Marialice Soleim

Marialice Soleim, 93, Moorhead, MN, died Friday, December 7, 2012, in Moorhead.Mary Alice Molamphy was born on October 19, 1919, in Hastings, MN, the daughter of Dennis and Genevieve Wildes Molamphy. The eldest of four children, she moved off the farm into town at the age of 15 and worked for Mr. Eddy at his pharmacy while attending high school. She graduated from Hastings High School. She changed jobs and she changed her name to Marialice, known since then as MA, except for her grandchildren who called her Nonnie. While working for Mead Manufacturing, MA-an Irish Catholic liberal-met the love of her life, Ray Soleim-a Norwegian Lutheran Republican, forever cancelling each other out at the ballot box. They married on November 30, 1946, and moved to Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, where they owned and operated Zephyr Cleaners until 1963 when they moved to Moorhead. They owned and operated Bon Valet Cleaners until their retirement in 1977. They wintered in Englewood, FL, until Ray's death in 2002. Marialice was an active volunteer. She was a longtime member of Christian Mothers, Catholic Daughters and St. Joseph's Catholic Church. She was an advocate for social justice all of her life. Faith, family, and friends characterized the essence of who she was, complementing her spirit of generosity and humble nature. Despite suffering from dementia at the end of her life, those qualities never disappeared. The one blue eyed-one brown eyed lady was fun and quirky; and she never failed to surprise all who knew her. Marialice was preceded in death by her parents, sister Dorothy Tom Mollick, brother Bernard, and husband, Ray. She is survived by her three children: Jane Ball Don Davis of Rochert, MN; Jerrold Jackie Sluss of St. Paul, MN; and Kathy Robert Littlefield, of Moorhead, MN; two grandchildren, Lindsay Thomas Allen, of Austin, TX; and Brady of New York, NY; two great-grandchildren, Emmett and Owen Allen; her sister, Betty Herman Gelhar, of Prescott, WI; and many nieces and nephews. Memorials can be given to Hospice of the Red River Valley and St. Joseph's School, Moorhead, MN.