Joann Henry

Joann Henry, age 82 of

Westhope, went peaceful-ly into our Heavenly Fa-

ther’s arms on Saturday,

September 19, 2020 at a

Bottineau nursing home.

A private family service

will be held. A public

committal service will be

held on Wednesday, Sep-

tember 23, 2020 at 10:45

at the Westhope

Cemetery. Visitation will

be Tuesday from 3:00 pm

until 9:00 pm at the Trini-

ty Lutheran Church in

Westhope.

Joann was born March

30, 1938 to Ole and Ruby

Solemsaas. She was raised

on a farm near Mohall

with brothers Alfred, Mar-

len, Galen, Layne and sis-

ters Carole, Betty, Ruby.

She graduated from

Mohall High School in

1956.

She married the love of

her life Darrell Henry on

April 6, 1956. They raised

six children on a farm

near Westhope. Joann and

Darrell celebrated 58

years of marriage before

Darrell passed on April 8,

2014. She was extremely

proud of her children.

She was a member of

Trinity Lutheran Church

of Westhope and through

the years taught many

classes of Sunday school

and bible school. She was

a troop leader and

member of the Girl Scouts

of America for 50 plus

years and received the

lifetime award. Joann was

a member of National

Federated Women’s Club

and held many local and

state offices, as well as the

ND state president. She

had a deep faith and led a

group of women in a bible

study for years. Her

friends held a special

place in her heart and she

loved her time with them.

She worked in the activi-

ties room at the Westhope

Nursing Home for 10

years and loved the job,

with the exception of

Bingo. She walked many

miles with friends and

alone, liked to bowl, golf,

do crossword puzzles,

painting, crafting, garden-ing, and playing games

especially dominoes in

her later years with their

friends. When asked to

help-out with something

or take on a job, she didn’t

often say no.

Joann loved to read and

wrote in a journal faithful-ly every single day,

recording weather, births,

deaths, marriages, and

many other fun and in-

teresting facts. She was

teasingly called the town

and family historian as

she collected articles and

lovingly made scrapbooks

for several organizations.

She would sometimes be

called on with questions

of when something had

happened and she could

pull out her trusty date

book or journal and have

the answer for them. She

loved to write letters and

corresponded often with

family and friends. She

never missed a birthday,

anniversary, wedding,

birth, graduation, and spe-

cial occasion of those

close to her with a card

and a note. In the fall and

at Christmas she would

make trays of breads and

other sweets to deliver to

friends and single people

in Westhope. She was a

good cook and love to

entertain. Decorating for

holidays was a must and

she would decorate all the

rooms in her home, even

the bathrooms.

Joann had the gift of

song and some said she

had the voice of an angel.

She sang at church, many

funerals, weddings, and

other events. As Parkin-

son’s began to take her

voice, she was extremely

proud when her children

and Darrell gave her the

gift of a recording session

to make a CD singing

some of her favorite

songs. This recording will

be cherished forever by

her family. She continued

to sing at the Good Samar-

itan Home until her voice

failed her. Music was tru-

ly a gift she enjoyed and

shared willingly.

She loved to travel with

Darrell and some of her

favorite trips were to Ar-

izona, Europe, Hawaii, an

Alaskan cruise, and a

Caribbean cruise. But by

far her favorite travels

were to visit her children,

attend sporting events,

concerts, other special

events for her children,

grandchildren, and great

grandchildren.

She said her greatest

blessings were her 6 chil-

dren, 17 grandchildren,

and 10 great grandchil-

dren. She read to them,

taught them silly songs,

and attended as many

sporting and special

events that it was human-

ly possible to attend. She

loved hugs and gave them

freely.

She is survived by Sons

Dr. Timothy Henry of Cin-

cinnati, OH, Steven (Tere-

sa) Henry of Waukesha,

WI, Daughters Terri (Lee)

Lundberg , Rebecca (Shel-

don) Braaten of Westhope,

Lori (Jeff) Campbell

Bismarck, and Valerie (Ja-

son) LaFontaine of Bil-

lings, MT. Grandchildren

Dr. Chris (Lindsey) Henry,

Dr. Jason (Korie) Henry,

Angela (Alex) Marcotullio,

Kayla (Travis) Dressler,

Jeremy (Brooke) Camp-

bell, Ashley (Seth) McCol-

lum, Justin and Ciara

Henry, Alisha Braaten,

Hunter (Kim) Braaten, El-

lie and Walker Braaten,

Mariah, Regan, and Jett

LaFontaine. Great

grandchildren Heath, Ma-

bel, Hudson, Mayes,

Mury, Lenna, Brookes,

Luke, Knox, and Charles-

ton. Brothers Marlen

(Nancy) and Galen (Mel-

ba) Solemsaas, Sisters

Carole Wrolstad, Betty

(Vince) Horner, Ruby

(Mike) Artz, Brother in

law Gordon (Pat) Henry,

Sister in law Ione Smith.

She was preceded in

death by her infant sister

Ruby Lavore, parents Ole

and Ruby Solemsaas,

Husband Darrell, Brothers

Alfred and Layne Solem-

saas, grandchildren Kay-

dee Braaten and Lane

LaFontaine.

Arrangements were

with Nero Funeral Home

in Bottineau. Friends may

sign the online register

book at www.nerofuneral

home.net.

There will be a memori-al service held on Zoom

on October 11, 2020 at

5:00 pm. The link will be

listed on her obituary at

www.nerofuneral

home.net.