Merlyn Lofgren

Our beloved father, grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-great-grandfather, Merlyn Wayne Vincent Lofgren, passed away March 11, 2025. He was 98.

Born October 22, 1926, and raised on a dry farm in North Dakota during the Great Depression, Merlyn and his two siblings were raised by humble, God-fearing parents. Attending church or going on a trip into town with his family always meant Merlyn would help hitch up the team of horses to the wagon or sleigh. He attended a one-room schoolhouse and did his homework by kerosene lantern. His community spoke Norwegian and English, and Merlyn became fluent in both. His family didn’t have a lot of money, but in those early years he learned to love hard work. It stayed with him throughout his life.

While a teenager, Merlyn’s family moved to Kalispell, Montana, where he attended high school. During a school assembly, he was immediately smitten when he saw a girl, Dorothy Dickson, singing in a trio. This was the beginning of a lifelong romance. Merlyn and Dorothy dated throughout high school and wrote each other faithfully after he enlisted in the United States Navy to serve his country in World War II. He was trained as a radar operator and was deployed to the South Pacific.

After returning home, Merlyn and Dorothy resumed dating and married in 1949. They moved to Salt Lake City where Merlyn attended the University of Utah. While going to school, some classmates encouraged him to meet with missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He did so and loved what he heard. He was baptized, and not long after, he and Dorothy made covenants in the Church’s Logan Utah Temple to be married to each other for this life and for eternity. Merlyn graduated with a Bachelor of Science in pharmacy and became a registered pharmacist.

While in Utah, Dorothy and Merlyn welcomed two daughters, Julie and Susan, to their family. In 1954, they moved to Missoula, and Merlyn went to work for the Upjohn Pharmaceutical Company. The couple soon welcomed another daughter, Nancy, and their son, Jonathan.

Merlyn had great faith in our Heavenly Father and was a devoted disciple of Jesus Christ. He served in various leadership positions in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including many years as a stake president for the newly formed Missoula Stake (a stake is similar to a Catholic Diocese or Lutheran synod), and later as a regional representative for the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles covering an area from Kalispell to Stevensville, over to Butte and Great Falls. Merlyn and Dorothy also served faithfully for eighteen months as missionaries in Istanbul, Turkey, which was a highlight of their lives. After returning from Turkey, they became employment missionaries, helping many people in the Missoula area find work. They later served in the Church’s family history center, helping others discover their ancestors through genealogy.

Throughout his life, Merlyn was an example of service, virtue, faithfulness, and humor. He loved good-natured teasing, and reveled in trying to see if he could bring a laugh or get Dorothy to playfully throw something at him because of his quips, which she often did. And although he had a fine singing voice and good pitch, on their birthdays, his children, grandchildren and in-laws could always expect a whistling rendition from him of the Happy Birthday song, intentionally out of tune.

Living into his 99th year, Merlyn kept his sense of humor and said it seemed he was going to be preceded in death by everyone. We want to make particular mention of his sweetheart, Dorothy; his parents, John Andrew and Caroline; his sister, Elaine and brother, Donley; his first grandson, Christopher; and son-in-law, Darwin. He is survived by his four children: Julie, Susan (Vaughn), Nancy (Steve), and Jonathan (Colette); 16 grandchildren, 47 great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren.

Merlyn will forever be a light in our lives. He is deeply loved and profoundly missed. We also celebrate his joyful reunion with his beloved sweetheart, family members and friends on the other side of the veil. We can’t wait to wrap our arms around him again and are eternally grateful to know that families can be together forever because of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Visitation will be held on Friday, March 28th at Garden City Funeral Home from 5-7pm. Viewing will again take place Saturday, March 29th at 10:00am at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 3201 Bancroft Street, with funeral services to follow at 11:00am. Burial with military honors will take place at Sunset Memorial Gardens at 2:30pm.