October 27th, 2010

I have sought to find words to describe the journey since October 3rd. I have discovered a sense of serenity in the midst of loss. Loss is not a thing to be quantified. It has depth and texture that is unique to each of us who experience loss. We have been touched by grace and blessing in my father's death. In the same period of time I have been touched by the loss of a co-worker and partner in ministry. The mystery of what happens in desperate darkness of life is absorbed in the words of Paul in Romans 8...

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, 

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;

we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

(Romans 8:31-39 ESV)

In Memory of Dad 1911-2010

My father didn't tell me how to live; 
he lived, and let me watch him do it.  

~Clarence Kelland~

Merwyn H. Ostrem


Merwyn Harlin Ostrem, 99, of Moorhead, MN, died October 3, 2010, at Golden Living Center, Moorhead. He was born August 22, 1911, in Tunbridge, ND, to Jens Anton and Gemina (Drege) Ostrem.

Merwyn was a native of Rugby, ND. After completing his high school education he went to Minot and Fargo to attend commercial college. He took classes in higher accounting and appraisal courses at Northwestern University in Chicago. He completed a series of rural appraisal courses and was a member of the Society of Residential Appraisers.

Merwyn was united in marriage to Olga B. Anderson of Bisbee, ND, on September 18, 1941. They resided in Moorhead from 1951 to the present.

Merwyn began his working career at the Rugby Insurance Company, moving to Minot, ND, to work for Northern States Power. He became the Manager of the Bank of Rolette and moved from there to Western States Life Insurance Company of Fargo as the head of the Mortgage Loan Department for 25 five years. He retired in 1976 as Senior Vice President of Mortgage Loans. He served on the Moorhead Public Service Commission and was a Life-time Member of Rotary International. He was an active member of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, serving on several boards and singing in the choir. He enjoyed family, traveling and relaxing at the lake.

Merwyn is survived by his wife of 69 years, Olga; daughter Bonita (John) Brennan of Corolla, NC; and son, Tedd (Lois) Ostrem of Roseville, MN. Five grandchildren, Barbra Brennan, Bradley (Jennifer) Brennan, Justin (Amy) Ostrem, Daniel Brennan, and Whitney (Colin) Woelfle; and two great-grandchildren, Anna Brennan and Haakon Ostrem. He was preceded in death by his parents, a sister, two brothers, and a granddaughter, Lindsay Ostrem Roach.


The funeral was Friday, October 8, 2010 in Our Savior’s Lutheran Church of Moorhead.

Merwyn H. Ostrem August 22, 1911-October 3, 2010

Sunday afternoon my father passed away. My mother had come to visit him after his nap. She went to wake him and he had just slept away quietly. He was a quiet man all his life so it was in keeping that he would die quietly. He was faithful in all his dealings in life. God has been good to bless my sister and me with a Godly father and mother for so many years.

Some one has written that life is a "dash"...1911  "-"  2010.  His "dash" was full of a lot of living and giving. I wish he would have been more of a talker so we could have known more fully about his "dash" that now is silent.

His service will be on Friday 11am on October 8th at Our Saviors Lutheran of Moorhead, MN.
A huge thank you to all the folks at Golden Living Center of Moorhead. They were wonderful to our father.