Melba Marsaa

Melba Marsaa, 92, of Cando, ND, died Wednesday morning, May 19, at the Towner County Living Center of Cando, where she had resided for the past two years. Funeral services will be held on Monday, May 24, 2010 at Christian Fellowship Church, Cando at 2:00 PM.  Visitation will be held on Sunday, May 23, 2010 at the Dunnigan-Dix Funeral Home, Cando from 2:00 PM until 8:00 PM with a 7:00 PM Prayer Service.  Visitation will also be an hour before the service at the church on Monday.  Interment will be at the Presbyterian Cemetery, Bisbee, ND.

Melba was born November 24, 1917 at the hospital in Rolette, ND, to Ona May and Albert Rudolph Grassman. She was their only child. They lived on a farm outside Mylo where Melba attended school, and her mother had a restaurant. Melba always wanted to become a school teacher. She received a standard teaching degree from Mayville College in Mayville, ND and later, in 1969, received a Bachelor of Science degree there, plus she took many extra courses. Melba taught for the first ten years in Dunseith, ND, where her mother had a hotel and where Melba met Ben B. Marsaa, then in his sixth and final year of teaching (because he was in the army from 1942 to 1946 and worked for the Great Northern Railroad in 1942 and after the war). In 1966, Melba and Ben moved to Cando, where Ben was the Burlington Northern depot agent and then bookkeeper for the Cando Farmers Elevator.  The last 16 years of her teaching career, Melba taught in Cando, where she was part of a great group of elementary school teachers, much appreciated not only by students but also by their parents and the community. Melba taught for 42 years, retiring in 1982. Melba and Ben lived happily in Cando for over 30 years. (Ben died on August 14, 1998.)

From 1982 on, Melba and Ben did much camping with their motor home and spent 11 winters in Hemet, California and 2 in Donna, Texas. During this time, Melba and Ben belonged to several square and round dance clubs. Melba also enjoyed being able to read, cook and bake more during her retirement. She was a member of the Cando Church of the Brethren (now Christian Fellowship Church), the Cando American Legion Auxiliary and Eastern Star, the Good Sam’s Club (lifetime member), and the ND Retired Teachers Association. For most of the past ten years, Melba lived with or next door to her longtime friend, retired teacher Olivia Korb, who died in late March. Melba is survived by her daughter, Iona Mae Marsaa, who lives near Hemet, California, and by her grandson, Jeremy Bennett Teeguarden and great-grandchildren Alia Jordan, Ethan Bennett and Layton Bennett, who live in mile-high Idyllwild, in southern California.

The family of Melba wishes to thank friends and relatives for their many acts of kindness through the years.