Marilyn Elaine Selkirk

Marilyn's Memorial Service may be viewed here: https://vimeo.com/742293012

Marilyn's tribute video can be viewed here. https://www.tributeslides.com/tributes/show/MH6CWMFJ89BFNFT5

Marilyn Elaine Stromme Selkirk peacefully entered eternal life on August 21, 2022. She was so ready to be reunited with her beloved daughter Andrea and husband Bob. Marilyn was surrounded by family and given the most respectful, compassionate care by the staff at St. Catherine’s North in Fargo, ND.

Marilyn Elaine Stromme was born at home on November 19, 1932 in Cooperstown, ND to Olaf Stromme and Borghild Erickson Stromme.

The absolute center of Marilyn’s life was her family. One of 5 children, she grew up in Cooperstown, ND, where life was not always easy, but she never doubted how much she was loved.

Marilyn enjoyed singing and music during her school years. Her older sister Virginia recalls Marilyn could often be found helping her dad unload and deliver freight around Cooper rather than being in the house doing chores. Marilyn encountered immense sadness as a teenager when her daddy died in her arms.

She graduated high school in 1950 and attended Mayville College for a year. While she was home from college one weekend standing outside Stone’s Café, a young airman from Finley Air Force Station first laid eyes on her and announced to his friend, “there’s the girl I am going to marry”.

Marilyn married Robert A. Selkirk July 20, 1952 and they moved to Fargo where she worked for
the Cass County Agent and Bob attended NDAC (now NDSU) for Engineering. She loved to tell stories about living in the married student housing “metal huts” where they sometimes had to run the oven with the door open to help heat the place in the winter. They had a little dog named Minnie in their “no pets allowed” home. Marilyn said if she moved her feet in bed at night, Minnie would bite Bob’s ankles.

They moved around the country with Bob’s job, and the one constant with each new home was the love Marilyn and Bob shared and the life-long friends Marilyn made. She never met a person she was not genuinely interested in knowing.

Bob and Marilyn lived in England from 1960-1963. Bob was working with the Royal Air Force as a consultant for General Motors. Marilyn loved to travel around Europe in their Triumph Sunbeam. A special highlight of their time in England was attending an Afternoon Party in the Garden of Buckingham Palace at the invitation of Queen Elizabeth II. The photo shows Marilyn looking gorgeous in a green suit dress with matching hat, white gloves and shoes, and Bob in a top hat and a morning coat with tails.

The only time Marilyn phoned home during their time in England was to share the news she and Bob were expecting a baby. Their precious daughter, Andrea Lee Selkirk was born April 12, 1963. She was the absolute light of their lives.

They lived in Cocoa Beach, FL, during the very exciting time of the NASA Apollo Mission to the Moon. Bob worked with NASA and they were at the launch of Apollo 11.

Bob’s job at IBM moved their family to Burlington, VT. Bob joked that there were two furrows dug into the highways from Florida to Vermont where Marilyn dragged her feet, because she didn’t want to move. In Burlington, they made a new home and new friends. Marilyn worked at Orchard School where Andrea attended.

It was the greatest heartbreak of her life when their beautiful daughter Andrea died at age 17 after a prolonged illness. Marilyn said many times it was the love of her family and friends that allowed her and Bob to go on each day.

They moved back to Cocoa Beach and Marilyn worked at Our Savior’s Elementary. She loved working with the little ones doing special projects. Bob often said any money Marilyn made working was spent on the projects she did with the children.

Again, sadness enveloped Marilyn when her dear Bob died much too soon at age 66.
She continued to work at Our Savior’s, surrounded by the little children who gave meaning to her days. She enjoyed travels with her dear friend Mary Hansen and traveling and holidays with her sister Kathleen’s family.

In 2017, when Marilyn’s health made it difficult for her to manage life in Cocoa Beach, she decided it was time to move “home” to North Dakota where many family members lived. She moved into a retirement community at Riverview in Fargo, ND, where her sister Virginia often visited and Marilyn met new people, who quickly became friends. The COVID pandemic brought debilitating isolation to Marilyn in her retirement community and she moved in with Sarah and Ray Baker (niece and nephew) for 2 years. Her final move to St Catherine’s was dictated by a decline in health and developing Parkinson’s disease.

Marilyn was a beloved aunt to Bob’s sister Sally and her husband David Kaspari’s family. Marilyn attended nearly every wedding of her 10 nieces and nephews, as well as the great nieces and nephews. Her moves during line dancing are legendary. Her appearance at the Kaspari Family Annual 4th of July bash always included a big platter of candy. As she was tucked in after fireworks on what would be her final trip to the farm, she said, “this was a perfect day, surrounded by my family. Family is everything to me.”

Marilyn was preceded in death by her parents, Olaf and Borghild Stromme, daughter Andrea and husband Bob Selkirk, brother-in-law, Wally McKay, brother Richard Stromme and sister Kathleen Rognlie, nephew Kent McKay, nephews Dr. Jon Kaspari and Michael Kaspari.

Those who will miss her dearly include her sister Virginia McKay, brother Lester Stromme, brother-in-law Ralph Rognlie, niece Alison Rognlie Hoppes (spouse Dan and children Nicole, Scott, Samantha), niece Michelle Rognlie, nephew Kevin McKay and (spouse Sandy and sons Aaron, Kyle, and daughter Julia), nephew Kent McKay’s spouse Lori and daughters, Megan and Marisa as well as all the Selkirk and Kaspari nieces and nephews and great nieces and nephews and a few great, great nieces and nephews.

Marilyn Elaine Stromme Selkirk was a loving sister, devoted wife, adoring mother, beloved aunt and steadfast friend. She was generous of spirit and so gracious to those she encountered on her life journey.

After Marilyn died, Karen, daughter of Phyllis Mansfield, one of Marilyn’s lifelong friends, sent her mother this note, “Last night I talked into the night sky to Marilyn, and told her I loved her. Then three meteorites in a row flashed across the sky. One each for Andrea, Bob and Marilyn”.
And they are never to be parted again.

Any memorial gifts may be directed to a charity of choice and some of Marilyn’s designated favorites were Red Cross, St Jude’s Children’s Hospital, Salvation Army and the Wounded Warrior Project.

The memorial service is 11AM, August 27 at Hanson-Runsvold Funeral Home, Fargo, ND.
Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service.
Marilyn will be laid to rest at Cooperstown Cemetery, Cooperstown, ND.