Thief River Falls – Marian Larson, who joined 4-H as a Marshall County farm girl and grew to become a statewide leader of the organization, died on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2015, in Thief River Falls. She was 95.
Her work led her to Alaska when it was still a U.S. territory, and to the University of Minnesota, where she led the 4-H and Youth Development programs for the state. She retired in 1978 with the title of professor emeritus.
Funeral services were held Saturday, Sept. 5 at Nazareth Lutheran Church, Holt, with Rev. Cathie Rhodes officiating. Interment was held at Holt Cemetery, Holt.
Marian Odell Larson was born on Christmas Day in 1919 in Golden Valley, a part of Mud Lake, which is now the Agassiz National Wildlife Refuge. She was the daughter of Clarence and Bertha (Moe) Larson, one of eleven children of the couple.
Her family moved to a farm near Holt in 1929, and she studied at the Manor School, a one room schoolhouse near the farm. She began high school at Holt Consolidated School and graduated from Lincoln High School in Thief River Falls in 1939.
After completing teacher’s training the following year, she worked in rural schools in northern Minnesota.
In 1943, Marian began working in Red Lake County as a 4-H agent with the County/State Agricultural Extension System. She enrolled in the University Of Minnesota’s College Of Home Economics in 1946, and graduated in 1950, winning the “Little Red Oilcan” for service to the college.
After graduation, Marian served as the McLeod County Home Agent in Glencoe.
In 1957, she accepted an offer from the University of Alaska just outside Fairbanks to lead the 4-H Clubs in what would become the State of Alaska in 1959.
She returned to the University of Minnesota in 1962, where as an Extension Specialist she led the state’s 4-H programs. During the time she earned a master’s degree in Extension Education from the University of Wisconsin – Madison.
She is survived by her siblings, Clayton Larson of Plummer, Eileen Johnson of Seattle, Wash., Iris Berggren of Thief River Falls, Ardelle Daly of Bloomfield, N,J., and Glen Larson of Spokane, Wash.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her siblings, Chester Larson, Eleanor Kilford, Vivian Sagstuen, twins Virgil and Vernon, who died in infancy, and by her longtime friend, Mary Fran Lamison.
Condolences may be sent at www.johnsonfuneralservice.com.
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