Selmer Nermyr, 102, Las Cruces, N.M., and formerly of Bella Vista, Ark., Minot and Westhope, died Wednesday, July 4, 2012, in a Las Cruces retirement home.
Selmer was born July 25, 1909, on a farm in Sergius Township of Bottineau County, near Westhope, to Herbrand and Margit (Lilleslet) Nermyr. He was the third oldest in a family of eight children. He attended the Sergius Grade School and graduated from Newburg High School in 1926 with four other students. As a young adult he worked on the family farm for several years prior to moving to Minot in the early 1930s.
Selmer married Elizabeth dePlace on Oct. 31, 1935, in Minot. They made their home in Eastwood Park. Their only child, Jim, was born in 1940. In 1941 Selmer joined his father-in-law in the ownership of a grocery store in Maxbass. In 1948 Selmer moved his family to McIntosh, Minn., where he owned and operated a grocery store until 1954. He then moved his family to Minot where he was employed at Shark's Men's Clothing Store for two years before he was hired by the Minot Post Office as a mail carrier. Selmer worked for the postal service for 17 years until he retired in 1973 after serving as a postal supervisor and operating the downtown branch. Selmer and Elizabeth moved to Bella Vista in 1975. Elizabeth passed away in 1996. Selmer moved to the Concordia Retirement Home in Bella Vista in 2004 prior to moving to the Village at Northrise Retirement Community in Las Cruces in 2010.
Selmer's loving family includes: his son, James (Judith) Nermyr, of Las Cruces; grandchildren, Tamera Nermyr, Plymouth, Minn., Michelle Winters, Phoenix, Ariz., John Nermyr, Richfield Minn., and Anthony Nermyr, of Plymouth; great-grandchildren, Lindsay, Tyler, Charles, Jack, Nicholas and Maxwell Nermyr, all of the Minneapolis area; siblings, Lillian Jesperson, New Hope, Minn., and Palmer Nermyr, Westhope; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.
Selmer was preceded in death by his parents; wife; sisters, Inga Moum, Gudrun McHaney, Alice Lodoen and Pauline Howard; brother, Arnold Nermyr; and granddaughter, April Nermyr.
Funeral Service: Thursday, July 12, at 11 a.m., in Zion Lutheran Church, Minot.
Interment will be in Sunset Memorial Gardens, Minot.
Visitation: Wednesday, from 2 to 7 p.m., in Thomas Family Funeral Home, Minot.
Memorials are preferred to the Alzheimer's Association, C/O Bonnie Zeiler, Village at Northrise, 2884 North Roadrunner Parkway, Las Cruces, NM 88011.
Those wanting to sign the online memorial register or share memories and condolences are invited to use the expressions of sympathy section at (www.thomasfamilyfuneralhome.com).
