents; a brother, Eldor Dallman, two sisters, Esther Quast and Ella Filk, all of Hutchinson, Minn.; and both her husbands.

Survivors include children Marty Kohlmeyer of Wadena, Charles (Joan) Kohlmeyer of Pelican Rapids and Sarah Larson of Ponsford and Cass Lake; seven grandchildren, Jason (Logan), Andrew and JoAnna Kohlmeyer, Ben Muchow, and Isaac, Peter, and Tristan Anderson; and four great-grandchildren, Rebecca, Rachel and Thomas Kohlmeyer and Kylie Muchow.

Visitation: One hour prior to the service at the church
Service: 1:00 p.m. Friday, October 17, 2014 at First Lutheran Church in Fergus Falls
Clergy: Reverend Saul Stensvaag
Burial: First Lutheran North in Fergus Falls
Olson Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.