Mary H. King Osterfield

Mary Henrietta King was born July 22, 1911, to John and Margaret (McCormack) King, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where she was raised and received her early education.

Mary's love of music began at an early age. She was six years of age when she began piano lessons and nine years of age when she began violin lessons. At eleven years of age, Mary received first prize in a piano competition that spanned the British Isles. Mary continued her training and received a scholarship from England's Royal Academy of Music, in London.

Mary met Frank Osterfield, and they were married November 13, 1941, when Frank was home on furlough from the war. Frank was killed in combat on August 3, 1944.

Mary played in the violin section of the City of Birmingham Symphony for fourteen years. She and her father moved to England in 1947. Following a vacation to Banff and Vancouver, Canada, Mary moved to Canada in the fall of 1962. She lived in Regina, Saskatchewan a short time before settling in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She continued her musical pursuits, having played in the Winnipeg Symphony for almost four years.

Mary was an active participant at the International Music Camp, in the Peace Garden near Bottineau, ND. She furthered her education at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, for one year. Mary moved to Moorhead, MN, in the spring of 1967, when she was offered a position at Moorhead State University. She taught there until 1977. While living in Moorhead, Mary played with the FM Symphony. Most of these years, she served as the principal violist. Mary continued to teach violin to many students each week during the school years, mostly from her studio in her home.

In November of 2011, Mary moved to Sheyenne Crossings Care Center, West Fargo, ND. Mary died peacefully at Sheyenne Crossings on Sunday, January 15, 2012, at one hundred years of age.

Mary is survived by numerous friends, associates, and former students that she has come to know all these years. Several of her students have gone on to professional careers of their own. Mary had hoped to play at least one concert with the FM Symphony, at one hundred years of age, but health concerns prevented her from achieving that goal.

Visitation for Mary will be Friday, January 20, 2012, from 5 - 7 PM, with a prayer service at 6 PM, in Korsmo Funeral Chapel, Moorhead.

Her funeral service will be Saturday, January 21, 2012, at 2 PM, in First Presbyterian Church, Fargo.

Burial will follow in Evergreen Memorial Cemetery, Moorhead.