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Marina Gertrude Ridgeway, 82, passed away on December 28th, 2016, at the Greenview Residence in Hibbing, with family at her side. She had been bravely fighting alzheimer's disease and other health issues over the past several years.

The life story of our mother is that of a Canadian hometown queen who meets a southern gentleman.

Marina was born in Alida, Saskatchewan on November 26th, 1934 and grew up in Grand Forks, British Columbia, where she attended high school and was the town's May Queen her senior year. During this time she dated our father, David Ridgeway, who was stationed at an air force radar base just across the border in the state of Washington, during the Korean War.

At the end of his military duty, they married and moved back to his home in Charleston, South Carolina, where they started our family. The combination of their differing backgrounds and physical distance between the two families created many learning opportunities for us as children as we grew up. Over several years we lived in states between B.C. And Carolina, which resulted in many long and exciting summer vacation road trips complete with a station wagon and luggage carrier, that would have seriously rivaled the Griswold's. Our father rarely missed the opportunity to stop and read every historical marker he came across and mom loved to shop and enjoy the scenery.

In 1969 our family moved to northern Minnesota where father worked in the mining industry as a geologist and played a significant role in the identification and mapping of the copper-nickel ore bodies in the Babbitt area. It was at this time Marina took an interest in Avon products and became a sales representative that spanned over 30 years while living in Biwabik and later when the family moved to Hibbing. Over her career she earned many Albee Awards from the company, which she proudly kept displayed in a glass cabinet.

Marina had an ongoing interest and talent in doing anything that had to do with sewing, which she passed on to her two daughters. She liked to participate yearly in making clothes for dolls donated by a local bank in town, which were then given out as Christmas presents. She also knitted and donated many hats and gloves to local charities.

Marina was a woman of kind spirit and willing to help anyone in need. In her later years she loved to go on rides with our father and make their way to yearly activities such as the county fair and the Laskiainen Winter Festival in Palo.

Last, but certainly not least, she'll be remembered for her timeless love and close relationship with our father, who passed away suddenly from an anuerysm over four years-ago. It was apparent how much she missed him and the family did their best to reassure her they would be together again one day, which we are pleased to say is now complete.

Marina was a member of the Eastern Star of the Masons, Four H, HHS Band Parents Association, and the United Methodist Church of Hibbing. She also spent many years later in life volunteering at the Hibbing mine view site.

Marina is survived by her four children: David Ridgeway, Bryan and Renee (Angelo) Ridgeway, Derrik and Beverly (Ridgeway) Clay, and Patricia Ridgeway; five grandchildren: Gabriel and Jacqueline (Buechler) Ridgeway, Grant and Samantha (Erdmann) Ridgeway, Courtney Clay, Samuel Clay and Walker Clay; and three great-grandchildren: Kaleb Ridgeway, Gabriella Ridgeway, and Ashton Ridgeway.

She was preceded in death by her husband David and parents Eileen and Harold Margetts.

Funeral: Services will be held at 1:00 p.m. Friday, Jauary 6th, at Wesley United Methodist Church in Hibbing.

Visitation: Will be for one hour before the service Friday at the church. The public is invited to attend.

Burial: Inurnment will be in the Maple Hill Cemetery in Hibbing.

Arrangements are with Anderson-Daniels, a Bauman Family Funeral Home, in Hibbing. To express condolences online, visit www.baumanfuneralhome.com.

Visitation 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM ,Friday, January 6, 2017
Wesley United Methodist Church
303 East 23rd Street Hibbing, MN 55746
Memorial Service 1:00 PM ,Friday, January 6, 2017
Wesley United Methodist Church
303 East 23rd Street Hibbing, MN 55746
Inurnment Friday, January 6, 2017
Hibbing Park Cemetery
12057 Hwy 169 Hibbing, MN 55746