1936
Marilyn
2017
Marilyn Edmonds
January 23, 1936 — August 26, 2017
Marilyn (Mickie) Hurlburt Edmonds
Mickie Edmonds, 81 years old, Battle Lake, MN died Saturday, August 26, 2017.
Funeral service will take place at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Underwood, MN on October 6, 2017, at 1:00 PM. There will be a time of visiting immediately following, at the Church.
Mickie was born January 23, 1936 in Madison, Wisconsin to Virgil and Julia Hurlburt. The family moved around, living in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Iowa, returning to her parents’ families’ Montana wheat ranches to help during harvest time. Eventually Mickie began her college career. She spent 3 years in an Art Program at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, returning to Ames, Iowa to continue her education at Iowa State University when her father took ill. There she met her life partner of 59 years, Richard (Dick) Edmonds.
Mickie married Dick June 23, 1958, and made a series of moves due to Dick’s career. She continued schooling in Kentucky and West Virginia, eventually completing her Liberal Arts degree at night school at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. Along the way the couple had 3 children. Mickie became a school teacher in the hollers of West Virginia before the family moved to Lincoln, Nebraska. At the University of Nebraska, Mickie earned her PhD in educational psychology. She taught college at Creighton University in Omaha, and then in the psychology department of the University of Nebraska.
After a few years of teaching, Mickie returned to her first love and life-long profession as an artist. The couple moved to rural Battle Lake when Dick retired, but Mickie was always quite clear that she did not retire. She used a variety of media, including pottery, acrylics, and oil painting. Her creative mind and ideas are reflected by button pictures, knit creatures, and the most beautiful home-made socks you have ever seen. Mickie is best known as a watercolor artist. She loved to paint scenes of beautiful places she frequented, gatherings of people, draft horses, and many other subjects. Her art hangs around Ottertail County and the country. She has competed in many juried shows, and has been an active member in several art galleries, including Art of the Lakes in Battle Lake, Gallery 4 in Fargo, and Avenue Art Gallery in Lincoln. She served on the Minnesota Arts Council, and lobbied for art funding at the Minnesota State Legislature. In recent years Mickie has taken to providing paintings to hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, her church, and the Fergus Falls library. Her art has brought joy not only to herself, but to her friends, family, and the public. Each painting took about a month of work, and Mickie said by the time she completed a piece, it felt like a family member.
Mickie had many varied interests. She loved to travel, and spent considerable time camping in the western mountains with her family. She travelled abroad far and wide, including Scotland, Japan and China. She spent numerous autumns canoeing in the Boundary Waters Wilderness.
Following an initial bout with heart failure, Mickie became a part of the Women’s Heart Program, bringing camaraderie and education to her heart sisters. She was a founding member of her Investment Club, and enjoyed the Battle Lake Progressive Club. She was a lap swimmer for many years. She gardened by the lake, explored the lakes and rivers in her kayak, and was admirable in a canoe. She enjoyed fishing, though not so much the toothy northern pike. Mickie would sail with Dick, but he figures she did not enjoy it all that much on account of the skipper gives the orders. Mickie loved music, and listened to many varieties. Late in life, Mickie taught herself to play the clarinet, and played with the Battle Lake high school band and the Heart of the Lakes Band. She was an active member of the UU church, appreciating their inclusive, not exclusive approach. She very much enjoyed her weekly bridge group. She was a good, but reticent cook, providing many fine meals for gatherings of family and friends. A voracious reader, Mickie sought out many, many books and enjoyed lending them to her friends and family. She figured she listened to nearly all of the books on tape available at the Fergus Falls and Perham public libraries, which she visited often.
Mickie is survived by her husband, Dick; sister Pat Ellison, and 3 grown children: Rick (Lori) Edmonds, Kelly (Ross) Barrett, and Robin (Neil) MacLauchlan. Together they have produced 8 grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren, some of whom became quite close to her. She shared many of her interests with her family, but also had an extensive network of friends that reached beyond the knowledge of her children.
Everywhere Mickie went, she made incredible friends. They sustained her during difficult days, and she tried to return the favor. She was known for her sharp wit, peppery personality, and generous nature. We never can have enough time with such a remarkable spirit, but understand we know grief because we know love.
Mickie Edmonds, 81 years old, Battle Lake, MN died Saturday, August 26, 2017.
Funeral service will take place at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Underwood, MN on October 6, 2017, at 1:00 PM. There will be a time of visiting immediately following, at the Church.
Mickie was born January 23, 1936 in Madison, Wisconsin to Virgil and Julia Hurlburt. The family moved around, living in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Iowa, returning to her parents’ families’ Montana wheat ranches to help during harvest time. Eventually Mickie began her college career. She spent 3 years in an Art Program at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, returning to Ames, Iowa to continue her education at Iowa State University when her father took ill. There she met her life partner of 59 years, Richard (Dick) Edmonds.
Mickie married Dick June 23, 1958, and made a series of moves due to Dick’s career. She continued schooling in Kentucky and West Virginia, eventually completing her Liberal Arts degree at night school at the University of Cincinnati in Ohio. Along the way the couple had 3 children. Mickie became a school teacher in the hollers of West Virginia before the family moved to Lincoln, Nebraska. At the University of Nebraska, Mickie earned her PhD in educational psychology. She taught college at Creighton University in Omaha, and then in the psychology department of the University of Nebraska.
After a few years of teaching, Mickie returned to her first love and life-long profession as an artist. The couple moved to rural Battle Lake when Dick retired, but Mickie was always quite clear that she did not retire. She used a variety of media, including pottery, acrylics, and oil painting. Her creative mind and ideas are reflected by button pictures, knit creatures, and the most beautiful home-made socks you have ever seen. Mickie is best known as a watercolor artist. She loved to paint scenes of beautiful places she frequented, gatherings of people, draft horses, and many other subjects. Her art hangs around Ottertail County and the country. She has competed in many juried shows, and has been an active member in several art galleries, including Art of the Lakes in Battle Lake, Gallery 4 in Fargo, and Avenue Art Gallery in Lincoln. She served on the Minnesota Arts Council, and lobbied for art funding at the Minnesota State Legislature. In recent years Mickie has taken to providing paintings to hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, her church, and the Fergus Falls library. Her art has brought joy not only to herself, but to her friends, family, and the public. Each painting took about a month of work, and Mickie said by the time she completed a piece, it felt like a family member.
Mickie had many varied interests. She loved to travel, and spent considerable time camping in the western mountains with her family. She travelled abroad far and wide, including Scotland, Japan and China. She spent numerous autumns canoeing in the Boundary Waters Wilderness.
Following an initial bout with heart failure, Mickie became a part of the Women’s Heart Program, bringing camaraderie and education to her heart sisters. She was a founding member of her Investment Club, and enjoyed the Battle Lake Progressive Club. She was a lap swimmer for many years. She gardened by the lake, explored the lakes and rivers in her kayak, and was admirable in a canoe. She enjoyed fishing, though not so much the toothy northern pike. Mickie would sail with Dick, but he figures she did not enjoy it all that much on account of the skipper gives the orders. Mickie loved music, and listened to many varieties. Late in life, Mickie taught herself to play the clarinet, and played with the Battle Lake high school band and the Heart of the Lakes Band. She was an active member of the UU church, appreciating their inclusive, not exclusive approach. She very much enjoyed her weekly bridge group. She was a good, but reticent cook, providing many fine meals for gatherings of family and friends. A voracious reader, Mickie sought out many, many books and enjoyed lending them to her friends and family. She figured she listened to nearly all of the books on tape available at the Fergus Falls and Perham public libraries, which she visited often.
Mickie is survived by her husband, Dick; sister Pat Ellison, and 3 grown children: Rick (Lori) Edmonds, Kelly (Ross) Barrett, and Robin (Neil) MacLauchlan. Together they have produced 8 grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren, some of whom became quite close to her. She shared many of her interests with her family, but also had an extensive network of friends that reached beyond the knowledge of her children.
Everywhere Mickie went, she made incredible friends. They sustained her during difficult days, and she tried to return the favor. She was known for her sharp wit, peppery personality, and generous nature. We never can have enough time with such a remarkable spirit, but understand we know grief because we know love.
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