Kathy Wills

Kathy Wills passed

away peacefully February

23, 2019, in Walnut

Creek, CA, from compli-

cations related to

late-stage dementia.

She was born on De-

cember 7, 1948, to Mike

and Josephine Olienyk in

Belfield, ND.

She was preceded in

death by her parents, eld-

est sister, Mary, and eld-

est brother, Michael.

She is survived by her

siblings, Loretta, of Mary-

land, Deborah, of Califor-

nia, and John, of Colora-

do; daughter, Jessica and

her family, of Mississippi;

and son, Joshua and his

family, of Florida.

She completed the

nursing program at North

Dakota State College of

Science in Wahpeton and

was licensed as a practical

nurse in 1970. She began

her nursing career in

Bismarck, but spent most

of her career of more than

40 years in Minot, work-

ing most recently at Medi-

cal Arts and at Trinity

Homes, a long-term care

facility. She also worked

at the Trinity Nursing

home for many years. She

developed a strong repu-

tation as a skilled and

compassionate care giver.

Kathy loved life! She

could be found pedaling

around her neighborhood

on her bicycle, walking

her dog, Rusty, or end-

lessly working in her

yard. She was a devoted

parishioner of Little

Flower Catholic Church

and planted and tended to

flowers at church during

the summer. In the after-

math of the disastrous

Minot flood of 2011,

Kathy was one of the first

people to get back into her

house and was a driving

force in rebuilding the

neighborhood that she

loved so much. She loved

people and loved spend-

ing time with her many

friends.

Kathy’s health began to

deteriorate shortly after

her retirement. In 2014,

she entered an assisted

living facility in Walnut

Creek, California, where

she was supported by her

sister, Deborah. She lived

out her last five years in

the beautiful California

sunshine.

A Celebration of

Kathy’s life will be held at

the Knights of Columbus,

Saturday, March 23rd, at

1:00 pm until 5:00 pm.

Please join us to

remember Kathy.

Kathy loved to support

the Roosevelt Zoo and the

Souris Valley humane so-

ciety. Her wishes were

that donations be made in

her memory to one of

these organizations in lieu

of flowers.

Kathy will be laid to

rest in Belfield, alongside

her parents, at a later

date.

Those wishing to sign

the online register and

share memories may ac-

cess the online obituaries

section at (www.

thompsonlarson.com).