Dorothy M. I. Heieie

Dorothy Heieie, age 88 of Glenwood, died Wednesday, February 8, 2023 at the Glenwood Retirement Village in Glenwood following a brief illness. Funeral Services will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 18, 2023 at Big Grove Lutheran Church in rural Belgrade. The service will be livestreamed, find the link below. Visitation will be Friday, February 17th from 5:00-7:00 p.m. at the Hoplin-Hitchcock Funeral Home in Brooten and will continue one hour prior to the service at the church. Interment will be in the church cemetery. Arrangements are with the Hoplin-Hitchcock Funeral Home in Brooten. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Big Grove Lutheran Church, 45575 Co Rd 27, Belgrade, MN 56312.

Dorothy May Irene Heieie was born May 26, 1934, on the family farm near Brooten, MN, to Otto B. and Gilma (Nelson) Heieie. She completed eighth grade at District #191 country school, and graduated from Brooten High School in 1950. She graduated from Concordia College, Moorhead in 1954 with a major in home economics. Her first job was teaching home economics and girls’ physical education at Clarissa High School in Clarissa, MN. In 1956 she accepted a position with Sibley County to be a Home Demonstration Agent based out of Gaylord.

In 1959, Dorothy joined International Voluntary Services and was sent to Vientiane, Laos, working in home economics and extension. She continued working in Laos from 1961-1966 as a Home Economics Extension Advisor with the Agency for International Development, and then in South Vietnam in the same capacity from 1966 to 1968.

After obtaining a Master’s Degree at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, in 1969, Dorothy joined a Southern Illinois University team in Kathmandu, Nepal, working in home economics education. She then returned to Laos in 1971 with the University of Hawaii team as an advisor in home economics education, working to establish the first Lao language high school. She was evacuated from Laos in 1975 when the Communist Party took over the country, and she returned to Minnesota.

In August of 1976 Dorothy was hired as an Area Family Economics and Management Specialist for the University of Missouri, headquartered in Savannah. During her tenure there Dorothy took part in a one year Fulbright Exchange which took her to Pattani, Thailand from 1981-1982. Following her retirement from the University in 1994, Dorothy returned to her home state of Minnesota where she spent one year with Lutheran Volunteer Corps, teaching English to Hmong women in Minneapolis before moving to Fargo, ND.

While living in Fargo, Dorothy served for 11 years as editor of Hallingen, the quarterly publication of the Hallinglag of America. She was proud of her Norwegian heritage, and visited Norway several times, including Flå in Hallingdal, the home of most of her ancestors. Other retirement activities included volunteering at MeritCare and the Hjemkomst Center, as well as being active at Elim Lutheran Church in Fargo, studying Norwegian at the Sons of Norway, and welcoming Concordia College students from Tanzania and Guyana. Travel was always important to Dorothy; she spent time in 40 different countries in her lifetime.

In April of 2020, Dorothy moved to Parkview Court Assisted Living in Glenwood, part of the Glenwood Retirement Village, to be near family. She enjoyed being back in her home area and the frequent visits she received from relatives and friends. After a brief illness, Dorothy passed away peacefully at Glenwood Village Care Center on Wednesday, February 8, 2023. Her family would like to thank the Parkview Court staff for the wonderful care they provided Dorothy the past few years and the staff at Moments Hospice for their care the last year of Dorothy’s life.

Dorothy is survived by her brother, Ralph Heieie of Glenwood, MN and 16 nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, Otto and Gilma; a sister, Merle (Eugene) Thompson; two brothers, Belvin (Betty Jene) Heieie and Orrin (Joanne) Heieie, a sister-in-law, Gloria Heieie; and a niece, Ann Heieie Clasen.

Cards for Dorothy's family may be directed to her nephew, Mark Thompson at 608 Eastern Ave, Brooten, MN 56316. 

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