Mariah Refsland, 31, of Willmar died Sunday, April 11, 2021 at her home. Her funeral service will be 11:00 am, Thursday, April 15th, at United Methodist Church in Willmar. Visitation will be from 5-7:00 pm, Wednesday at Harvey Anderson Funeral Home and on Thursday one hour prior to her service. Interment is in Ruthton City Cemetery. Arrangements are with Harvey Anderson Funeral Home in Willmar, www.hafh.org.
Mariah Elizabeth Refsland was born May 29, 1989, at Sioux Falls, SD. She was adopted by Joseph and Wanda (Kuhlman) Carpenter of Tyler, Minnesota, after over three years of being their foster daughter. She attended Ruthton/Tyler/Russell Elementary School until moving with her family to Herman in 1998, where she attended Herman/Norcross School until 2004. Mariah then moved with her family to Atwater, where she attended Atwater/Cosmos/Grove City High School. She went to Europe with the state honors band and received the John Phillip Sousa Award in her senior year. She graduated in 2007. She attended Ridgewater College and graduated in December 2020, with a medical coding certificate.
Mariah married Joshua Refsland on June 14, 2014. They had a son, Jaxon LeRoy, and divorced in 2016. She had a loving heart and would help anybody and everybody. She befriended people who felt left out and would give anyone a second chance.
Mariah worked for Divine House for several years. She also worked as a motel clerk, for an insurance office, at Dominos, and as a medical receptionist for Affiliated Community Medical Center.
She is survived by her son, Jaxon of Willmar; parents, grandmother, Lilen Kuhlman of Tyler; sisters, Robin (and Dale) Weerts of Temple, TX, Sara Austin (and special friend, Scott Coleman) of Maple Grove; brothers, Ron Austin of South Tahoe, CA, and Anthony (and Jennifer) Austin of Clinton, IA; and special friend, Jesus Reyes of Willmar; three aunts, an uncle, seven cousins, eight nieces and nephews, and numerous other relatives and friends.
She was preceded in death by her grandparents, Donald and Helen Carpenter, and Marvin Kuhlman; her brothers, Rich and Paul Austin; an uncle and cousin.
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