Rosemary Ostrom

Rosemary Ostrom, age 94, of Henning MN, passed away on Tuesday, August 16, 2022, at Our Home Your Home Assisted Living in Henning, MN. Visitation will be held from 5 pm to 7 pm, Friday, August 19, 2022, at St. John’s Catholic Church, Wahpeton, ND, with a Prayer Service at 7 pm and Rosary to follow. The Funeral Mass will be held at 10:30 am, Saturday, August 20, 2022, with a visitation from 9 am to 10 am at St. John’s Catholic Church. The services will be officiated by Fr. Dale Lagodinski and Fr. LeRoy Schik. Burial will be held in Calvary Cemetery, Wahpeton. Arrangements are entrusted to Vertin-Munson Funeral Home, Wahpeton.

Rosemary ‘Rosie’ (Langenwalter) Ostrom was born to Daniel and Pauline (Hoffman) Langenwalter on January 8, 1928 on the farm south of Wahpeton, ND. Rosie was the fourth of five children. While growing up on the farm, she worked and played with her sisters, Ann and Delores and brothers, Elroy and William (Willie). She attended school in Fairmount, ND where she served as class president during her senior year. In 1950, she began working as a teller/bookkeeper at the First National bank in Wahpeton, ND where she met James I. (Jim) Ostrom in April 1954. The bank was located at 418 Dakota Avenue, which would later become the home of Ostrom’s Valley Insurance. For many years, both Rosie and Jim “ran with the same crowd,” hanging out at the bowling alley and the Riverhead Bar in the Wahpeton Hotel. Rosie lived with Erlys (Ordahl) Skoog and LaRae (Goolsbey) Swenson. In October of 1956, she moved to Missoula, MT, where she served as the head teller at First National Bank. Upon return to Wahpeton, due to the unexpected death of her father in July 1958, Jim proposed. While Rosie accepted, she returned to Montana to tie up loose ends and to make her wedding dress.

On October 18, 1958 Rosemary married Jim in Wahpeton. In 1961, they moved to St. Cloud, MN, but later returned to Wahpeton in 1965 where Jim started Ostrom’s Valley Insurance. Rosie joined Jim and began working at the agency in 1974 and continued to do so after it was purchased by their daughter, Amy, in 1993. Rosie and Jim spent many summer weekends with their daughters at Sunset Beach on West Battle Lake and from there were instrumental in organizing the annual Wahpeton, Ottertail, Oakwood (WOO) Golf tournament for over 25 years. In July of 2013, Jim and Rosie moved to Henning, MN to be closer to their daughters. At the time of her death, Rosie was living (and being lovingly cared for) at Our Home Your Home Assisted Living in Henning, MN. She was a lifelong learner and had a knack for making friends wherever she went.

Rosie was a lifetime member of St. John’s Catholic Church in Wahpeton where she was baptized and married, and where she will have her funeral mass celebration. She was a member of Christian Mothers, American Legion Auxiliary, VFW Auxiliary, and Professional Insurance Agents.

Rosie is survived by her three daughters: Jean Ostrom Blonigen, Fargo ND; Amy (Mike) Ahlfs, Ottertail, MN; and Mary (Mark) Ellenson, Henning, MN; six grandchildren: Mattie Ellenson, Taylor Blonigen, Jack Blonigen, Sadie (Chris Haugdahl) Ellenson, Jessica (Jared Powell) Anderson, and Megan (Matt Potrament) Ellenson; and four great-grandchildren: Blain, Bailey, Quinn, and Elyse. She is also survived by her sister-in-law and close friend, Shirley Langenwalter, and many other family members and friends.

Rosie was preceded in death by her husband, Jim; her parents; her siblings, Ann (Langenwalter) Sheets, Elroy Langenwalter, Willie Langenwalter, and Delores (Langenwalter) Sletten and their spouses; her grandson, Travis Ellenson; all of Jim’s siblings and their spouses; and many other family members and friends.

In lieu of flowers/plants, memorials are preferred to Our Home Your Home, PO Box 92, Henning MN 56551.

Arrangements have been entrusted with Vertin-Munson Funeral Home of Wahpeton.