As chairwoman of the Prairie Warrior Association Auction for 22 of its 23 years, Betty Fedorchak has helped raise more than $400,000 to benefit military members and programs at Minot Air Force Base.

She's received a number of high-level local awards.

She also serves on numerous boards in the Minot community.

But after many years of living in the United States, with most of those years in Minot, Fedorchak now has another achievement. She is a U.S. citizen.

"This is my biggest achievement yet," she said.

The Military Affairs Committee of the Minot Area Chamber of Commerce recognized her for her recent achievement at its Nov. 6 meeting held in the Doolittle Center at Minot AFB.

"Today we have one in our midst who has achieved a milestone in their life," said John MacMartin, president of the Minot Area Chamber of Commerce."

Though not yet immediately telling the committee members who he was talking about, MacMartin said,"This individual is a recipient of the Chamber's Genie Award, American Business Woman of the Year Award and Sertoma Service to Mankind Award. She has served on numerous boards to include the Muscular Dystrophy (emcee and coordinator of the telethon for 12 years), YWCA, Downtown Business Association and Minot Area Chamber of Commerce. As the chair of the Prairie Warrior Association Auction, more than $400,000 has been raised at that event." She also volunteers for Norsk Hostfest every year.

"But what none of us knew is while doing all those things for our community, she was a citizen of Ireland," MacMartin said.

On Sept. 28, she "became a citizen of the United States of America," said MacMartin, sharing her good news with the Military Affairs Committee members. The naturalization ceremony was conducted in U.S. District Court in Fargo.

In honor of her new citizenship, the Military Affairs Committee members that day gave her a standing round of applause.

Fedorchak was born and raised in Tipperary, Ireland. " 'It's a long way to Tipperary' is a very famous song," said Fedorchak, referring to her home area which she said many people might know through the song.

The Air Force brought Fedorchak and her husband, Mike, to Minot AFB. He retired from the Air Force and they have continued to make their home in Minot. She is owner of Esoterica, a women's boutique in downtown Minot. The Fedorchaks have three children all grew up in Minot. Their family includes: Odette Scheel and her husband, Greg, Fargo; Michael Fedorchak and his wife, Julie, Bismarck; Veronica Fedorchak, Milwaukee; and six grandchildren.

"I know half of you are thinking how long it took me to do this, and I don't know why I procrastinated as long as I did," Fedorchak told the Military Affairs Committee members attending the meeting this month.

"I did it very secretively and I wasn't going to share it, but I can't (describe) the overwhelming affect that it has had on me," she continued.

"I've said the Pledge of Allegiance for a long time, I've been great for supporting our senators and representative. I've gone to Washington, D.C., and done all those things. I've loved every minute of it. I feel very patriotic," she said, adding, "And my accent has somewhat diminished."

"I am extremely proud to be one of you. I'm an American today and I'm very proud of it," she said.

MacMartin presented Fedorchak with a framed facsimile of her citizenship paper from the Chamber and the Military Affairs Committee.

With Thanksiving not far away, she said she'll be thankful for so many things, including now being a U.S. citizen.

(Prairie Profile is a weekly feature profiling interesting people in our region. We welcome suggestions from our readers. Call Regional Editor Eloise Ogden at 857-1944 or Managing Editor Kent Olson at 857-1939. Either can be reached at 1-800-735-3229. You also can send e-mail suggestions to mdnews@minot

dailynews.com.