Marnie Ruth Blatchford

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Maren Ruth Torrison Aleckson Blatchford, age 91, of Fargo, ND, passed away on January 6th, 2025, in Bethany Retirement Living.   A memorial service will be held at Olivet Lutheran Church in Fargo on Saturday, January 11th, at 11:00 a.m. with visitation at 10:00 a.m.  Pastor Bill Boelter will officiate the service.  Burial will be held at Riverside Cemetery in Fargo at a later date.

Maren was born on April 22nd, 1933, to Orrin and Ruth Torrison in Chatfield, MN.  She graduated from Rugby High School and went on to attend Luther College where she majored in Music Education and minored in English.  Maren was a member of the Nordic Choir and Luther Band and was a Messiah soloist.   At Luther, she also met her first husband, Hans Aleckson, whom she married in June of 1955.  The two of them became music teachers in Buffalo Center, Iowa, where they had daughters, Lissa and Kristin.  In 1959, they moved to Blue Earth, MN and had a son, Eric, and a daughter, Drea.  She directed the church choir and several productions at the Blue Earth Community Theatre.  In 1972, they moved to Fargo, where Marnie taught private piano lessons and became involved with several music and church activities.  She was a member of the Olivet choir and bell choir, the F-M Opera Company and a founding member of The Master Chorale.  Maren also played Sousaphone in the Community Summer Band for several years.  She was a professional seamstress for the opera company and Sweet Adelines.  At Olivet, she was OLCW president, Circle and Search Bible Study leader, Stephen Minister, and council member.  In 1997, Hans passed away and two years later, she married Wendell Dean Blatchford.  She gained three more sons;  Bruce, Brian, and Brent.  Maren and Dean spent several winters in Arizona and enjoyed time together on Lake Lida with children and grandchildren.

Maren was preceded in death by her parents; her brother, Tom; nephew, Aaron; and husbands, Hans and Dean.

She is survived by her daughters, Lissa (Hal) of Mason City, Kristin (Scott) of Newell, Iowa, and Andrea of Fargo; her son, Eric of Amery, Wisconsin; her grandchildren, Erin (Jake), Alex (Chelsea), Fletcher, Inga (Richard), Erika (Dan), Brita, and Abbey; and several great-grandchildren.  Through her marriage to Dean, she gained three more sons,  Bruce, Brian (Stephanie), and Brent (Melissa);  grandchildren, Greg (Elizabeth), Millissa (Kris), Brady, Ashley (Rhiannon); and more great grandchildren.