Marjorie Ann Ramgren

Marjorie Ann Ramgren July 7, 1934 - January 30, 2024 Marjorie was born on July 7, 1934, to Harold and Marie Ramgren in the small town of Lyford in south Texas. She was a Texan in her heart forever and was so proud to be from Texas. Growing up, her family was an integral part of the Lyford Covenant Church. Marj left Texas to go to college at North Park in Chicago, which was a 2-year school at that time. She then went to Wheaton College and graduated with a Christian Education degree in 1955. After graduating she worked at a church in the Chicago area. She started her teaching career in 1957 and worked for 4 years at Sebastian Public School in south Texas. She moved back to Chicago in 1961 where she taught at North Park Academy. When North Park Academy closed, she got a teaching job in Morton Grove, Illinois. She taught elementary school in Morton Grove from 1969-1993. During those years she would spend many of her summers back in south Texas with her mom. After moving to Minnesota in 1993, she ended her teaching career as a tutor at Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis. She found joy with her students and in learning and teaching. Marj was known as the fun aunt to her 12 nieces and nephews. They all have stories to tell about spending time with Aunt Marj both as children and as adults. They remember her singing and playing the ukulele and piano. They also remember her hilarious Tubby Pigpen stories that she would make up and tell them all. They couldn't wait for the next installment of these silly stories. We think she got her inspiration from Astrid Lindgren's Pippi and Emil stories. Throughout her life Marj was active in the churches she attended. She was involved in music ministry and often played the piano, sharing her gift as an accompanist for singing groups, leading worship, and with children's choirs. She shared her musical talents at a Spanish speaking church in Chicago for a number of years. She is famously known at Bethlehem Covenant as the Tomte Choir accompanist for our beloved Lucia program. She also went on numerous mission trips with the churches she attended and was involved in numerous small groups and Bible studies throughout her life. Even in her last few months, she would try to get online for Tuesday night prayer group. Marj loved to travel and connected with people from around the world. She often traveled with her sister Evie. There were numerous trips to Chile for mission work, Sweden for pleasure and family connections, and trips to visit family. Some of her best stories came from these travels. Traveling also helped her learn and use her language skills. She loved to talk to people in Swedish and Spanish. Even in her final weeks she was talking to the nurses in Spanish and asked for her Swedish books to read. Marj loved to play the piano. Playing the piano truly brought her joy. When she made the move to Covenant Living of Golden Valley, the piano was the most important piece of furniture to move. She was so fortunate that when she moved into assisted living, her apartment there had a perfect spot for the piano. During her time in assisted living, she was able to play weekly for the residents to sing along. At nearly every family gathering, she would lead the family in a hymn sing and played with enthusiasm. She was a fan of hymns at an upbeat tempo. Anyone who spent any amount of time with Marj would know that the foundation of her life was her deep faith in Jesus. She was devoted to reading and studying God's word. And she had an amazing gift for memorizing Scripture. Even in the last month of her life, she would quote scripture and truly cling to verses to uphold her. If you ever needed to find a verse, she could tell you where to look. When her eyesight was failing, she was so upset that she couldn't read the Bible. What a gift it was to remind her that she didn't need to read the Bible since she had so much of it memorized. She inspired many people to commit to memorizing passages of scripture. She is survived by her brother Carl, sister-in-law Judy (Larson), and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents; sisters Dorothy Garrity and Evelyn Swanson, and brother Robert Ramgren. A funeral service will be held Saturday March 16 at Bethlehem Covenant Church, Minneapolis, MN at 2:00. Memorial donations may be made to Bethlehem Covenant Church or Covenant World Relief and Development.

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Marjorie Ann Ramgren

July 7, 1934 - January 30, 2024

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