Margaret A. Rodmyre

Margaret Erna Amelia (nee Boehmlehner) Rodmyre (died June 11, 2019) was born May 8, 1924 on the windy prairie of rural Wheaton, Minnesota, the second daughter of William and Anna (Kassahn) Boehmlehner. She was baptized into God’s family two months later, confirmed at St. John Lutheran Church and graduated from Wheaton High School. After completing a WWII accelerated teacher’s training program, she taught in Crary, ND, before heading to Seattle, WA, where she worked in the “bowels” of the Boeing factory folding blueprints. She either stood or sat on her suitcase the entire train ride from Fargo, ND to Seattle.

She was back teaching in St Louis Park, MN, when her girlfriend, Merle Mork, set her up on a blind date with Floyd Rodmyre. Their Christ centered marriage lasted 66 years. While an occasional substitute teacher, Marg was predominantly a homemaker. And rarely home:

Throughout her life, Marg excelled at finding ways to help; seeing what needed to be done before being asked. This included (but was not limited to) weeding cucumber fields, helping Girl Pioneers with craft projects, sewing drapes for the the dorms at Martin Luther College and quilts for the nursery at East Fork Mission, serving with the Pilgrim Ladies’ Guild at weddings, funerals, Spring Luncheons and coffee hours, and organizing blood donations for The (War) Memorial Blood center. She washed dish towels, visited shut-ins and brought meals to new mothers. She was a full-time community organizer decades before the title was recognized or used; calling, recruiting, scheduling, project managing and fund-raising whenever needed. Although she and many women of her generation served as the backbone of organizations, their contributions and generous spirit of voluntary service was largely underappreciated and often unrecognized. Marg had no expectation it would or should be otherwise. She was a devoted supporter of Christian education at Pilgrim Lutheran School (Mpls), and at St Croix (W. St Paul) and Evergreen (Tacoma, WA) Lutheran High Schools and was among the earliest supporters of the Time of Grace ministry.

She was preceded in death by her sisters, Jeannette Boehmlehner and Lucille Schulz, her beloved son David and dear husband Floyd. She is survived by her sister, Bernice Harms of Beaumont, CA; son, Stephan, and wife Jane, of Kent, WA; daughter-in-law, Dee Rodmyre of St. Cloud, MN; daughter Jane and husband, Walter Payfer, of Eden Prairie, MN; the “Rodmy9” grandchildren and 26 great-grandchildren, whom she prayed for nightly by name until the very last days of her life; brother and sister-in-law Rolf and Harriet Rodmyre; sister-in-law Dory Johnson; 16 nieces and nephews; the Pilgrim church family; and an oh-too-short list of life-long friends; and the blessing of new Christian friends at Judson Park Sr. Living. Marg’s family extends their deep appreciation to the thoughtful, respectful and gentle caregivers at Valley Medical Center in Renton and Judson Park Rehab in Des Moines, WA.