Lucetta Marie Heisler, nee Ralston
Our wonderful mother, grandmother and great-grandmother, Lucetta (Lucy) passed away on June 19, 2024 at the age of 96.
Lucy was born in Williston, North Dakota on August 22, 1927. She grew up in Minot, ND, and attended Miss Woods Kindergarten and Primary School, and Minot State Teachers College and graduated with a degree in Elementary Education. She married Wayne Heisler in 1952, and they lived in multiple towns in North Dakota before settling in Fargo.
Lucy was a kindergarten teacher in Fargo for over thirty years. The bonds she formed with fellow teachers at Washington Elementary lasted throughout her life. While at Washington, the teachers would go out for breakfast every Friday morning. After everyone retired, they continued this tradition, and continued to have their “breakfast club” meetings for over 25 years.
Lucy loved music and liked to play the piano. She was also an avid gardener and for many years she was part of a Garden Club. Every spring they would go to multiple nurseries around Fargo to buy plants to fill their yards. At the end of the summer, they would have a traveling lunch, and tour each other’s gardens.
Once Lucy retired, she, along with some other teacher friends, started a program called “Living with Language”. This was a preschool program designed to help Sudanese immigrant children learn English to prepare them for school. They operated this program out of a church, and it ran for over ten years. Lucy was also a Hospice Volunteer for over ten years.
Lucy loved to travel. For many years, she would go on trips every year with three friends from high school. They went to Florida, Colorado, Vancouver and other places. She also traveled with her sister and daughter to the Cayman Islands, Branson, Seattle, Indianapolis, Mexico, Canada, Utah, Hawaii, Phoenix, Montana, California, Washington, D.C. and New York City.
She was a member of Hope Lutheran church for over 57 years and was active in many different circles.
We will remember her wonderful love of life, her boundless love of her family, her sense of humor, her lifelong commitment to her friends and her strength through many tragedies.
Lucy had four children. Her youngest son, John, drowned when he was fifteen. She is survived by her daughter Jennifer and husband Federico Alvarez in Denver, CO, her son Jim and wife Kathy in Lincoln, MT, her son Tom and wife Marjo in Phoenix, AZ, her niece Leslie Page and nephew Curtis Ross in Indianapolis, IN and her close friend who was like a sister to her, Eileen Skowronek, of Minot, ND. She had five grandchildren and four great grandchildren.
Donations are suggested to Ethos Hospice of North Dakota.
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