Born: 1920, Hettinger, North Dakota
Died: 26 Jan 2015, Bloomington, MN
Spouse: Erling Rolfsrud
Beverly Brown Rolfsrud, 94, musician, teacher, wife and mother of six, died peacefully January 26, 2015 at a residential home in Bloomington, Minnesota, near her family. Visitation at 1:00, Service at 2:00 on Saturday, January 31 will be held at Shalom Lutheran Church in Alexandria, MN, a church she helped to found in 1982.
With her late husband as accompanist, Beverly performed Sacred Concerts throughout the Upper Midwest. In 1967 she produced a record of sacred music from Handel’s Messiah and other composers. Over the years she taught hundreds of young adults the rudiments of music and the joy of performing. Born in Hettinger, North Dakota, in 1920, she graduated high school in Fargo, attended Wheaton College, then joined her husband in Moorhead where she was the first married woman to graduate from Concordia College. They moved to Deerwood, MN in 1945 where she gave private music lessons while raising her children. In 1952 the Rolfsruds moved to Alexandria near Lake Andrew and Beverly continued to teach music and lead church choirs. She briefly taught music in the Brooten, Minnesota schools. She enjoyed quilting, cross-country skiing, tennis and swimming. Beverly is survived by her six children: Becky (Allen) Jerdee, Venice, FL, Linda (Ron) Letnes, Blaine, MN, Stan (Kathleen) Rolfsrud, Shakopee, MN, Solveig (William) Shearer, Sunol, CA, Stephen (Nancy) Rolfsrud, Mankato, MN, and Virgil Rolfsrud, Fort Myers, FL; 15 grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. In addition to her husband Erling, she was preceded in death by her daughters-in-law Jeni (Virgil) Rolfsrud and Becky Lynn (Virgil) Rolfsrud, brothers Ralph Brown, Richard Brown, Bayard Brown, and sisters Dorothy Chase and Kaye Eichenberger. Newspaper obituary: Alexandria, MN Echo Press