Rosemarie Myrdal

Born Rosemarie C. Lohse, Rosemarie Myrdal began her life’s story in Minot, North Dakota in 1929. She was born the daughter of Harry Lohse, a cattleman turned Non-Partisan League politician, and Olga (Dragge) Lohse, a tough, matter of fact, Prussian immigrant. 
Greatly influenced by her mother and father, Rosemarie often shared stories of her parents’ resiliency when the Great Depression gripped the Midwest in 1930’s. Life for Rosemarie up until then was spent being a cattleman’s assistant to her father, rounding up cattle and taking them to market. Due to the devastating impact of the Dust Bowl on the Mohall community and regional farming, Rosemarie’s parents gathered their family and belongings to head east and make a new life for themselves in Fargo, North Dakota. Harry didn’t give up on civic affairs and was determined to put his knowledge of cattle markets to work; in 1933, as part of the New Deal, Harry was appointed North Dakota’s first AAA (Agricultural Adjustment Act) agent by Franklin Delano Roosevelt himself. Olga continued her civic work as well, becoming a classroom teacher in Fargo, and was elected the President of the North Dakota Education Association. 
Harry and Olga continued to have children, and Rosemarie took the lion’s share of parenting while her parents were actively engaged in local and state civic duties. At fourteen years old, Rosemarie was frequently accompanying her four siblings back to Mohall to live on the Lorraine farmstead while Harry and Olga hosted political functions from their home in Fargo. 
As her siblings became more independent, Rosemarie was allowed more time to really enjoy her life as a student at Fargo North High School. Here, she cultivated her love of learning and eternal curiosity; she engaged in countless student groups, potlucks, and found a group of like-minded teens who would become life-long friends and supporters. After graduating from Fargo North High School in 1947, Rosemarie enrolled in North Dakota State University. Here she met a humble and unassuming Icelandic farmer, Benedict (John) Myrdal from Gardar, North Dakota. They both graduated from NDSU in 1951 and were married in June 1952. At the time North Dakota was still reeling with anti-Prussian sentiment after the Second World War Being German in a Scandinavian community wasn’t easy, so her well-intentioned mother-in-law was quick to introduce her new German daughter-in-law as a fellow Icelander in every woman’s function they attended together. Rosemarie quickly learned to be an Icelander: how to make kleinur, vinarterta, and jam gems, how to smoke hangikjöt, and how to interpret each of her husband’s “ja’s,” which can drastically range in meaning. 
Rosemarie taught high school English at the Walsh County Agricultural School in Park River and Gardar Public School, and English and Spanish at Edinburg Public School. She also served as the school administrator. She and John raised five children, Jan, Mark, Harold, Paul, and Amy on their farm near Gardar. Civic involvement was at an all-time historical high in our country during this time, and nobody embodied the principle of “be useful” more than Rosemarie. Every opportunity to serve her community fed Rosemarie’s curiosity and her desire to learn; this commitment led to serving on countless regional and state committees, ranging in interest from Lake Agassiz geology to historical preservation at Icelandic State Park in Pembina County.
Rosemarie was a deep thinker and eternal wonderer, and anyone who spent time with her learned to do the same. Although she was an open-minded individual, Rosemarie knew the value of being stoic, to be an untouched rock in the midst of crashing waters. Enduring the Great Depression taught her to be frugal, temperate, wise – and ready to pivot when change was inevitable. In 1985, change came when Rosemarie was asked to run for the North Dakota House of Representatives. She served as a representative for District 11 from 1985 until 1992 when she was elected Lieutenant Governor of North Dakota under Governor Ed Schafer; she and Schaefer served two terms together, from 1992 until 2000. During her work in office, Rosemarie’s curiosity grew as she learned of a variety of dilemmas facing North Dakota. When she and Governor Schafer were elected, North Dakota was facing major budgetary and financial hurdles. Throughout her eight years in office, Rosemarie championed progress in fiscal responsibility, women’s health, historical preservation, and education.
After Rosemarie finished her time in office, she moved back to the farm in Gardar where she spent her remaining years doing what she loved: hosting family and friends from near and far, grinding wheat from the farm and baking bread, continuing a variety of committee and board work, and living a well-intentioned life that so deeply inspired the younger generation around her. Her grandchildren were constant visitors: college and career aged, seeking sageful wisdom and advice; school aged learning how to make bread and forage to reuse forgotten trinkets for 4 H projects; toddlers and babies immersed in toys and treats from a bygone era. 
Rosemarie’s life and story is one of genuine civic obligation, a kind not so often seen today, especially in contemporary politics. The kind of civic duty that stems from real concern for the wellbeing of all in a community, for seeing circumstances for what they really are, for not appreciating frill or embellishment. The kind that doesn’t pander to our worst human characteristics – the kind that demands better of us. 
Rosemarie is survived by her children: Jan (Scott) Morrell of Memphis, Mark (Janne) Myrdal of Edinburg, Harold (Charlotte) Myrdal of Park River, Paul (Naomi) Myrdal of Edinburg, and Amy (Scott) Myrdal Miller of Carmichael, CA; 13 grandchildren, Megan (Kade) Myrdal Sveen, Kierstin (David) Hurtt, Alison (Sam) Zikmund, Ian Myrdal, Ben Morrell, Alaina Myrdal, Carly (Kevin) Newberger, Kristian Myrdal, Torstein Myrdal, Maria Myrdal, Andrew Myrdal, Hannah Myrdal, and Ingrid Myrdal; and 5 great grandchildren: Harper and Holden Hurtt, Laurel and Vera Zikmund, and Harrison Myrdal Sveen; as well as her sister, Gail Smith, Beaverton, OR and sister-in-law Susan Lohse,  Exeter, NH. She is preceded in death by her husband John, parents Harry and Olga, brothers Carlton and Harry (Bonnie), and sister Sheryl (Robert) McDonald. 
Funeral services will be Monday, October 16, 2023 at 2:30 PM at the Pioneer Lutheran Church of Rural Gardar, ND.  Visitation will be Sunday from 1-3 PM, with a prayer service at 3:00 PM at the Tollefson Funeral Home of Edinburg.  Friends may also call at the church for one hour prior to the service.  Interment will be at the Gardar Cemetery with a reception to follow at the Gardar Hall.  In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made to the Gardar Hall at 12842 Gardar St., Gardar, ND 58227 or the Gardar Lutheran Church Association at 8011 130th Ave NE, Edinburg, ND 58227.

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