Welcome, welcome, welcome to our precious little Molly Rae who arrived on July 9, 2023, weighing 8lb 3oz and 20″ long.
Molly, you are arriving to a home already filled with love that has been waiting to meet you and add you to its joyful mix. Your parents and two big sisters are so excited to love on you and show you God’s big, wonderful world; as are we all! May you hear the Shepherd’s voice at an early age, sweet Molly, and walk with happiness at His side all your days. May His Word be a pleasure to you as you learn to trust in His promises.
Many hugs and kisses are waiting for our first meeting very soon. LOVE to you!
On February 20, 2022, our dear sweet little Owen Scott arrived! Welcome, dear little boy, to God’s world! Owen was 7 pounds, 15 ounces at birth and 21.5″ long.
Sweet Owen, may you, like your namesake John Owen, love and treasure our great God Yahweh all your days. May you know and follow Jesus wholeheartedly and cling to his blessed Word for comfort, strength, and wisdom. May many be helped by you along the way to seek and know and savor the preciousness of our King.
My dear funny, optimistic, giving auntie (my dad’s oldest sister) has arrived Home at last. Hallelujah for our sure hope of the Resurrection; what joys in Christ are hers now… forevermore!
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Lillian Rose Shafer (LeClerc) was born December 21, 1932, in Grafton, ND, the oldest of eight children blessed to Alexander and Mae (Schumacher) LeClerc. The family farmed near Grafton, Devils Lake, and Drayton, ND. Lill attended country school in Acton Township until sixth grade when her family enrolled her and younger sister Bev in Devils Lake Public Schools. A gifted student with a true passion for learning, Lill quickly advanced two grades, graduating at age sixteen from Devils Lake High School as salutatorian in 1949.
During the Depression, college seemed out of reach. The Lord had a plan. While washing the kitchen floor one afternoon, Lill noticed on the newspaper beneath her knees that a four-year college scholarship was available for two North Dakota students. Her mother signed her up and found her a ride to take the qualifying test halfway across the state. She won the scholarship and was off on a train to Valparaiso University in Indiana as a very naïve sixteen. That may be why she taught her children to rest their knees on newspaper while washing the floor.
She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology and a minor in chemistry from Valparaiso University, a Master of Science Degree in Nursing from the University of Illinois, Chicago, and a Registered Nursing Degree from St. Luke’s School of Nursing. Graduating from three institutions within a month caught the attention of a reporter with the Chicago Sun Times who published an article noting her achievement. Lill was offered the opportunity to further her medical training at Columbia University, but homesick for family, returned to Devils Lake to practice her craft and teach nursing students at Lake Region Junior College.
In 1961, she married Gordon Shafer. The couple lived on the Shafer family farm near Devils Lake through the birth of their first four children before moving to Detroit Lakes, MN in 1967 where Gordon accepted a position with the University of Minnesota Extension Service. Lill worked as a nurse on the surgical and pediatric floors of the hospital in Detroit Lakes until the birth of their youngest child. Once the kids were all in school, Lill returned to gainful employment, teaching anatomy and physiology at the Technical College in Detroit Lakes. She was loved and revered by her students as a wonderful teacher and a truly compassionate mentor and friend.
Apparently raising five children and working full-time wasn’t enough to keep Lill and Gordy busy. In the early 70’s, they bought a farm northeast of Detroit Lakes. Starting with little more than well-used machinery and a few cows, they named their ranch the “Shoestring” and what started as a hobby grew to over five hundred head of breeding stock.
Known for her quick wit, Lillian brought levity and humor to every conversation. She was an amazing person who forever put the needs and wellbeing of others before her own. Whether those in need were friends, family, or someone halfway around the world, Lill felt called to help. Through Lutheran World Relief, Orphan Grain Train, and Operation Christmas Child, over the years she sent thousands of boxes filled with items she had carefully collected throughout the year to children and families in need around the world.
Lillian was a light in the world and an instrument of God’s love and grace on this earth. She is survived by her husband Gordon, son Wade (Kathy) Shafer, daughters Brenda Shafer, Dawn (Mike) Forbes, Shannon (Robert) Maixner, and Dixie (Jerald Dosch) Shafer, grandchildren Sadie, Samantha, Aaron, Alec, Lillian, Finna, Aidan, Kaia, Lucy, Christian, Tony, Mike, Jake, and Kristi, brother Dale (Betsy) LeClerc, and sister Rosalie (James) Ringstrom, and sisters-in-law Judy LeClerc, Collette LeClerc, Carol (Art) Rohr, and many nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.
Lillian was preceded in death by her parents, sister Beverly Schmidt and her husband Leo, brothers Gerald, Ray, Ronald, and Warren LeClerc, sisters-in-law Myrna LeClerc and Luella LeClerc, brother and sister-in-law Richard and Helen Shafer, and many aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends.
The family would like to thank Sue Mayfield, Deb Smith, and Alicia Chilton for their loving care and support of Lillian and her family as she battled Alzheimer’s.
To celebrate Lillian’s life visitation is October 15, 2021, from 4:00 pm to 7 pm at West Kjos Funeral Home, 900 Summit Avenue, Detroit Lakes, MN 56501.
The funeral service is October 16, 2021, at 11:00 am at Zion Lutheran Church, 1100 Lake Avenue, Detroit Lakes, MN 56501.
After a short wild ride to the hospital, Adeline Maria arrived on August 8th at 8:58p just minutes after Daddy Bryce pulled up and Mommy Caroline was whisked to a delivery room! Our newest pea in our pod was 9#2oz. and 21.5 inches long. After spending a day and a half under the Bili lights, she was able to finally come home to meet her big sister, Lena!
Dear little Adeline, we pray that you will grow to know the great God who created you in secret and will be drawn to the Good Shepherd’s voice and love Him at an early age. We pray that you will joyfully walk in His ways and delight in His Word all of your days. We love you and are glad you’re ours!
My dear Dad has gone from this world. He was a simple man who lived his life consistently and with integrity. He was the most even-keeled person I ever knew and I could always count on his good judgement and unflappable nature. He knew and trusted God in all things; his faith was in the blood of Jesus. In his later years, he spoke often of heaven and looked forward to the day the Lord would come for him.
I was very close to him and hated to see the man I knew slip away from us in his later years. His final months and days were not what we’d have chosen for him, but we rest in God’s kind, good, purposeful plans for his children. All of his trials are behind him now as his faith became sight in the wee hours of the morning, March 2, 2021. Even while looking at him in his coffin I could say, “Oh, there’s my dad again” as I saw finally once again the dad I knew and remembered – totally at peace as if just taking a snooze on the couch after supper before returning to his work outside.
I will miss him greatly – as a cousin said to me, “You only get one dad” – but I will always consider it the Lord’s grace to me that I was blessed to be his daughter. In the same vein, I will also always count it mercy and goodness that the Lord came for him when He did and that the seal of the Holy Spirit on Dad’s soul anchored him to his Savior on the other side of the veil of death. His bark is moored and he is now at HOME!
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Ray LeClerc, age 80, of Grand Forks, entered his eternal home with our Lord on Tuesday, March 2, 2021.
Born August 1, 1940, Ray was the sixth of eight children born to Alex and Mae (Schumacher) LeClerc, in Grafton, ND. His formative years were spent with school months in Devils Lake and summers farming outside of Drayton. He fondly recalled several years of custom combining throughout the Midwest before heading back to school each fall. He graduated from Devils Lake High School in 1958.
In December 1961, Ray married Myrna Mae Anderson of Drayton. In May 1962, he graduated from North Dakota State School of Science in Civil Engineering. The two made their home in Grand Forks, where they raised their three daughters.
Ray began a 33-year tenure for the City of Grand Forks in 1966, beginning in the Engineering Department and retiring as the Platting and Right-of-Way Officer. He was also a real estate broker, certified land surveyor, and in 2000, he was awarded the peer-nominated ND Professional Land Surveyor’s “Survey Excellence” award.
Outside his professional life, Ray amassed a newsworthy collection of Schlitz memorabilia through his antiquing adventures. A farmer at heart, his great joy, though, was to putz on their farm on south Belmont Road.
After 42 years together, Myrna passed away in 2004. In God’s gracious Providence Ray met Judy Anderson of Grafton and the two were married in 2012. They fit a lifetime of love into the eight years the Lord gave them.
Ray was a longstanding member of Immanuel Lutheran Church. Throughout his life, he lived out his faith through his gift of service, ever ready to lend a hand. His steady nature and reliable common sense drew others to seek his advice. He was, at his redeemed core, a God-honoring, hard-working, kind man of integrity.
Ray is survived by his wife, Judy; daughter Kimberly (Dana) Young and their children Ashley (Andrew) Jacobson with Calvin, Lewis, Lucy, William, and Christiana; Seth (Joy) with Rosalie; Bryce (Caroline) with Lena; and Courtney; daughter Heide (Charlie) Becker and their sons Charlie and Noah; and daughter Holly (Dean) Ramsett and their daughters Peyton and Paige. He is also survived by brother Dale (Betsy) LeClerc, sisters Lillian (Gordon) Shafer and Rosalie (James) Ringstrom; as well as Judy’s family—Scott (Jayne) Anderson and Laurie (Mikael) Blackberg with Zane (Laura), Moriah, and Bethany.
Ray was preceded in death by his parents; his first wife, Myrna, and second wife, Louella (Schumacher); siblings Beverly, Gerald, Ronald, and Warren; mother-in-law Steffie Gwiazdon, brother-in-law Charles Misialek; and Judy’s grandson, Jonah Borth.
With grateful thanksgiving, Ray’s family acknowledges the exceptional care the staff of Valley Senior Living’s Hearthstone Village poured into Ray’s final seven months. Bless you for providing dignity in his last days. Thank you, as well, to Doctor Jon Allen, for his many years of care for and friendship with Ray.
Services will be held at Immanuel Lutheran Church, 1710 Cherry Street South, Grand Forks. A prayer service is planned on Friday, March 5, 2021, 5:00-7:00 pm with a 7:00 PM prayer service at the church, and a funeral service on Saturday, March 6, 2021, at 2:00 pm, with a visitation one hour prior. Interment will be at Memorial Park South, Grand Forks.
Memorial suggestions: Immanuel Lutheran Church (www.immanuelgf.com), Dakota Boys and Girls Ranch (www.dakotaranch.org), Alzheimer’s Association (www.alz.org).
Uncle Ronnie was an all-time favorite of mine. He was my dad’s younger brother and stood with him as his best man in Dad’s two later marriages (after Mom’s passing), which lets me know Dad’s esteem for him as well. He was a regular guest as mom and dad opened their home to him throughout the years. At the time of Uncle Ronnie’s passing, my dear dad is beyond making these connections and so is spared the grief that might have been his at this time.
We were on different sides of the political aisle, but Uncle Ronnie’s great love for the Lord put us on the same side of what was important. Like Dad, Uncle Ronnie had the spiritual gift of helps and his good nature and ready humor always made it a good day when he was around. I will miss his kind influence in my life very much.
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Ronald Lee LeClerc June 13, 1943 ~ March 29, 2020
Ronald Lee LeClerc, 76, of Bismarck, ND was called home by his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, March, 29th 2020.
Ronald (Ron) LeClerc was born June 13, 1943 in Devils Lake, ND, the 7th of 8 children born to Mae and Alex LeClerc. Ron attended school in Devils Lake and spent his summers on the family farm near Drayton, ND. While in high school Ron excelled at multiple sports, playing in the first North Dakota High School State Hockey Tournament as a senior in 1961 and was co-captain of his Football team. Ron graduated from Devils Lake High School in 1961 and furthered his education at Minot State University where he continued his football career. Ron graduated from Minot State in 1966 with a degree in Education, majoring in Physical Education. Ron’s teaching career briefly took him to the Standing Rock Reservation where one of his proudest accomplishments was opening the “Teen Canteen.” From Standing Rock, Ron took a position in Mohall, ND where he taught and coached until 1969 when he was drafted into the military. After serving his country, Ron enrolled at North Dakota State University where he focused on Community and Regional Planning. Upon completion of the graduate program, Ron was offered a position in Grafton, ND working for the Red River Regional Council. Ron was united in marriage to Katherine Waterworth on January 20, 1979. It was through this marriage that Ron became a father to Jason Waterworth and a proud father to his daughter Jessica Mae. It was in the fall of 1986 that Ron moved to Bismarck, ND to work for the State Economic Development Commission (EDC). Bismarck is where he would call home for the rest of his life. For 23 years Ron worked in Community Economic Development at the local, regional and state levels. Ron’s work was instrumental in creating new job opportunities in state, including ethanol refineries and pasta plants. While working for the EDC he wrote and was responsible for the administration of the “BUILD” program, a statewide community economic development education & training program. Ron’s work was also influential in the “Sunday Opening Bill” having written a paper that would lead to legislation to allow for businesses in the state to be open on Sundays.
Ron’s hobbies included cheering on the Minnesota Twins and Vikings to victory, collecting coins and North Dakota paraphernalia (particularly Buffalo), baking homemade goods that he would share with his friends, reading his Bible and daily devotional at 7am every morning. Ron was a North Dakota enthusiast, fiercely advocating for the people, places and things of his home state, so proud to call North Dakota his home.
A man of strong Christian faith, Ron lived his life putting the needs of others before his own, just as Jesus taught. He donated his time and money to various charities. One charity he held close to his heart was, “Friends of Chimbote,” a mission started by a family friend and fellow North Dakotan, Father Jack Davis. Ron’s concern and love for all was well known by all who knew him. He would offer food, shelter or simply a ride to those less fortunate. Ron was an active member of Bethel Lutheran Church in Bismarck. He held numerous positions within the church, including Elder, Usher and a member of the Church Property Management Board. In his final years, Ron went to great lengths to care for his two brothers, Jerry and Warren. Ron will be remembered for his contagious smile and laughter and his warm heart.
Ron is survived by his daughter Jessica LeClerc, Sacramento, CA, and Jason (Maria) Waterworth, Buxton, ND. Grandchildren Cody, Chance, Caden and Chloe. Sisters Lillian (Gordon) Shafer and Rosalie (James) Ringstrom, Encinitas, CA, and brother Dale (Betsy) LeClerc, Monterey, CA, and Ray (Judy) LeClerc. Sisters-in law Collette LeClerc, Grand Forks, ND and Judy LeClerc, Grand Forks, ND. Brother-in law Gordon Shafer, Detroit Lakes, MN. Ron will be missed dearly by his many nieces, nephews, cousins and those who called him friend.
Ron was preceeded in death by his parents Mae and Alex LeClerc; fiancé Leslie Brandner; sister Beverly Schmidt; brothers Gerald LeClerc and Warren LeClerc; Sisters-in-law Myrna LeClerc and Luella LeClerc; brother-in-law Leo Schmidt as well as many aunts and uncles.
Our dear little Rosalie Grace has arrived! She is the first little one for Seth and Joy and was welcomed out into the world on Monday, March 9, at 3:14 p.m.! She was 21″ long and weighed 8# 9 oz. She is our sweet little rosebud, come just on the cusp of spring!
Sweet little Rosie Grace, may grace be upon you all of your days. We pray that you will know the grace of your particular calling at an early age as God draws you near to his heart and that grace abounding to you and through you will be the hallmark of your life.
We are blessed to announce the arrival of our dear little bundle- Christiana Lois Jacobson! She is the fifth such package Ashley and Andrew have received and so is welcomed by three brothers and a sister too. She arrived Monday, March 2 (after we all held our breath through Leap Year Day), at 5:08 p.m. She was 21″ and weighed 7# 14oz.
Little Christiana is named for the heroine of John Bunyan’s A Pilgrim’s Progress, part II. In the shadow of her humble, homey life, she leads her children on the way of the King toward the Celestial City. Christiana, we pray this for you always… that you will hear the King’s voice at an early age and will walk sure and steadily toward his Kingdom and that God would make you a bringer of pilgrims, helping many along the path to the King.
We’re so happy to welcome our newest family member, little Lena Charis, born to Bryce and Caroline, Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 2019, at 8:25a.m., measuring 20.5″ and 8lb 6oz.
Charis is Greek for grace and grace is our pray for you, little Lena – that you will know God’s grace in bringing you to Himself, that He will grace you to see his goodness of God in the land of the living, and that a grace-filled spirit will shine forth from you ever to the glory of God.
From L to R:
Franklin “Frank,” #3, with Vera (Gunst) Young;
Lois (McIntyre) with Roland “Rol,” #4;
Richard “Dick,” (at piano), #2, with Deloris (Butenhoff);
and Vera (Young), #1, with Pete Soberg
The generation born to Herbert and Alta (Volkenant) Young and their spouses have passed from time into eternity. What a blessed heritage for those of us who remain.
From L to R:
Shooting over the Horizon 