Virginia (Ginny) Bristol McLarnan died in her sleep January 25, 2023 at the Eventide Care
Center in Moorhead 11 days prior to her 94th birthday. She was content in her later years at
Eventide despite declining health.
Ginny was born February 5, 1929 in Fargo. Her parents were William Turner Bristol and Evelyn
Weddell who divorced when Ginny and her brother Robert were young, resulting in Ginny and
Robert living weekdays in a Fargo foster home while Evelyn worked. Later Evelyn married Cy
Rufer who had a daughter about Ginny’s age and the family lived in Moorhead. A block away
was the First Congregational Church on 8th Street South, a place of quiet refuge in her teens
and a source of friendships, faith and service to others later in life. She attended the church from
1937 through the rest of her life.
An important influence was her great uncle, Bill Weddell. He paid the tuition for her nursing
education at the University of Minnesota. He left her his Becker County lake cabin in 1962 that
is the anchor of family connections for her children, grandchildren and great- grandchildren. She
called it her favorite place in the world.
After graduating with a degree in nursing and public health she married Rod McLarnan, also
from Moorhead, in 1951. They felt a pull from their hometown and moved there with three
children in 1958. After 2 more children, Ginny became a full time mom. Rod and Ginny
divorced in 1986 but continued to attend family gatherings, grandkid school and sports events
and summer holidays at the lake cabin.
Caring for others was her nature. She drove cancer patients to treatment, helped refugee
families adjust to a new life and volunteered twice at an orphanage in Oaxaca Mexico. She
served on the Clay County Welfare Board and was active in P.E.O and her church. She
returned to nursing at age 52 at Clay County Public Health making home visits to young
mothers. She retired at 62, no longer wanting to navigate over snow drifts and icy parking
lots carrying a baby scale and other equipment.
She will be missed by her family and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents, brother
Robert and son-in- law Jeff Amerman. She is survived by her children Timothy McLarnan (Anne)
Terrance McLarnan (Karin), Nancy Amerman (Jon Otto), Susan Berglund (Chris), Thomas
McLarnan (Jennifer), 14 grandchildren, and 10 great- grandchildren. The family will feel her
presence on the porch at the lake cabin.
Funeral service, assisted by Wright Funeral Home, at First Congregational Church 406 8th
Street February 4, 2023 with gathering at 12:30 and service at 1:30. Memorial preferred to the
First Congregational Church or Churches United for the Homeless in Moorhead.
Saturday, February 4, 2023
12:30 - 1:30 pm (Central time)
First Congregational United Church of Christ - Mhd
Saturday, February 4, 2023
Starts at 1:30 pm (Central time)
First Congregational United Church of Christ - Mhd
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