Marvin Leroy Arndt

A memorial service for Marvin Arndt will be held Wednesday July 10th at 11:00 AM at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Pine Island. The Rev. Marie Anderson will officiate.  After a post-service luncheon at the church, burial will follow at Bear Valley Cemetery, rural Mazeppa.  The visitation will be Tuesday July 9th from 5:00 - 8:00 PM at Mahn Family Funeral Home, Mahler Chapel, in Pine Island, and will continue one hour prior to the service at the church on Wednesday.

Marvin “Marv” Leroy Arndt, 83, passed away July 1, 2024 at home. He was born May 8, 1941 at St. John’s Hospital in Red Wing, Minnesota to Allwin “Swede” and Audrey (Tomfohrde) Arndt. He was baptized and confirmed at Bear Valley Lutheran Church near Mazeppa, where his parents farmed.

In 1954 his parents bought a farm just outside Pine Island. Marv graduated from Pine Island High School in 1959 and continued to work for his father, taking care of milking cattle, steers, and pigs. In 1972 Marv joined his brother David in a three way partnership with their father. In 1976 both boys bought their father’s share of the farm.

A blind date brought him together with his “wife to be,” Dianne Jacobson. They married on September 11, 1965 at Chatfield Lutheran Church in Chatfield.

Marv said, “Dianne was my rock, my love, my soulmate, and my hearing aides that work!! She helped me on the farm, raised three children, and worked as an RN for forty years at Mayo.

“When the kids were little, we went camping many places and visited several states in our ‘pink and white’ pop-up camper. Eventually, we got bigger campers and rented a space at Shades of Sherwood Campgrounds in Zumbrota.”

Marv loved to dance. Two to three times every weekend they would polka, waltz, two-step, and schottish the night away. Marv also liked Country-Western music and Elvis. Marv and Dianne were privileged enough to go on a “Battle of the Bands” trip with Roy Sands Polka Dots Tours to Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, dancing all the way!

They traveled to all fifty states, and to Japan, Okinawa, Australia, and many places in Mexico. They also cruised through the Panama Canal while traveling from Florida to San Diego, and cruised in Hawaii, Alaska, and four Mississippi cruises. Also many bus tours, casinos, a beautiful “leaf changing” tour including Niagara Falls from both sides of the Canadian and American borders, a trip to New York City, and several trips to Washington D.C. Marv had more than 800 key chains to help remember those escapades.

He also took great pride in his lawn and flowers. When he couldn’t take care of it anymore, he had good help. The whole family pitched in one way or another.

Marv is survived by his wife, Dianne; sisters, Barbara Hanson of Rochester, and Carol (Gary) Lane of Oronoco; brothers, David (Helen) Arndt of Pine Island, and Gary Arndt of Rochester; sister-in-law, Audrey Jacobson of Pine Island; daughter, Tammy (Mike) Wiebrand of Rochester; son, Kevin (Amberly) Arndt of Pine Island; niece Lané (Adam) Albee of Rochester; grandchildren, Jessica Arndt (Max Meister) of Pine Island, Brandon (Britani) Arndt of Pine Island, Brittney Arndt (Austin Hewitt) of Muskoga, Wisconsin, and Leah Wiebrand of Rochester; great-grandsons, Layne Meister, Braxton Arndt, and a “soon to be” great-grandson.

Marv was preceded in death by his parents, Swede and Audrey Arndt, brother Richard Arndt, infant brother Robert, and son Todd Arndt.

He will be missed by all!