Clarence "Kelly" Carlson

Clarence (Kelly) Carlson passed away Feb. 4, 2025. He was born Feb. 5, 1931, in Cloquet, MN.

A memorial service will be held at 11:00am, Saturday, March 29 at Faith Lutheran Church, 1402 E Ave C, Bismarck.

To view the service livestream, click this link Faith Lutheran Church - Bismarck, ND | Bismarck ND | Facebook

Visitation will be held from 5:00pm to 7:00pm, Friday, March 28 at Parkway Funeral Service, 2330 Tyler Parkway, Bismarck.

Clarence grew up in Minnesota, except for four years in Michigan and Pennsylvania, graduating from High School in Barnum, Minnesota. He graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1954 with a degree in Geology. He received a Master of Science degree in Geology in 1960 from the University of ND.

The early years at the Survey were spent studying subsurface stratigraphy utilizing the information provided to the state by oil exploration. Later his duties were in the area of county ground water studies and lignite resources. In 1998 he received the Arthur Gray Leonard award from the Geology Department at the University of ND for his service to the state and community.

In 1981, when the Oil and Gas Division of the ND Industrial Commission was established, Kelly transferred to that agency and moved to Bismarck. He was instrumental in providing a database of formation tops of all the oil well logs which were made available to industry to further oil exploration. He retired in 1993, and continued to be a lifelong fan of the UND Hockey program

Faith, which started in the country church at Blackhoof, MN, where his parents were charter members was always a part of his life. In Grand Forks he served as Sunday School Supt. for many years at Augustana Lutheran. In Bismarck he served on committees, the confirmation program and church council at both House of Prayer and Faith Lutheran.

Kelly enjoyed traveling. He went with a team of 10 members on a mission trip to a boy’s orphanage in Jamaica. In 1976, he joined a UND group to the Soviet Union. In 1984 he went to China with a group from the US petroleum industry on a People-to-People program for meetings with Chinese counterparts. In 1989 he went with a Global Volunteers group for 2 weeks in Tanzania. In 1991 he joined a team from Global Volunteers that went to Pommern, Tanzania where they were renovating a school and attempted to develop a water well. After retiring, in 1995, he returned to Tanzania for 2 ½ months where he helped them develop a water supply for a college in Iringa.

He married Mary Ann Hummel in July 2000. Together they enjoyed continued world travel. Cruises included E. & W. Mediterranean, Panama Canal & Alaska. Land tours in China and India. Annual winter trips to the Mexican Riviera, and scattered family reunions across the US were the routine.

He is survived by his wife Mary Ann, her six children, 16 grandchildren, and 4 great grandchildren. He is also survived by his sisters Lois, Cathy, Dorie, and brother Allen, as well as 15 nieces and nephews, and more than 40 great, and great-great nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, William and Florence Carlson, infant brothers John and Frank, his sister Eleanor, and his grandson Kenny Hummel.