Maria Elisabeth (Marlis) Andring of Mahnomen died Nov. 29, 2019, in her Bismarck home, from complications of kidney disease. She was 86 years old.

She was born May 29, 1933, to Karl and Theresia (Illenberger) Merz in Glasshütte, Unterkochen, Germany. The oldest of four children, she led her brothers, especially Rudolph on many outdoor adventures in their home town of Unterkochen.  As a young adult, Marlis worked in several positions and countries. She was an au pair in England, a translator, an intern at a Paris fashion house and did administrative work. As she worked and traveled through Europe, she also indulged in a love of skiing, inherited from her father.

She married her lifetime love, a U.S. Army soldier named Ralph Andring, Oct.  3, 1964, and they made their home in Bad Tölz, Germany. Through the Army, the family was relocated frequently over the next few years, giving each of their children a different birthplace. From Germany, they moved to the U.S. living in Detroit Lakes, Denver, Panama, and New Jersey.  During these many moves, Marlis managed the households and raised the children, often single-handedly when Ralph was deployed overseas.

The couple enjoyed downhill skiing, music, playing cards, reading, and bowling, competing on leagues together for many years.

Ralph retired from the Army in 1979, and the family moved one last time, to his childhood home, the family farm near Mahnomen, MN.

In a short time, the always-active Marlis found work at the Center for Human Environment, eventually becoming the Executive Director of the facility near Beaulieu.  She secured important funding sources for the Center and introduced new policies to improve the health and safety of Center residents.

Her retirement in 1994 left her with time to pursue some of her hobbies, including quilting, knitting and crocheting, raising and preserving vast quantities of food from the family garden, and she was also actively involved with the local Legion Auxiliary. She also made several trips home to Germany, bringing the entire family with her for one memorable month.

In 2004, she decided farm life was too remote, so she moved into town and became more involved with her quilting, gardening and bridge clubs. She joined the Jolly Homemakers club, the same one that her mother-in-law, Grace (Martin) Andring had belonged to, and enjoyed regular meetings with the Red Hats. She was an active volunteer at St. Michael's Church, folding the weekly newsletters. She continued traveling too, making frequent trips to Bismarck, Sioux Falls and Seattle, to see her children and grandchildren.

Marlis is survived by two sons, Michael and his wife, Jann, of Bismarck, Kevin and his wife Bonnie of Sioux Falls, SD;  a daughter, Carol Andring Ladwig  and her husband Jason of Duvall, WA; two grandchildren, Hannah St. Peter and her husband, David, of Bismarck, and Lucas Andring of St. Charles, MO;  a brother Karl and his wife, Erna of Ebnat, Germany; a sister-in-law, Resle Merz of Unterkochen; a step-granddaughter, Tracy Meyer and her husband Mike, and three great-grandchildren, Christian, Emery and Brynlee, all of Sioux  Falls; and several nieces and a nephew and their families, all in Germany.

She is preceded in death by her husband, Ralph; infant son, Warren; two brothers, Hermann and Rudolph Merz; her parents and step-mother, Liesel Merz.

Memorials preferred to the Kidney Foundation.

Funeral Mass will be held Thursday, December 5, 2019, at 2:00 p.m. at St. Michael's Catholic Church, Mahnomen, MN.  Visitation will take place at Anderson Family Funeral Home in Mahnomen, MN, Wednesday, December 4, 2019, from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. with a Prayer Service at 6:30 p.m. Visitation will also be held one hour prior at the church on Thursday. Burial will be in the St. Michael's Catholic Cemetery, Mahnomen.