Our beloved mother and grandmother, the matriarch of our family, Dorothy Heinze, passed away February 12, 2017 at Essentia Health in Fargo, ND surrounded by her family.

Dorothy Ann Beckstrom was born April 29, 1929 in Fargo to Swedish parents Alfred and Teckla (Weyman) Beckstrom. Dorothy honored her Swedish heritage by celebrating Santa Lucia Day and enjoying a love for lingonberries.

In a high school English class, Dorothy recorded a list of her life’s wishes. She wanted to be a nurse, a wife and mother and have a St. Bernard dog. Happily, all her wishes would be fulfilled. Dorothy graduated from Fargo Central High School in 1947. Soon after, she began training at Mercy School of Nursing in Valley City, ND where she graduated in 1949. They were a small class of nurses that became lifelong friends known for their creative antics. It was at this time she was given the name “Bucket”. Later it became the personalized license place on her car and still later that license plate was attached to her walker at the care center. On December 28, 1949 at St. Catherine’s Church in Valley City, a young Barnes County farmer, Edwin J. Heinze took Dorothy as his bride. They moved to the Hagglund farm northwest of Dazey and it was the start of a wonderful life together. Dorothy, without hesitation, took on the role of farm wife. Throughout the years there would be farm an imals from chickens and ducks, orphaned lambs and calves and numerous pets including a raccoon, a skunk, and yes, a St. Bernard! A family came next and seven children filled their new house in Sibley Trail Township east of Dazey. Kathy (John) Russell of Boulder, CO; Robert (deceased); John (Dorene) Heinze of Cooperstown, ND; Patrick (Dinah) Heinze of Dazey, ND; Susan Lugo (deceased); James (Barb) Heinze of Dazey, ND; and William (Tracy) Heinze of Wimbledon, ND. An exchange student from Norway, Fred Hasselberg, brought new joy to the family. Dorothy became a part of her rural community enjoying the Sibley Trail Homemakers, being a 4-H leader, working with the Dazey American Legion Auxiliary and the St. Mary’s Ladies Aid. She cherished her church family and greatly enjoyed the men’s choir. The choir knew that if Dorothy was in church they were to sing all the verses of the hymns. She said a hymn was a prayer that you sing. She created a home that was welcoming to all, making each person feel like a member of the family. She loved the company and you never needed an invitation. She had many friends. And if you were a friend of her kids you became her friend too. A plaque on the wall of her home read “God first, others second and yourself last.” It was a belief that guided her life. Flowers and plants would fill her home and yard and an ever-changing array of paint colors or decorations filled the walls. A paintbrush or hammer were never far from her hand. She has a very creative touch. She was well known for the many birthday, wedding or anniversary cakes she created. Phone calls to or from all her children were a daily ritual. And a singing phone call of the birthday song now makes for a happy memory. Grandchildren and great- grandchildren made for new excitement in her life. Their school activities and ballgames made for a busy schedule just as it did with her own kids. School photographs filled the walls and their artwork was proudly display ed on the closet door in the entry A year-by-year marking of the height filled the kitchen doorway. When Dorothy moved to her little house in Dazey she thought her life had come a full circle. The house was so reminiscent of the one where she had grown up. With declining health she moved to the Griggs County Care Center in Cooperstown in 2016. She made new friends, enjoyed the activities, she continued to welcome company and to decorate her room. She cherished the staff that cared for her.

Dorothy was preceded in death by her parents, her brother and sister-in-law Gordon and Treva Beckstrom, her son Bobby (in 1957), and her daughter Suzi (in 2012) and her beloved husband Eddie (in 1992).

She is survived by her 5 children, 16 grandchildren, 25 great- grandchildren, and one great-great granddaughter, one nephew, two nieces and a host of friends.

A prayer service will be held at 7:00 P.M. Friday, February 17th at St. Mary’s Catholic Church east of Dazey. Visitation will be from 5:00 to 7:00 P.M.

Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 A.M. on Saturday, February 18th at St. Mary’s. Burial will take place immediately following the service in the church cemetery.