Dorothy Wold, 83, passed away on Sunday, October 2, 2011, at Sanford Medical Center in Thief River Falls, MN surrounded by her loving family.

Funeral services will be 10:30 AM, Friday, October 7, 2011 at Redeemer Lutheran Church, Thief River Falls, with Rev. Mark Helgeland officiating.  Burial will follow in Greenwood Cemetery, Thief River Falls, MN.

Visitation will be held from 5-8 PM on Thursday, October 6, 2011 at Johnson Funeral Service in Thief River Falls, with a Prayer Service at 7:00 PM.  Visitation will also be held for one hour prior to the funeral service at the church on Friday.

Dorothy Valerie Wood was born on June 11, 1928 to Melvin H. and Cora E. (Norman) Wood in Wylie, MN.  She was the youngest of 11 children.  They moved to Rosewood where she grew up on a farm.  She attended school in rural Pennington County and graduated from Lincoln High School in 1946.

Dorothy was united in marriage to Bernard J. Wold on June 19, 1947.  They made their home in Thief River Falls.  Dorothy worked her whole life waitressing or hostessing at different places in town.  She worked at the Elks, the Thief River Golf Club, the VFW and at the Best Western in Thief River Falls as a hostess since their opening, continuing that for 20 plus years.  In her younger years, she was active with Girl Scouts and a 4-H Leader.  She was also instrumental and helped start the girls drum and bugle corp called TRFinettes.  She has been a longtime member of Redeemer Lutheran Church and active with the VFW Auxiliary.   She received the Woman of Honor Award in 1984 from the American Association of University Women.

Dorothy enjoyed sewing, knitting jackets, making quilts for family, and thousands of dishcloths.  She also enjoyed baking and cooking, with her specialties being caramels and Swedish meatballs.  She canned the produce from the garden and made jelly.  She shared all of her hard labors with her family and friends.  Dorothy would take many drives with her husband Ben, taking the back roads and looking at the country side, never knowing where they might end up.  Her main mission in life was to take care of others.  Many people, down on their luck, found refuge in Dorothys home.  Dorothy spent hours with her husband Ben while he was in the nursing home, making sure he ate and had company every day.  She officially had nine grandchildren, but probably fifty or more who called her Grandma.

Dorothy is survived by four daughters:  Peggy (Al) Taylor, Milwaukee, WI, Arlene (Roger) Reierson, Detroit Lakes, MN, Valerie (Darryl) Hendrickson, Minneapolis, MN, Kim (Michael) Bell, Tacoma, WA, two special daughters Janis Carpenter, Thief River Falls, MN, Carol (Jim) Davis, Winona, MN, three special nieces, Kathy Hoefer, Ocala, FL, Barb (Al) Black, St. Hilaire, MN, Sonia Iverson, Thief River Falls, seven grandchildren:  Vanessa  Kehren, Andy (Jennifer) Reierson, Alissa (Brian) Miller, Adam Hendrickson, Sam Hendrickson, Laneysa McGuire, Maddisen Bell, Jenny (Brian) Goede, Brenda (Jim) Veerkamp, Stephanie Wheeler, and many great grandchildren, one sister Jean Wold, Thief River Falls, MN, sister in law Millie Peterson, Thief River Falls, MN and several nieces and nephews.

Dorothy was preceded in death by her husband Ben in 2002, her parents, two grandchildren:  Rachel and Ben Hendrickson, nine siblings Evelyn Kron, Hazel Kron, Darrell Wood, Robert Wood, Harriet Carpenter, Edward Wood, Chester Wood, Betty Miller, Helen Mellem, and several nieces and nephews.