Geraldine Florence

Geraldine Florence, 90,

longtime Velva resident,

died Tuesday, September

8, 2020 in a Minot Hospi-

tal.

Geraldine was born Au-

gust 18, 1930 at Tracy,

Minnesota, the daughter

of Oliver and Mildred

(Gullickson) Heggerston.

She was raised and edu-

cated at Sacred Heart

High School in 1948. She

attended St. Olaf College

for one year, prior to gra-

duating with honors from

the University of Min-

nesota in 1951.

Geraldine was united in

marriage to Gerald “Jerry”

Florence on September

16, 1951 at Sacred Heart,

Minnesota. She was em-

ployed in the St. Paul

Public School system as a

dental hygienist. Follow-

ing Gerald’s graduation

from dental school, they

lived in Minot for 1.5

years prior to establishing

a dental practice in Velva

in 1954. Her family parti-

cipated in a World Broth-

erhood Exchange to Ma-

dagascar where Jerry did

dental work from July

1968 until February of

1969.

Along with raising their

five children, she was em-

ployed at her husband’s

dental practice for 12

years until retiring in

1990. Gerald died Febru-

ary 11, 2018.

Her hobbies and in-

terests included: scrap-

booking for grandchil-

dren, gardening, especial-ly her flowers, reading,

doing volunteer work in

Velva and traveling with

Gerald and family. She

was a longtime member of

Oak Valley Lutheran

Church, Velva.

Her loving family in-

cludes: daughters: Julaine

Florence, St. Louis, MO,

Kari Ann (Paul) Dunder-

land, Bottineau, ND, Mary

Lynn (Mark) Berntson,

Grand Forks, ND and Sara

Jane Anderson, Beaver

Lake Dam, WI; daughter

in law, Kristin Florence

(Tom) Bodine, Velva;

grandchildren, Benjamin,

Aaron, Hannah, Chelsie,

Michael, Nathan, Kayla,

Jordan, Rebecca, Bryce,

Greta and Gage; great

grandchildren, Oliver,

Evelyn, Gretchen, Bode,

Bridger, Rebecca and Lu-

cas; brother, Jerome (Ali-

cia) Heggerston, Arizona

and sister in law, Inez

Heggerston, Emerado,

MN; several nieces,

nephews and cousins.

Geraldine was preced-

ed in death by: her

parents; husband of 66

years, Gerald; son, Jon

and her brother, Edsel.

Private Family Grave-

side Service: Saturday,

September 12, 2020 in the

Velva Community

Cemetery.

Public Visitation: In ob-

servance of COVID res-

trictions, the family

recommends you follow

ND Health distancing

guidelines on Saturday,

September 12, 2020 from

11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m.

in Oak Valley Lutheran

Church, Velva.

Memorials are preferred

to Metigoshe Ministries or

Global Health Ministries

at 7831 Hickory St.

NE-Minneapolis, MN

55432.

Those wishing to sign

the online memorial regis-

ter or share memories are

invited to use the expres-

sions of sympathy section

at (www.thomas

familyfuneralhome.com).