Heidi Helland

Heidi Lynn Helland, age 24, a resident of Fargo, passed away at Sanford hospital in Fargo, ND on Sunday, November 13, 2011 due to complications from pneumonia. She was born August 4, 1987 to John and Terri Helland in Fergus Falls, MN. She grew up in Fergus Falls and attended the Fergus Falls Public Schools, graduating in 2005. She received her AA degree from MSCTC – Fergus Falls in May, 2007. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Education degree in the spring of 2010 from MSUM – Moorhead. She worked at the Fergus Falls Children’s Corner Early Childhood Center during the summer of 2010. She became employed as an early childhood educator at the YMCA Early Childhood Center - South Fargo in the fall of 2010 and has worked there until the present time. She found early in life, that serving God through working with children was her life calling. She taught preschool Sunday school and worked as a confirmation and youth group mentor at Bethel Lutheran Church for a number of years while attending high school and MSCTC. She was also a student mentor in several classrooms in the Fergus Falls Public schools. Upon moving to the Fargo-Moorhead area, she became active in teaching and youth leadership at the Triumph Lutheran Brethren churches in Moorhead and West Fargo which she has continued to do until the present time. She worked at the Fergus Falls Public Library and at Inspiration Point Bible Camp as a counselor. She also taught tennis for the Moorhead park district summer recreation program and worked as a nanny in Fargo. Her hobbies were reading, tennis, and watching movies. She loved organizing family gatherings, spending time with her four dogs, and enjoying her many friends. She touched many lives in her short 24 years. She will always be remembered for her kindness, her wonderful smile, her love for children and young people, and for the blessing she was to everyone she met. Whenever little children were around at gatherings of family and friends, there you’d find Heidi, involving them in some fun game or activity. She was preceded in death by grandparents, Ruth and Lloyd Helland, great-grandparents, Oscar and Hattie Helland – Fergus Falls, Knut and Olga Overlid – Oslo, MN, Joe and Ethel Anderson – Perley, MN, and Arnett and Isabel Todd – Hendrum, MN. She is survived by her parents, John and Terri Helland of Fergus Falls, her grandparents, Tom and Darlene Todd of Hendrum, and by her many aunts, uncles and cousins along with a number of very dear friends. She had no siblings but her cousins, Sheila (Helland) Rostvedt and Brianna (Helland) Weyers, and friend, Becca (Johnson) Fuhrman have been like sisters to her all through her school years and to the present. While she loved all her cousins, Nathan Helland was her special ‘brother’. She added her roommates, Lisa, Kathryn, Ali, Michelle, and Mandi as her ‘sisters’, as well. Her next-door neighbors, Jeff and Kim Walvatne, Ashley, Sarah, and Kaci were also a very important part of her life. The joys of her life were three of her cousins’ children - Piper, Toby, and Kaylen. She also will be missed by her buddies - Duke, Viva, Chloe, and Ginger. Visitation: 5-7 p.m. Thursday at Bethel Lutheran Church in Fergus Falls, with a 7 p.m. prayer service, and resumes one hour prior to the service at the church. Funeral: 10 a.m. Friday, November 18, 2011, at Bethel Lutheran Church in Fergus Falls Clergy: Reverend David Foss and Reverend Doug Rogness Interment: Bethlehem Cemetery in Fergus Falls Olson Funeral Home in Fergus Falls is in charge of the arrangements.  Memorials are preferred to the donor's choice.