Details

Collection Summary
Collection: FND001 - SHSND Foundation - North Dakota Heritage Family Memorial Program
Series: Tribute
Folder: DIG
Item: 271159
Title: Konda "Konnie" L. Klipfel-Wightman
Date: 4/9/1946-2/28/2021
Inscription/Marks: 4/9/1946
Summary: Konda Louise “Konnie” Klipfel-Wightman peacefully passed away at her home in Mandan, ND, on February 28, 2021. Mass of Christian burial was held March 6, 2021, at Church of St. Joseph, Mandan. Burial was at St. Mary’s Cemetery, Bismarck, ND. Konda L. Evenson, the first born of Lyle and Alice Evenson, started out on April 9, 1946, in Dickinson, ND. She grew up in Lidgerwood and Ellendale, ND, where she graduated from high school and college. She taught in Holdingford, MN, and then moved to Bismarck, ND, to teach in the Bismarck Public School System where she soon became the Library Media Director, a job she dearly loved. She gave much of her skills and energy to her career and commitment to education, and she made an impact on the education of many young people because of that dedication. However, her heart and soul were devoted to her husband of 33 years, Dixon, her children Kim, Colin, and Toby, her stepdaughters, Mary and Susan, and her treasured granddaughters, Mara, Paityn, Saige, Macie, and Ellie, and grandsons, Alex and Burke. Konnie believed she had won the lottery when it came to her grandchildren and she knew they will always be a part of her wherever she goes. She had a special talent for making friends through the years. Once you were her friend, you were always her friend and she loved you. Her world was big, a lot of people fit into it and they all knew that they belonged there. She also had a passion for the hills and prairies of North Dakota (her own Mull of Kintyre.) It had a way of bringing out her gentle spirit and she was a dedicated ambassador for the state wherever she traveled. However, she and Dixon also dearly loved being with friends during the winter months of the past fifteen years in Sun City West, AZ. Though small in stature, Konnie was pretty relentless in her passion for life. Her first priority was family, with public education and library advocacy a close second, and was particularly proud of her work at Valley City State University where she taught and helped create the Master’s program in Library Sciences. She was the patron saint of stray cats, convinced that they were somehow a higher form of the human species. She was also known to approach a good number of social and human rights issues with fire in the eye when she believed change was needed. People who knew her will long remember her determination and tenacity. Konnie will be deeply missed by her husband, Dixon Wightman; son, Colin (Michelle) Klipfel; stepdaughters, Susan Eichhorn and Mary Bradley; grandchildren, Mara, Paityn, Saige, Macie, Ellie, Alex and Burke; sister, Mary (Ed) Tostenson; brothers, Tom (Merry), Jerry (Barb), and Robert (Denise) Evenson; and many nieces, nephews and cousins that she was close to. Every one of them is made more comfortable knowing that she has now moved back in with her beloved Kim and Toby. Konnie was preceded in death by her parents; daughter, Kimberly; and her son, Toby.
Red ID: FND_I_78646 Image ID: 557340 Image Notes: FND001 271159

Collection: FND001 Digitized Images from Collection
Title: SHSND Foundation - North Dakota Heritage Family Memorial Program
Date: -

Summary: The North Dakota Heritage Family Memorial Program is sponsored by the North Dakota Funeral Directors Association. The life stories of deceased North Dakotans are featured in an archvied collection. Current partners in the project are Eastgate Funeral & Cremation Services, Bismarck Evans Funeral Homes, Carrington and New Rockford Everson-Coughlin Funeral Home, Williston Fulkerson Funeral Home, Tioga Fulkerson Funeral Home, Watford City Fulkerson Stevenson Funeral Home, Williston Nero Funeral Home, Bottineau Parkway Funeral Service, Bismarck Springan Stevenson Funeral Home, Stanley Stevenson Funeral Home, Dickinson These funeral homes provide recent obituaries to the Foundation, where staff and volunteers format, edit and archive each memorial. The memorials are posted, and copies are sent to the family for their input and approval. The listing currently features more than 13,000 memorials, and is constantly updated as new memorials and histories are received.

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