NameWilma Helen GOETZ
BurialNorth Dakota Veterans Cemetery, Mandan, ND
Death16 Mar 2016, Sun City West, AZ
Birth11 Jan 1935, Halliday, Dunn County, North Dakota
OccupationNurse
Religionclick Wilma’s name to see an obituary
EducationBismarck Hospital school of nursing
Misc. Notes
from an obituary in the Bismarck Tribune:
Wilma Freise died March 16, 2016, in Sun City West, Ariz. Wilma Helen Goetz was born Jan. 11, 1935 at home in Dunn County, near Halliday. She was baptized and confirmed at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Dunn County. She attended Dunn County schools, graduating from Halliday High School in 1952.
She graduated from the Bismarck Hospital School of Nursing as a registered nurse in 1956. Following graduation, she worked for one year at Good Samaritan Hospital in Williston.
Wilma spent the rest of her nursing career in Bismarck, working at Bismarck Hospital intermittently from 1957 to 1967, where she developed a fondness for geriatric nursing.
From 1967 to 1981, she worked at the Baptist Home long-term care facility, where she was nurse aide instructor, resident care coordinator and assistant director of nursing. She organized many programs to benefit the residents and their families.
From 1982 to 1989, Wilma was the RN/LPN refresher course coordinator and geriatric nurse aide workshop coordinator for the North Dakota Nurses’ Association. Her refresher course received honors and was used throughout the nation.
On Aug. 16, 1957, she married Robert Freise (Bob) at Trinity Lutheran Church, Bismarck. They lived east of Bismarck until 1995, when they moved to Sun City West, Ariz. They were members of Trinity Lutheran Church until that time; they then joined Lord of Life Lutheran Church, Sun City West.
Wilma was active in the American Nurses’ Association, the North Dakota Nurses’ Association, and the District 6 Nurses’ Association. She coordinated the NDNA Prairie Skies Art Exhibition and Auction from 1991 to 1996. Her awards include the Outstanding Service Award from District 6 in 1989 and the Honorary Recognition Award from NDNA in 1991. She served on a variety of committees for the NDNA, at Trinity Lutheran and at Lord of Life Lutheran.
While she had a variety of interests throughout her life, she focused on actively caring about and for people in her neighborhoods, communities and family. She was an integral part of the Freise family’s horse- and rodeo-related activities.
She was preceded in death by her parents, Emma Miller Goetz and Alex Goetz; a brother, Harold Goetz; two sisters, Eleanor Butler Johnson and Ruth Darlene Goetz; a brother, Elmer Goetz, who died as a child; and a granddaughter, Kate Elizabeth Heilman.
She is survived by her husband, Robert Freise, Sun City West; her daughters Becky (Owen) Voigt, Helena, Mont.; Kathy Freise and David McChesney, Albuquerque, N.M.; and Kara (Don) Heilman, Parker, Colo.; four grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held Tuesday, March 22, at Lord of Life in Sun City West. Memorials can be mailed to The Banquet, Trinity Lutheran Church, 502 N. Fourth St., Bismarck, N.D. 58501.
Spouses
Birth17 Sep 1929, Bismarck, ND
BurialNorth Dakota Veterans Cemetery, Mandan, ND
Death20 Apr 2018, Sun City West, AZ
OccupationPublic Health Administrator
EducationMontana State University
Religionclick Robert’s name to see an obituary
Misc. Notes
from an obituary in the Bismarck Tribune:
Robert Paul Freise died April 20, 2018 in Sun City West, Arizona.
He was born September 17, 1929, at Bismarck Hospital, and graduated from Bismarck High School in 1947. He attended the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks and graduated from Montana State College, Bozeman, in 1953 with a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture. From 1953 to 1955, he served in Korea with the U.S. Army, for which he received a letter of commendation.
He joined the North Dakota State Department of Health in 1956. On August 16, 1957, he married Wilma Helen Goetz at Trinity Lutheran Church, Bismarck. They lived east of Bismarck until 1995, when they moved to Sun City West.
Bob retired from the State Health Department in 1988, as Director of the Division of Emergency Health Services. He started with the Department as a Public Health Assistant in October, 1950 and was continuously employed with the Health Department from March, 1956 on. He headed the state’s first mobile x-ray unit and worked in the Preventive Disease Division prior to being named Director of the Emergency Health Services Program in July, 1969.
He was the Director of the Emergency Health Services Division at its inception and was largely responsible for implementing North Dakota’s pre-hospital emergency medical service as we know it today. He helped start several key statewide health initiatives, including training emergency medical technicians and paramedics and licensing ambulance services. He was active on the North Dakota Task Force on Emergency Medical Services funding. At the time of his retirement, he was the nation’s senior Emergency Health Services director.
Bob’s lifelong involvement with horses and rodeo took various forms, including roles as a contestant and administrator. His interest in horses was stimulated at an early age by his father and a pack trip at age 12 to the North Dakota Badlands. He attended the Mandan Rodeo each year with his father and entered his first rodeo at Wing, N.D., in 1947. He roped throughout college and was President of the Montana State Rodeo Club, where he was a member of the livestock judging team. He also worked at the Triangle X Guest Ranch, Jackson Hole, Wyoming, for several summers in the late 1940s and early 1950s.
Bob continued to rodeo as a calf roper and later as a team roper. In 1974, he became Secretary/Treasurer of the North Dakota Rodeo Association, a position he held through 1979 and in which he helped spearhead several initiatives important to the growth and direction of the NDRA. An achievement that remained important to Bob was establishing the NDRA Finals at the North Dakota State Fair, where it was held for several years. In 1979, Bob became a charter board member of the North American Rodeo Commission; he was an active administrator for NARC until 1989, when he completed his post as Vice President.
While rodeo was his primary recreational interest, Bob was also an active golfer and guitarist; with the latter, he performed cowboy songs in a variety of informal and formal settings, including performances to benefit the West Side Food Bank, Sun City West, Ariz.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Wilma, who died in 2016; his parents, Paul W. Freise and Alma Klusman Freise, granddaughter Kate Elizabeth Heilman, and niece Maria (Dan) Lind.
He is survived by daughters Becky (Owen) Voigt, Helena, Mont.; Kathy Freise and David McChesney, Albuquerque, N.M.; and Kara (Don) Heilman, Parker, Colo.; four grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren; his sister Elsa (John) Windh, Sonoma, Calif.; and nephew Rolf (Karen) Windh, Boulder, Colo.
Cremation has taken place. Interment will take place at the N.D. Veterans Cemetery, Mandan, N.D., later this year.
Memorials are preferred to the North Dakota Cowboy Hall of Fame, P.O. Box 137, Medora, N.D. 58645.
Marriage16 Aug 1957, at Trinity Lutheran, Bismarck ND