Marsha Ellen Sorenson

Marsha was born in Brainerd, MN on 04/13/1956. Marsha grew up on their farm just a couple of miles south of the Brainerd fairgrounds. She enjoyed her horses and other farmyard animals. Her family also had dairy cows, so fresh milk and cream was always plentiful. Marsha graduated from Brainerd High School on May 30, 1974 and attended Brainerd Area Vocational Technical Institute for Medical Secretary. There she earned a degree in Occupational Proficiency on July 25, 1975. 

 When Marsha was seven, her older sister Betty passed away at the age of 17 and at the age of 9 Marsha's mother passed away. Still Marsha persevered and was involved in 4-H with her horses, earning various awards at the local fairgrounds. Once one of her horses that she was riding in her pasture, stopped abruptly at a little creek that ran through their property, dumping her into the water. Marsha said that she thought he was going to jump the creek. I guess the horse had a bit of a laugh that day. Marsha's brother Jim (age 67) and her Dad who lived to be 90, also preceded her in death. Her remaining brother is Larry Gorron, who resides in northern Minnesota.

Marsha worked locally for a while and met Kevin Rardin, who was her first husband. They were married on 04/01/1978, in Brainerd, MN. They moved to Detroit Lakes, MN where Marsha resided for the rest of her life. Marsha and her husband Kevin taught dancing and also had a dance group that performed for various events. Marsha sewed the outfits for herself and Kevin. She was very crafty that way and also made afghans, quilts, and other similar things. They were married for more than 20 years. During that time, Marsha also had a cleaning business that she ran for many years. Marsha also had worked for the wetlands, working hard cutting pathways, where they installed border fences and created public access parking areas. She worked hard right alongside the men wading through swampy areas, doing what it took to get the job done, and earning their respect. Her nick name there was Marsh. After divorcing from Kevin, Marsha maintained some of her clientele from the cleaning business and took a position as the Diet Clerk, at Essentia Health Hospital in Detroit Lakes, MN. Marsha worked there for 17 years, until she retired in October of 2021. 

While working at Essentia Health, Marsha and her co-workers would put on plays for the nursing home residents. Marsha was good with the plays, as she had performed in Homespun and Fiddler on the Roof at the Holmes Theater. Marsha loved entertaining the residents and had fun dressing up and playing the different parts, also including some form of dance as well. Marsha had a good working relationship with her coworkers and I'm sure that most will remember that she also had a good memory when it came to lyrics. Whenever someone would forget the words to a song they were singing, Marsha would chime in with the forgotten lyrics.

On 12/31/2005, New Years Eve, Marsha and some of her friends went to the Double Wood Inn for a dance. This is where Marsha met Gerald (Jerry) Sorenson. It was on Jerry's third attempt that night to meet up with some friends that they met. Jerry had eaten at Applebees and was ready to go home, but he had decided to try one more time, as he didn't want to spend the evening alone. When Jerry went into the dance, Marsha happened to stand up right in front of him, turning around asking Jerry if he wanted to dance. It was lady's choice and Jerry wasn't a dancer, so he replied that he really didn't know how to dance. Marsha said to Jerry that it was OK, as it was a slow dance and she would help him out. After the dance Jerry asked if they could go out to the hall just to visit as he wasn't a bar kind of guy and really didn't like that kind of atmosphere, as it was too loud to visit. Marsha said sure, after visiting they parted ways, and started dating. On September 13, of 2008 they became husband and wife. Marsha and Jerry were together for nearly 19 years and had just completed their 16th year of marriage.

Marsha and Jerry, always said they had the perfect life doing so many fun things together. They enjoyed riding their bikes on the Heartland and Paul Bunyan trails. Making it a point to start at one small town, riding to the next one, eating at the local cafe then riding back. Next time they would start at the next little town and do the same thing. One trail they only rode once on was the Itasca Wilderness loop, which seemed like it would never end. Up one hill and down another for around 18 miles. Jerry said that he could no longer sit down on his seat, but Marsha still was. She was tough that way. Another thing that Marsha and Jerry both loved to do was going to rummage sales. Marsha was always so organized, she would create an organized list of them (Thursday through Saturday), starting early in the morning and never hitting a sale that started the day before. Another adventure was finding new trails to walk the dogs on, like Dunton Locks, Sucker Creek Preserve, Arvig Trail, Heartland Trail, and Blacks Grove Park just west of Wadena. Marsha and Jerry would walk for many miles on their hikes, even walking many times across Big and Little Detroit Lakes and other local lakes in the winter time. They also enjoyed gardening and canning together. Marsha was also a fantastic cook and baked many special, healthy, foods.

Marsha was very creative and organized in everything she did and was constantly redecorating and shuffling the furniture around while Jerry was at work, often confusing, but delighting Jerry when he came home to a different looking home interior. Marsha was always cleaning and touching up areas inside the house and loved changing themes as well. For example, Farm, apple, coffee and so on. Marsha also had a love for guinea pigs, still caring for one at this present day. She would create guinea pig birthday invitations handing them out to her friends. Then they would get together to celebrate with little gifts. One of her most special friends is Jennifer Haney, whom also loves guinea pigs and is quite the artist, creating many cartoon drawings for Marsha of their guinea pigs doing funny antics. Marsha was on a TV show many years ago, being interviewed on how to properly care for guinea pigs and ran the pet department at Ben Franklin for a while. 

Marsha was dedicated to staying in shape and eating the right foods, besides walking and riding their bikes, Marsha also worked out at home and for some time had a gym membership as well. Marsha was a black and white type of person, with seeming not much room for in between. Jerry agreed though that Marsha was right and stopped eating all of those bad foods, cutting them from his diet. Marsha was a very sensible, caring, talented, and loving individual. Jerry says that Marsha truly was a precious gift to all that had a chance to be a part of her life.

Marsha never had children of her own, so when she married Jerry, she became another mom to Jerry's children, Jennifer and Jimmy. With that came Jennifer's husband Mason and between the two of them, 5 grandchildren, so Marsha also became a grandma. Jimmy's marriage also brought another gift, Madeline, Jimmy's wife. Marsha also had Jerry's mom, Gwen Sorenson and dad, Jim Sorenson in her life as well. Marsha and Gwen also loved shopping and going to rummage sales together. They considered themselves mother and daughter. Marsha considered herself truly blessed as did Jerry.

In the fall of 2021, Marsha became afflicted with a multitude of health issues, rendering her in need of constant care, so Jerry resigned as an Operations Manager to take care of Marsha full-time at home. Jerry said it was one of the best decisions he ever made, since he was able to spend all of that time at home with Marsha, capitalizing on her better days. Marsha would have reprieves from her illness from time to time and one of those times was at Jimmy and Madeline's wedding, in June of 2023. High in the mountains of Leadville, Colorado. At that time, Marsha seemed to completely come back and was seeing everything from fresh eyes, like for the first time. Commenting on how beautiful the sun made the corn tassels look, the grass growing along the fence rows, and how beautiful the snow covered mountains were, the majestic trees, mountain rocks, and pine scented air, along with the whole experience of it all. At the wedding, Marsha taught Jerry how to dance again and just loved the whole setting and the decked out burro that was serving the beverages. She was truly in heaven at that time. Then for some reason a week or so later she was suffering again, However, in December of 2023, Marsha became normal again and started writing a book (16 pages), She came back with more energy than you can imagine. As time went by Marsha declined once again, leading to her final stand with her illness, passing peacefully at home on October 14, of 2024. On that day, God received another angel into heaven.

A memorial service will be conducted for Marsh at David-Donehower Funeral home of Detroit Lakes (609 US Hwy 10 East) on Friday, October 25, 2024 beginning at 1pm, with a reception to immediately follow in the David-Donehower Reception Center on premesis.

Condolences to her family may be expressed on this tribute page or sent to "The Family of Marsha Sorenson", care of David-Donehower Funeral Home, 609 US Hwy10 East, Detroit Lakes, MN, 56501.