Mary Lou Marchand, 79, died Tuesday, February 18, 2025 in Neilson Place in Bemidji. Mary Lou was born in Hibbing, Minnesota in 1945, the youngest child of John and Helen (Skalski) Stark, and grew up in Chisholm. Mary Lou graduated from Chisholm High School in 1963 and earned a BS degree in Education from Bemidji State University in 1966. She attended graduate school at the University of North Dakota in 1968. She taught English, speech, and theater at Pipestone and Elk River public schools in the late 1960s. In 1969 Mary Lou married Louis Vital Marchand, Jr. They were married nearly 48 years.