A place in the garden

All her life Maxine Ronglien loved gardening and now her name will live on in the Maxine Ronglien Memorial Garden located on the former Minnesota State School grounds in Owatonna.
During the annual fall celebration and fundraiser on the grounds, the museum held a dedication ceremony for the garden and unveiled a plaque carrying Maxine’s name.
Between 1886 and 1945, the Minnesota State Public School for Dependent and Neglected Children was called home by children from all over the state. Although Maxine was not a state school child, her husband Harvey Ronglien was.
Ronglien wrote about his experiences in “A Boy From C-11: Case #9164,” a work which his wife Maxine helped with. “He dictated while she typed,” Ronglien’s son Rob recalled. After Maxine passed away two years ago, those involved with the museum knew they wanted to do something in her honor.
“Harvey was concerned that the history would be lost, and she helped him preserve the stories of the children,” Museum Director Anne Peterson explained. “What they did together was just phenomenal.” Due to the Ronglien’s commitment, the Orphanage Museum was officially founded in 1993.
“The family asked if we could put something up here in her name, and since she was such an avid gardener, the garden just fits,” Peterson said of the memorial garden. “That was the key.”
While Harvey was the one who lived through the state school history, his wife was the one who had the most drive to preserve it. “I needed Maxine more than I needed anything else in the world,” Harvey said before seeing the unveiled plaque. “I can always remember Maxine Ronglien.”
“It means a lot because, for me, this whole state school museum and project would never, ever be here if it wasn’t for my mom,” Ronglien’s son Rob explained. “My dad, bless his heart, did not have the drive or the vision, or want to do the hard work that it took. She was the driving force for many years.”
Both Ronglien’s son and daughter were there as part of the dedication ceremony in their mother’s honor. “It’s just really important that she could be recognized for the work, my dad lived it and he wrote the book on it, but it would have probably all been forgotten if she didn’t help memorialize it,” son Rob said. “They were a good team.”
Thanks to dedication of Maxine Ronglien, now people from all over are able to come and learn about the history that state schoolers like her husband lived through. Many other state schoolers were on hand to celebrate the dedication and take a stroll around the grounds during Saturday’s event. “We’re always glad when state schoolers visit,” Peterson said.
The event also featured a raffle, as well as additional activities including horse-drawn wagon rides throughout the grounds with a tour guide, a movie featuring State Schoolers from the 1930s, children’s games, and a scavenger hunt.