Mavis Elaine Wagner

Memorial Service: https://vimeo.com/967898456

Mavis Dralla Wagner, 88, passed away on May 7, 2024, in Fargo, ND. A memorial service will be held on Tuesday, July 9 at 10:30 am at Hanson-Runsvold Funeral Home in Fargo with visitation before service beginning at 9:30 am.

July 10 in Northwood, Iowa, at 2 pm at Olson Community Room, there will be memory sharing and hymn singing (singing from the two pages of hymns Mavis requested at her funeral) followed by a graveside service.

Mavis was born on May 28, 1935, the first child of Hazel (Reyerson) and Leo Dralla. She grew up in Northwood, Iowa (with a few years in PA during the war), along with her sister Eileen Dahlby. In Northwood, she found her love of music while singing in choirs and playing piano for the church. She graduated from Northwood High in 1953. Mavis met Ray Wagner in Northwood. They were married in 1956 and moved to Ames, IA.

Mavis attended Luther College from 1953-56. She graduated in 1959, having returned to Luther after the birth of their daughter Miriam. She taught K-12 music for a few years before the family’s return to Ames and the arrival of their second daughter Reece. She then began to teach private piano lessons in their home and was the organist or directed church choirs in Council Bluffs and Bettendorf, where they welcomed their daughter Theta.

The family moved to Fargo, ND in 1972 where Mavis continued to teach private piano lessons. Mavis served in many capacities with the Fargo-Moorhead Music Teachers Association, including President, and was one of the founders of the long-running Multi-Piano Festival in the FM area. As a member of Edgewood United Methodist Church, she directed the choir, led an interpretive dance team with the youth, directed children’s musical cantatas, and conducted Spiritual concerts.

Along with Ray, she was an opera season ticket holder, not only in Fargo-Moorhead, but also in Kansas City, MO and held season tickets to the F-M Symphony.

In 1979, the Wagner’s bought a lake property on Buffalo Lake, MN, where they spent much time gardening and exploring the lake in their canoe. In 1994, Ray and Mavis moved to Rogers, ND to be closer to their grandchildren, and they continued to spend their time between the two homes. In later years (and later grandchildren), Mavis helped Arthur UMC as their accompanist. Mavis loved God’s beauty at the lake, playing and singing hymns and having Theological conversations.

Mavis is survived by her three daughters: Miriam (Everett) Vogel, Reece (Alan) Klobe, and Theta (Wade) Miller; five grandchildren: Leah Vogel, Mandy (Matt) Fornshell, Clarissa Miller, Kendra (Granton) Schneider, and Quinn Miller; two great grandchildren: Valerie and James Fornshell; and her sister Eileen Dahlby, brothers-in-law David Wagner and Bill Racher and her numerous nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by Ray Wagner, her spouse of 57 years, her parents, Hazel and Leo Dralla, Stepfather Leonard Shaw, brother-in-law and sister-in-law George and Lorraine Wagner, and sisters-in-law Dorothy Racher and Pam Wagner.

Receiving Memorials at:
Dakotas UM Foundation
PO Box 460
Mitchell, SD 57301

FM Opera
21 8thSt. S
Fargo, ND 58103
www.fmopera.org/donate-now