Rosella White

Rosella Marie Heck White, 89, lifelong resident of Mandan, ND, passed away peacefully at St. Vincent’s Good Samaritan Home on Tuesday, July 6, 2021.

A Funeral Service will be held at 10:30 AM on Tuesday, July 13, 2021 at First Presbyterian Church, Mandan, ND with Pastor Deanna Reikow as officiant. Burial will be at the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery.

Visitation will be held Monday, July 12, 2021 from 5:00-7:00 PM at Weigel Funeral Home, Mandan, with a Prayer Service at 7:00 PM.

She was born on October 6, 1931 on the family farm near Fort Rice, to Peter and Mabel (Stuhldreher) Heck.  Mom was known to all Fort Rice-area residents as Sis-the only sister among six brothers.  To others throughout her life, she was known as Rosella, Rosie, Rose, Mom, Grandma, Great-Grandma, Aunt Sis, neighbor and friend.  Many times, we were able to deduce how someone knew Mom according to the name they referred to her by.

She was raised on the family farm and moved to Mandan when she turned 18, working as a waitress at Vi’s Café.  She briefly moved to Washington state before moving back to North Dakota and marrying Henry (Hank) Muhlhauser in Dec. 1951.  To this union 7 children were born.  The family lived in Bismarck until 1967, when the couple divorced.  Rosella moved to Mandan, singlehandedly raised all 7 children on her own, working as a waitress at the NP Lunchroom and then, the Lewis & Clark Café. Later, she also worked at the Coast to Coast store in Mandan, and at MedCenter One Coffee Shop in Bismarck. She and the children were members of the First Presbyterian Church and attended church every Sunday with Rev. Ben Dove officiating the services.

Rosella married Robert White in Mandan in 1971 and they continued to live in Mandan until his death in 1973.

Mom sewed beaded calendars every year for all of her children and grandchildren, and embroidered dish towels for everyone she knew.  Mom was a hard worker all her life and took pride in the homemade meals she created (cheesebuttons and fleischkuekle) and was an excellent baker.  Her Christmas cookie trays were a hit every year.  Mom loved to give advice; showering it on everyone who asked her advice.  She was always upbeat and nothing kept her down for long. She had quite a sense of humor, and each of the family has wonderful memories of things that mom happened to say!

Mom happily lived at Liberty Heights for nearly 26 years!  She loved her apartment and her car, with the license plate: CGRNYGO.  Mom voluntarily gave up driving during the summer of 2020.  When she stopped driving, her 2001 car had fewer than 10,000 miles, which led us to call her the “original little lady who only drove her car to church on Sundays.”   Mom contracted COVID in Nov. 2020 and was hospitalized for 10 days.  Though Mom survived COVID, her health began to take a turn for the worse and she became a resident of St. Vincent’s Home in Bismarck in Feb. 2021.

Thank you to all of Mom’s doctors and nurses for taking great care of Mom, allowing us more years with her: Dr. Grenz & staff, Dr. Luebke & staff, Dr. Botsford & staff, Dr. Wyman & staff,  Dr. Booth & staff, CHI/St Alexius; the St. Vincent’s doctors & nurses; and all of the other medical professionals who helped Mom through the years.  A special thank you to Katie Mosbrucker Wynestra for all she did to help Mom to stay independent for as long as Mom was able.

Grateful to have been blessed with such a loving Mom are her children, grandchildren and great grandchildren: Gloria Moore, Everett WA (children: Wil Johner & Aimee Blake; Penny & Jeff Hitt, children Vincent and Tristan); Glenna and Neil Clark, Mesa AZ (sons: Aaron Clark and Adam Clark); James and Dawn Muhlhauser, Brighton, CO (children: Jim Muhlhauser, Kimberly Muhlhauser & Emily Muhlhauser); Wade Muhlhauser, Brighton, CO (children: Alicia Muhlhauser & Wade Muhlhauser); Donna and Mike Kraft, Mandan ND (children: Jeremy & Mandy Kraft, their daughters Mazy & Cersei Kraft; Jenny (Justin Scheidt), their children: Kyler Kraft & Keira Scheidt; Breanna & Tyler Leingang, their son Emmett; and Alli & Mike Volk); Doreen and Scott Parker, Bremerton, WA (children: Nicole & Zachary White, daughter: Haley Graham; and Taylor Aberle); former daughter-in-law, Mary Muhlhauser; grandson Brent Ternes, sisters-in-law: Judy Heck, Karen Heck, Darlene Heck and Elsie Heck; many nieces, nephews and friends.

Rosella was preceded in death and has been reunited with parents Peter (1964) and Mabel (1971), her second husband, Robert White (1973); brothers: Robert (1982), Duane (2005), Kenny (2007), Richard (2011), Fred (2015) and George (2017); daughter, Gwen Muhlhauser (2013); son-in-law, Gregory Moore (2006); sisters-in-law: Irene Heck (1999), Ida Heck (2007), Bertha Little (2013); nieces: Karen Stastny (1999) and Heidi Hertel (2013); nephews: Kenny Heck Jr. (2018) , Jerry Heck (1999) and John Payne (2018) and numerous friends.  We know you are all rejoicing as you welcome Mom back into her eternal home.  Please give Mom a hug and kiss from us.  Mom was dearly loved by all who met her and she will be missed!