Shirley Phyllis Orvik

Funeral Service: https://vimeo.com/event/4642174

Shirley Phyllis Orvik, aged 74 years, was born on November 18th, 1949, in Sunburg, MN and went home peacefully on October 2nd, 2024 in Belgrade, MN. She grew up on the family farm near Sunburg, MN and loved to tell stories about growing up there and how Norwegian was her first language.

Shirley went to school until the 10th grade, when she dropped out to help on the family farm. She also worked at the Jennie-O turkey plant in Willmar, MN before she married Neil Orvik on December 3rd, 1967. They started their family while moving across the Southern U.S. and settled in Fargo, ND in 1973. She worked at Thermo Pak in the mid-1980s and later at Howie’s Repair as a small engine mechanic until her aneurysm in 2008. She was known as far away as Florida for her skill at fixing boat motors!

Shirley and Neil divorced shortly after moving to Fargo and reunited in 1976. They ended their relationship when Neil moved to Bismarck, ND in the late 1980s. The love of Shirley’s life, Howard Johnson, became her life partner by the 1990s until his passing in 2010. Shirley raised five of her children and was very fortunate to have two daughters, who were given up for adoption, find her within the last 10 years before she passed.

She is survived by one brother, Gordon Swenson (Belgrade, MN); four sisters, Deloris Marquardt of Sunburg, MN, Mary Peters (Dennis Peters) of Hazel Run, MN, Linda Erdman (Dennis Erdman) of Winterset, IA, and Gloria Swenson of Starbuck, MN; her children, Marie Ng of Fargo, ND, Ann Kruse (Jason Kruse) of Perley, MN, Gilbert Orvik of Fargo, ND; Sharla Walhood of Queens Creek, AZ; Nikki Orvik of Glyndon, MN, and Rebecca Savage of Fargo, ND; along with many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her parents, Gilbert and Gladys (Frovold) Swenson; two brothers, Gaylan and Gynther Swenson; two sisters, Ella Swenson and Beverly Alquist; her son, Steve Orvik; and her grandson, Christopher Griffin.

Shirley’s family would like to thank the staff at the Belgrade Nursing Home and Moments Hospice for giving our mother the best quality of life possible for the last few years of her life. You are all angels.

Please join us at Hanson Runsvold Funeral Home in Fargo, ND on Friday, October 11th, 2024. Visitation will start at 1:00 pm and the celebration of her life will begin at 2:00 pm. She will be buried next to her son, Steve at Riverside Cemetery in Moorhead, MN.