Muriel M. Boyum Obituary (1921 - 2016)

Muriel M. Boyum, 95, Mandan, North Dakota, passed away Friday, November 11, 2016, at Missouri Slope Lutheran Care Center, Bismarck, North Dakota. Funeral Services will be held at 11:00 AM Saturday, November 19, 2016, at DaWise-Perry Funeral Service, Mandan, with Pastor Larry Giese officiating. Visitation is scheduled for 5-7:00 PM, Friday, November 18, 2016, with a prayer service beginning at 7:00 PM at DaWise-Perry Funeral Services, Mandan. Visitation continues one hour prior to the service at the funeral home. Burial will be in Mandan Union Cemetery. Muriel was born May 2, 1921, near Manfred, North Dakota, to Oscar and Bertha (Nordtorp) Melby. She was raised on her parent's farm, and baptized and confirmed into the Christian faith at Vang Lutheran Church in Manfred. She attended Manfred Grade School for the first eight grades and then graduated from Fessenden High School in 1939. She attended Bismarck Commercial College and then was hired as the bookkeeper of the Bismarck Tribune. She met her future husband, Raymond G. Schwartz of Mandan, through singing in the Messiah cantata. Muriel and Ray were married March 14, 1943, in Gainesville, Texas where Ray was station at an army base near Gainesville. When Ray was sent overseas to serve in Germany during World War 2, Muriel returned to live in Mandan where she worked for the Ellis Insurance Agency. After the war, Muriel and Ray settled in Mandan where he worked at the Mandan Post Office. To Muriel and Ray were born two children: Wanda and Merlin. After the children started school, Muriel worked for the Kleinschmidt Agency, and later for the Morton County Agent's Office retiring from there in 1986. Muriel and Ray were active with First Lutheran Church of Mandan, Bells and Bows Square Dancing Club, Sverdrup Sons of Norway Lodge, Bismarck-Mandan Symphony Orchestra, and Muriel was also a member of PEO. Ray died in 1974. In 1986, Muriel married a second time to Dr. Lowell Boyum of Harvey, North Dakota. Muriel and Lowell were active in both the Harvey and Mandan communities with church, square dancing, Sons of Norway, and traveling. In 2010, they moved to Maple View Memory Care Community where Lowell died in 2011. Later that year, Muriel moved to Edgewood Vista-Pearl's Place and then to Missouri Slope Lutheran Care Center where she lived to the present time. Throughout her faith-filled life, Muriel delighted in all that God has created and was ever grateful for His many blessings. Keeping in close touch with family and friends were very important to her. She was a wonderful hostess, always inviting people to her home for coffee or meals. She was an expert seamstress and had great style in her designs. She won first place at an international Sons of Norway Convention for her knitted entry of a sweater, cap, and knee-high socks she made for Lowell. She is survived by her daughter Wanda (Richard) Melchert of Mandan, North Dakota; son Merlin (Laurie) Schwartz, granddaughter Jenny (James) Taylor, grandson Andy (Kay) Schwartz, great grandsons Caleb Dumke and Ethan Dumke, step-great grandson Mason Taylor, and great granddaughter Taya Schwartz all of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; brother Gene (Betty) Melby of Manfred, North Dakota; sister-in-law Jeanne Melby of Bismarck, North Dakota; sister-in-law Zelda Melby of Sioux Falls, South Dakota; and a number of nieces and nephews and their descendents. Muriel was preceded in death by her first husband Raymond Schwartz; second husband Lowell Boyum; parents Oscar and Bertha Melby; three brothers Roy Melby, Orlien Melby, and Kenneth Melby; three sisters Cora Turner, Ruth Hovey, and Ethel Bolyard; three brothers-in-law Joe Bolyard, Carl Hovey, and Emmett Turner; one sister-in-law Gertrude Melby; and one niece Pam Hovey Lucas and two nephews Brian Melby and Ivan Hovey.