1926
Rosella
2016
Rosella DeCamp
October 8, 1926 — September 30, 2016
A funeral mass and celebration of life for Rosella DeCamp, most recently of Graceville, MN, will be held Saturday, October 8, 2016, 11:00 a.m., at St. Mary's Church, Chokio, MN. Father John Paul Knopik will celebrate the mass. Visitation with the family will begin one hour prior to the service at the church and continue during lunch at the adjoining church hall. Interment of ashes will be at St. Mary's Cemetery south of Chokio, following lunch.
Rosella Marie Goodhart, second child and only daughter of William and Lillian (Weick) Goodhart, was born on Friday, October 8, 1926, on her parents' farm five miles northwest of Graceville. She arrived, a gift, on her Grandfather Weick's 61st birthday; 53 years later her first granddaughter would be born on October 8th as well. She was baptized at Graceville's Holy Rosary Church, shortly after her birth.
As a toddler, Rosella contracted pneumonia, prior to the discovery of antibiotics. A local doctor removed fluid from her lungs and told her mother to take her home and pray. After her recovery, "Rosie" was often outside on the farm, playing with her two brothers or helping her mother. Vivid childhood memories included: carrying around "cute baby mice" in her overalls pocket and being surprised by her mother's reaction when she showed them to her; her father's beer-making before harvest for the men who would come to help; all the work harvest entailed for her mother and aunts including making two daily meals comprised of homemade and home-preserved everything – meats, vegetables, pies and bread; the effort of washing clothes in a copper boiler without running water in all kinds of weather.
A tragic accident on Christmas Day 1934, took the life of Rosella's beloved father when she was eight years old. She moved with her mother and two brothers from the farm to Graceville, where she was schooled and graduated from St. Mary's Academy in 1944. Rosella matriculated to Fargo Business College after graduation. There she excelled in the stenography program, intending to become a court reporter. Though she received court reporting job offers, she returned to Graceville after her studies and became the office manager at Oliver Clinic to help her hard-working widowed mother financially.
She met Roger DeCamp, a young U.S. Navy sailor back from the Pacific War – then working at a Chokio car dealership – at a dance in Graceville. They were married in Graceville on October 18, 1948. Following a honeymoon road trip south, the newlyweds resided in Chokio. A few years later they moved to acreage ten miles south of Chokio, where Roger realized his dream to become a farmer. There they lived and worked on the fertile prairie while raising their five children.
Roger and Rosella retired from farming in 1993, and built a new home in Chokio. They enjoyed living in town for twenty years, taking care of their home, yard and gardens; spending time with townspeople; and enjoying the three generations of their family who often came to visit and celebrate holidays. In March of 2013, Rosella and Roger moved to an assisted living apartment in Graceville's Grace Village.
Rosella was an active member of Chokio's St. Mary's Church, American Legion Auxiliary, and Study Club. She delighted in social activities as a member of a local Red Hat Society affiliate group for several years; participated in her children's 4-H Club activities during the farm years; enjoyed square dancing; painting in oil, acrylics and watercolor; sewing, cooking and baking; and working on craft projects for the annual church bazaar. She made happy travel memories with Roger – visiting European countries, cruising in the Caribbean Islands, and on many trips throughout the United States, including Hawaii vacations.
Rosella died suddenly Friday afternoon, September 30, 2016, at Essentia Health Holy Trinity Hospital in Graceville. Earlier in the afternoon, she had enjoyed a ride down Main Street on a golf cart – a participant in the local high school homecoming parade on behalf of Grace Village and Grace Home. She had had a grand time on a beautiful fall day, smiling and waving to parade watchers, just eight days shy of her 90th birthday.
Survivors include her husband, Roger DeCamp, of Graceville; five children: Rebecca (John) Kremer of Hudson, WI, Maureen DeCamp (David Finke) of St. Paul, James (Jodi) DeCamp, Clark (Lorna) DeCamp, and Blake (Sheryl) DeCamp – all of Chokio; seven grandchildren: Daniel DeCamp (fiancée Heidi Gruenhagen) of Minneapolis, Alexandra (James) Marshall of Houston, TX, Derek DeCamp (Charlotte Jackson) of Minneapolis, Nicholas (Alicia) DeCamp of Marshall, Corey DeCamp (fiancée Sarah Biewer) of Morris, Kelsey DeCamp of Grand Forks, ND and Allison (Matthew) Ressler of Fargo, ND; nine great-grandchildren: James Monroe DeCamp, Sophie and Margaret Marshall, Dawson and Dakota DeCamp, Preston, Summer and Harper Ressler; four sisters-in-law: Ada Erickson, Myra Johnson, Corrine Thomsen, Kathleen Brethorst; three brothers-in-law: Harry Erickson, Milo Johnson, and Harold Brethorst; many nieces, nephews and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents and her two brothers, Luverne and James Goodhart; her sister-in-law Shirley Goodhart; one brother-in-law Richard Thomsen; nephews Todd Goodhart, Joel Thomsen and Mitchell Brethorst.
Rosella Marie Goodhart, second child and only daughter of William and Lillian (Weick) Goodhart, was born on Friday, October 8, 1926, on her parents' farm five miles northwest of Graceville. She arrived, a gift, on her Grandfather Weick's 61st birthday; 53 years later her first granddaughter would be born on October 8th as well. She was baptized at Graceville's Holy Rosary Church, shortly after her birth.
As a toddler, Rosella contracted pneumonia, prior to the discovery of antibiotics. A local doctor removed fluid from her lungs and told her mother to take her home and pray. After her recovery, "Rosie" was often outside on the farm, playing with her two brothers or helping her mother. Vivid childhood memories included: carrying around "cute baby mice" in her overalls pocket and being surprised by her mother's reaction when she showed them to her; her father's beer-making before harvest for the men who would come to help; all the work harvest entailed for her mother and aunts including making two daily meals comprised of homemade and home-preserved everything – meats, vegetables, pies and bread; the effort of washing clothes in a copper boiler without running water in all kinds of weather.
A tragic accident on Christmas Day 1934, took the life of Rosella's beloved father when she was eight years old. She moved with her mother and two brothers from the farm to Graceville, where she was schooled and graduated from St. Mary's Academy in 1944. Rosella matriculated to Fargo Business College after graduation. There she excelled in the stenography program, intending to become a court reporter. Though she received court reporting job offers, she returned to Graceville after her studies and became the office manager at Oliver Clinic to help her hard-working widowed mother financially.
She met Roger DeCamp, a young U.S. Navy sailor back from the Pacific War – then working at a Chokio car dealership – at a dance in Graceville. They were married in Graceville on October 18, 1948. Following a honeymoon road trip south, the newlyweds resided in Chokio. A few years later they moved to acreage ten miles south of Chokio, where Roger realized his dream to become a farmer. There they lived and worked on the fertile prairie while raising their five children.
Roger and Rosella retired from farming in 1993, and built a new home in Chokio. They enjoyed living in town for twenty years, taking care of their home, yard and gardens; spending time with townspeople; and enjoying the three generations of their family who often came to visit and celebrate holidays. In March of 2013, Rosella and Roger moved to an assisted living apartment in Graceville's Grace Village.
Rosella was an active member of Chokio's St. Mary's Church, American Legion Auxiliary, and Study Club. She delighted in social activities as a member of a local Red Hat Society affiliate group for several years; participated in her children's 4-H Club activities during the farm years; enjoyed square dancing; painting in oil, acrylics and watercolor; sewing, cooking and baking; and working on craft projects for the annual church bazaar. She made happy travel memories with Roger – visiting European countries, cruising in the Caribbean Islands, and on many trips throughout the United States, including Hawaii vacations.
Rosella died suddenly Friday afternoon, September 30, 2016, at Essentia Health Holy Trinity Hospital in Graceville. Earlier in the afternoon, she had enjoyed a ride down Main Street on a golf cart – a participant in the local high school homecoming parade on behalf of Grace Village and Grace Home. She had had a grand time on a beautiful fall day, smiling and waving to parade watchers, just eight days shy of her 90th birthday.
Survivors include her husband, Roger DeCamp, of Graceville; five children: Rebecca (John) Kremer of Hudson, WI, Maureen DeCamp (David Finke) of St. Paul, James (Jodi) DeCamp, Clark (Lorna) DeCamp, and Blake (Sheryl) DeCamp – all of Chokio; seven grandchildren: Daniel DeCamp (fiancée Heidi Gruenhagen) of Minneapolis, Alexandra (James) Marshall of Houston, TX, Derek DeCamp (Charlotte Jackson) of Minneapolis, Nicholas (Alicia) DeCamp of Marshall, Corey DeCamp (fiancée Sarah Biewer) of Morris, Kelsey DeCamp of Grand Forks, ND and Allison (Matthew) Ressler of Fargo, ND; nine great-grandchildren: James Monroe DeCamp, Sophie and Margaret Marshall, Dawson and Dakota DeCamp, Preston, Summer and Harper Ressler; four sisters-in-law: Ada Erickson, Myra Johnson, Corrine Thomsen, Kathleen Brethorst; three brothers-in-law: Harry Erickson, Milo Johnson, and Harold Brethorst; many nieces, nephews and friends. She was preceded in death by her parents and her two brothers, Luverne and James Goodhart; her sister-in-law Shirley Goodhart; one brother-in-law Richard Thomsen; nephews Todd Goodhart, Joel Thomsen and Mitchell Brethorst.
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