Alice Dvirnak, 101, went to be with Jesus on Tuesday, December 3, 2019. She was born in McLean County, North Dakota, March 27, 1918, the daughter of Jack and Lena (Honcharoff) Fannik, the eldest of five children. Alice attended rural schools and high school in Max, North Dakota. While she enjoyed traveling her heart was always in North Dakota.
On June 9, 1945, she married John Dvirnak and moved to the Diamond C Ranch near Killdeer, North Dakota where they ranched with his father Jack and John’s brother, Alick. They and their son, Lorin later moved 1½ miles west to establish their own ranch site in 1980. Alice loved beauty and helped design their house and created lovely flower and vegetable gardens, grew raspberries, and sewed clothes for herself and her daughters. She loved God’s creatures including the chickens she raised and numerous dogs and cats.
She lived out her faith in Christ in many ways including by teaching the three through five-year-old Sunday School Class at Killdeer Baptist Church for about 50 years, singing duets with her sister Kay, and visiting neighbors and bringing them food. Family and friends remember her delicious apple pies, dill pickles and cheese pockets. Alice was a prayer warrior and active in the Gideon’s Auxiliary. In later years John and Alice served as Junior Camp Grandparents at Camp Bentley, an American Baptist Camp near Drake, North Dakota. During her final seven years in Galesburg she was active in Bethel Baptist Church and was a member of both Voyagers and the Shining Vespers Circle.
Alice is survived by three children, Lois (Robert) Crandall of Beatrice, Nebraska, Joyce (Lee) Johnson of Galesburg, Illinois, and Lorin (Karen) Dvirnak of Killdeer, North Dakota; eight grandchildren, including two by marriage, R.J. (Edie) Crandall of Beatrice, Matthew (Esther) Crandall of Sioux Falls, South Dakota, Lori (Marty) Lundblad of Bismarck, North Dakota, Juanita (Jon-Paul) Steenbakkers of Bellevue, Nebraska, Alicia (Jeff) Warren of Galesburg, Naomi (Philip) Wai of Winter Park, Florida, Blake (Lydia) Johnson of Champaign, Illinois, and Deborah (Adam) Welty of Galesburg; and 23 great grandchildren, Olivia, Will, Cole, and Bennett Crandall, Trevyn Roers, Payton, and Jackson Crandall, Micah and Benjamin Lundblad, Nadia and Lucas Steenbakkers, Charlotte and Natalie Warren, Anneliese, Jonathan, and Madeleine Wai, Jaina, Arabella, Bennet, and Ivy Johnson, and Fiona, Norah, and Peter Welty. She was preceded in death by her husband, John (who passed in 2012 after 67 years of marriage); parents, Jack and Lena; three brothers, George, John, and Edward; and one sister, Kay.
Alice’s memorial service will be at Bethel Baptist Church in Galesburg, Illinois on Saturday, December 21, 2019 with visitation at 3:30 p.m. and the service at 4 p.m. A dinner will follow.
Cremation was accorded and a graveside service will be held at Killdeer Baptist Church Cemetery in Killdeer, North Dakota. Memorials may be given in honor of Alice to Camp Bentley. Arrangements have been made by Hinchliff-Pearson-West Funeral Directors and Cremation Services Galesburg Chapel. Online condolences may be made at www.h-p-w.com.
