H. Marvin Ness

Marvin’s service will be livestreamed below:

Prayer Service:

Marvin Ness, Fargo, ND, died on Thursday, July 21, 2023, at Elim Health Care Center in Fargo.

Harold Marvin Ness, who used his middle name, Marvin, was born May 20, 1933, at Fordville, North Dakota, the fourth child of G.K. and Tina Ness. He attended elementary and high school in Fordville, graduating high school in 1951, then spent four years at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, earning a degree in journalism. Following UND, he spent two years in the U.S. Army, stationed in V Corps headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany. He took an overseas separation from the Army and spent the summer of 1957 studying Norwegian culture and government at the University of Oslo, Norway.

Upon returning home, he worked at various community newspapers in North and South Dakota, Minnesota and Colorado. Marvin and his fiancée, L. Barbiece Tapp, were married April 8, 1961, in Christ the King Catholic Church of Denver. The couple then settled in Brookings, SD where he worked as news editor of the Brookings Register for five years.

The couple moved to Devils Lake, ND, in 1967, where they spent nearly 40 years, raising their family of six children, and owning and operating a commercial printing business – Ness Printing. During those earlier years, Marvin has also established The Dakota Scene, a North Dakota statewide outdoor recreation newspaper, which he published for four years in conjunction with the Ness Press family printing business at Fordville, ND. He sold the rights to the Dakota Scene to a similar publication based in Vermillion, SD, in 1970 and concentrated on commercial printing for the next 30 years.

He served on the Devils Lake School Board, and was a member of various organizations, including the Elks Lodge, Eagles Lodge, Sons of Norway, and was an honorary lifetime member of both the Third and Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus, serving on the Honor Guard of Fourth Degree assemblies in Devils Lake, Wahpeton and Fargo for a period of 40 plus years.

Retiring from the printing business in 2003, Marvin and Barbiece moved to Wahpeton briefly, then set up household in Fargo to be nearer their children and grandchildren. He accepted an offer from the Ness Press organization in Fordville to assist with editing the Larimore Leader/Tribune community newspaper, one of several Ness Press newspapers, for several years, and continued in that position until the summer of 2023.

Marvin was preceded in death by his wife, Barbiece, on January 11, 2018; his parents, a brother in infancy, brothers Gunnard (Ellen) and George (Marion) and brother-in-law Jerry Hill.

He is survived by his children Erik (Tammy), Ada, MN; Todd (Janell), Tim (Tammy), Dan (Nicole), and Laura Ness (Steve) Owens, all of Fargo; and Jon (Kim) Ness, Lynchburg, VA; 13 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren; brothers Ken (Mavis) Ness, Grand Forks; Truman (Carol) Ness, Fordville; Marlys Bye, Portland, OR; Maridell Hill, Aberdeen, WA.

Interment will be in Holy Cross North Catholic Cemetery, next to his devoted and loving wife, Barbiece.

FUNERAL MASS: 11 AM Tuesday, July 25, 2023, at St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Fargo – with visitation one hour prior

ROSARY/PRAYER SERVICE: 7 PM Monday, July 24, 2023, at Boulger Funeral Home in Fargo – with visitation one hour prior

Arrangements have been entrusted to the care of Boulger Funeral Home and Celebration of Life Center in Fargo. To sign the online guest book, please visit our website at www.boulgerfuneralhome.com