Marilyn Jean Polsfut passed away surrounded by her loving family on August 16, 2021, just about a month before her 90^th birthday.  We wanted to share some details of her life with the Montview community that meant so much to her.

You may not know this, but in 1951, Marilyn was crowned Miss North Dakota!  She went on to compete in the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City.  While ultimately not crowned as the winner, she and her parents were able to join together in the travel and in the opportunity to meet so many diverse people.  It was this experience that solidified Marilyn’s appreciation for the beauty of all persons – at skin level and especially beneath it. 

Marilyn was born in Aberdeen, South Dakota, as the third, and only surviving child of her parents, Marion and Hazel Walker.  During the Depression, the family moved numerous times in search of work for her father.  They first relocated to Madison, Wisconsin; then to West Salem; then to La Crosse when Marilyn was in 4^th grade; and then on to Huron, South Dakota where Marilyn’s father ran the local movie theater during her middle and high school years.  In 1948, at the start of her senior year, she and her parents moved once again, this time to Minot, North Dakota, which proved pivotal in her life.  Within a month of her arrival at the local high school, Marilyn and a certain fellow passed in the hallway, and within a few more days, she and Julian Polsfut danced together at the “Hobo Hop.”  Afterward, Julian asked if he could walk her home.  Not only did he meet Marilyn’s parents that evening, but they introduced him, rather abruptly, to a family favorite, limburger cheese! 

Marilyn attended Minot State Teachers College and graduated in 1953 with a double major in Elementary Education and Art Education.  During college, she and Julian (now going by his middle name, Ted) corresponded by letters, dated whenever the miles between them permitted it, and laid their plans.  The two were married within days after Marilyn graduated.  Even though they were wed in the month of June and had planned to enjoy a lazy honeymoon in Canada, a most unusual snowstorm closed the roads at the border.  The couple ending up having to spend two nights down the road in Williston, North Dakota.  The total bill for the stay was just $15!

Marilyn and Ted spent their first summer together at the farm of Ted’s parents in North Dakota.  Her father-in-law was a pioneer in farming innovations, a deacon in the Lutheran church, and after happening to find a violin in a wood pile and teaching himself to play, a regular source of musical entertainment.  The newly married couple enjoyed barn dances, family gatherings and rural life.  In September, Marilyn and Ted went to Fargo, North Dakota, so Ted could complete his final year of Industrial Engineering at North Dakota Agricultural College. While there, Marilyn began her career as an elementary school teacher.   A little boy in her class who struggled in school made a lifelong impression on Marilyn, compelling her in the decades that followed to help her students with the talents God gave them, whatever they may be.

In 1954, Ted took a job out-of-state, and the family settled down in Wadsworth, Ohio.  They welcomed three children, Danny, Julie Lynne and Jimmy.  They went on to move to San Diego as Ted continued his career, and in 1964, the family made one final relocation – to Colorado.  Here it is that Marilyn and Ted raised their children; enjoyed the mountains, gardening, and bike-riding; and were able to celebrate their 60^th wedding anniversary together in 2013, just over a year before Ted passed away in September of 2014.    

Marilyn’s life was one of love and dedication.  She worked as a substitute teacher for Jefferson County Public Schools for more than 30 years, mostly in the art room.  She volunteered to work with special needs children, was a den mother, quilted for each of her children, welcomed endless animal pets into the family, sang in the church choir, visited elderly residents of a nearby senior residence, delivered Meals on Wheels, was a volunteer for a Hospice program and traveled the world extensively with family.  In her last year of life, Marilyn volunteered for Montview Church by making outreach calls to seniors during Covid 19. 

Marilyn embraced everyone.  She was careful never to impose her beliefs on others, but she held a steadfast grasp of where her own beliefs stood – and that was a deep and abiding faith in God.  She read the Bible daily, underlining over time a verse or two on every single page, with Galatians 5:22-23 as her favorite.  She prayed hard and on behalf of so many people.  Her daughter, Julie, refers to her Mom as a prayer warrior.  In the last year of her life, Marilyn gradually stopped saying goodbye to visitors.  Instead, she softly sang to them a line from an old Christian hymn dropping the work “till” and substituting “and”, which somehow made the lyric that much stronger: “God be with you … and we’ll meet again.

– Submitted by Brooke Durland