Beatrice F. Dvergsten

A Funeral Service for Beatrice Dvergsten of Greenbush, MN will be held on Thursday, January 25, 2024 at 2:00PM at Bethel Lutheran Church in Greenbush. Visitation will be held on Wednesday, January 24, 2024 at Bethel Lutheran Church in Greenbush, MN from 5-6:30PM with a prayer service starting at 6:30PM. Interment will take place at Bethel Cemetery in Greenbush, MN. 

We are comforted by our vision of Dad greeting Mom with a bouquet of lilacs as she left her earthly home and walked through heaven’s gates.  He probably greeted her by saying, “Well, you still look classy.” 

Beatrice Florence (Williamson) Dvergsten was born on September 23, 1929 at home in rural Greenbush, MN to Oscar and Tina “Frances” (Samson) Williamson, the 3rd of 4 children.  She attended Greenbush School, graduating in 1947.  She had hoped to go on to college to become a teacher, but her dad accepted a job for her in June of that year at the Greenbush State Bank where she stayed for several years. It was a great job for her with her attention to detail and love of numbers.

On June 6, 1953, she married Manvil Dvergsten at the Bethel Lutheran Church in Greenbush after his return from the Korean War with the US Army.  To this union, four children were born, Pam, Cindy, Kari and Jim.  Second only to her weekly hair appointments, her family was her top priority.  She pampered her husband beyond measure; raising her children was her most important work.  She loved spending time with her grandchildren and great grandchildren, especially rocking those babies and helping them with homework. 

Their first home was a little, old two-story house across from the church in which they were married.  That fall they started building the house on the farm where they would call home for the next 28  years.  Their farming operation throughout the years centered mostly on cattle, turkeys, and small grains.  Beatrice started working as a secretary at the Greenbush High School the fall of 1957 where she continued until her retirement in 1986. Again, her attention to detail made her a success in this job. In the early years she also helped out at Ace Hardware, with secretarial duties at church, and picked potatoes near Drayton, ND.  

In June of 1981, they built a home in town when Jim married and took over the farm.  For several winters they enjoyed the status of “snow birds” in Lake Havasu City, AZ.  In 2013, they moved to LifeCare Greenbush Manor.  Manvil died in July of 2016 after celebrating 63 years of marriage.  

As of this date, Beatrice had been a member of Bethel Lutheran Church longer than any past or present member.  She was baptized, confirmed, married, raised her family, and grew old in this church. 

In addition to family, home and work, Beatrice had been involved in various church and community activities.  For many years, Mom and Dad took pride in being a part of the cemetery committee and helping to maintain Bethel Cemetery.  She also enjoyed working at the local food shelf.  She dabbled in a few arts and crafts and did enjoy some writing, especially of poetry. Each grandchild got a poem written especially for him/her upon high school graduation.  Her love of numbers continued throughout her life.  As calculators became popular, she would try them on occasion, but then generally ended up checking the calculator’s results with her own work!   Although she enjoyed traveling, Mom was a homebody at heart. Her true hobby was maintaining her home and she could most often be found with a dust cloth in one hand and the vacuum cleaner in the other.  Her home was where she was the most comfortable and happiest.  Mom appreciated a good cup of piping hot coffee with a sweet treat.  Oh how she loved her treats!  Drives with Dad often ended at the Dairy Queen for a little vanilla cone.  She was well known for her Special K bars, cut perfectly, and her grandchildren never tired of her peanut butter and bananas on toast.  Her favorite pastime in her later years was playing cards. She was able to continue to do this quite successfully, even after dementia began to devastate her brain.  Even then, no one could add points in their heads faster than she could.  It was always an amazement, even to her grandchildren who didn’t even try to compete.  If Grandma said the number of points was 87, then who were they to contradict her?  

Beatrice died on January 19, 2024 at LifeCare Greenbush Manor surrounded by her family at the age of 94 years and 4 months.

She was preceded in death by her husband, parents, in-laws Melvin and Della Dvergsten, brothers Kermit and Arvid Williamson, sisters Mabel Haugen and Baby Williamson, brothers and sisters—in-law  Freddie Haugen, Daphne Williamson, Delbert Dvergsten, Donnie and Vivian Dvergsten, and Arvid and Lois Dvergsten and several nieces and nephews. 

Left to mourn her passing are her four children and spouses: Pamela (Craig) Lee of Glasgow, MT, Cindy (Steve) Agre of Killdeer, ND, Kari (Merlyn) Wiskow of Greenbush, and James (Beth) Dvergsten of Greenbush.  Grandchildren:  Shauna (Stacy) Nelson, Kelly (Brad) King, Joshua (Tanya) Wiskow, Joseph (Joni) Wiskow, Elizabeth (Guillaume) Dvergsten-Beauce, Hilary Lee, Dexter Dvergsten, Marcus Lee, Jacob Wiskow, Ethan (Alex) Lee, and Kristina (Andrew) Jacobs.  Great-grandchildren:  Rylee and Henry Nelson, Ethan (Alexis and Chloe) Agre, Ryann King, Austin, Taylor and Brody Wiskow, Swayze and Remmik Wiskow, Henrick and Zéphirin Beauce, and Drew, Anders and Everett Jacobs.  Great, great grandson: Keeran Agre.  In-laws:  Rose Williamson, Ardith Dvergsten, and Gerald and Florence Dvergsten, as well as many nieces and nephews.   

We would like to give a special thanks to the staff at LifeCare Greenbush Manor for the wonderful care they provided to Mom over the years.      

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