Nancy Dorrheim

Our mother, Nancy LaVonne (Goetz) Dorrheim was born August 24, 1945, at St. Joe’s Hospital in Dickinson, ND. She passed away due to complications of dementia on June 2, 2025, surrounded by her family at CHI St. Alexius.

A funeral service will be held at 11 AM on Friday, June 6, 2025, at Weigel Funeral Home, Mandan, with Deacon Al Schwindt presiding. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service at the funeral home on Friday. Burial will be at the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery at 12 noon on Friday.

Our mother started her journey in a sod house located 10 miles south of Richardton, ND, that was built by her grandfather in 1892. When she was 8 years old, her father built the “1953” house which was closer to Highway 8. Her early years were filled with typical farm life. Her great escapes were riding her horse, Buck, playing piano and organ in church, and participating in voice competitions. At age 12, she experienced great loss when her school teacher mother passed away. She would often tell us how she missed having a mother role model when she was a young girl.

During those years, our mother attended St. Mary’s Catholic School in Richardton and graduated in 1963. After graduation the “big city” called and she moved to Dickinson with some girlfriends and started working at Excel Cleaners. On a fall night in 1964, she met the love of her life, our father Larry Dorrheim. The place was the 22 Club in Dickinson. A night of dancing and driving around in his 1958 Thunderbird led to them eventually becoming an item.

They were married September 1, 1965, at St. Steven’s Church south of Richardton. The happy couple moved to Bismarck and began their life together. During that time, their union produced two children, Leisa LeeAnn (stillborn) and Lisa LeeAnn. After some time, they moved to Fargo and had their son, Jay Dean Joseph “Jay”.

Again, the “big city” called and we all moved to Minnesota. Our mom stayed at home with us until we were old enough to be home by ourselves at which time, she started working for Abbott Labs. Our dad was then offered a job in Bismarck and the move was on again. Our mother had many jobs through the years that she truly loved and enjoyed. Customer service was her niche and she worked for Target, the Diocese of Bismarck, Mid Dakota Clinic, and St. Alexius all while raising us and eventually becoming the music director at Ascension Church.

Nancy enjoyed watching bull riding on TV, reading a good book, sitting outside watching traffic and listening to airplanes fly overhead. She liked shopping, taking a long drive to anywhere, a good Peanut Buster parfait from Dairy Queen, Snickers candy bars, and watching TV late into the night with our father. She loved Daniel O’Donnell, 1965 Ford Thunderbirds, the color purple, and butterflies.

After we graduated, they decided to downsize to apartment living. In 1993, our dad became a Deacon and they were persuaded to take on missionary work in Selfridge/Fort Yates for one year. They eventually built a house in south Mandan and were members of St. Joe’s Church in Mandan. Our Dad the Deacon and our mom singing, playing, and lecturing in the church.

After 46 wonderful years our father passed away in 2012. Our mom continued to work until 2016, and after that decided to take several driving trips with “our dad” as the co-pilot she always said. One of these trips led to her traumatic car accident in September 2017. Her journey from there was filled with a lot of pain and suffering due to her injuries but she continued to be strong and resilient until the very end.

We would like to thank Missouri Slope for their care of our mother for almost 2 years and the incredible nursing staff on the Telemetry floor at CHI St. Alexius.

Our mother is preceded in death by her parents, Joseph R. and Suzanne (Bayer) Goetz; her husband, Deacon Larry Dorrheim; daughter, Leisa LeeAnn’ brother, Arlan Goetz; and sisters, Charlene Koppinger and Jeanette Wandler.

She is survived by her children, Lisa LeeAnn (Clayton) Vetter and Jay Dean Joseph “Jay” Dorrheim; grandchildren, Scotty (Madisen) Beeler and Ruby Grace Dorrheim; great grandchildren, Jaxon Bauer and Henry Beeler; sister, Patty Beeler; and many great friends.