Bambi Mansfield

A Memorial Service for Bambi Mansfield, 62, of South Heart will be 2:00 pm Friday, September 27, 2024 at Stevenson Funeral Home in Dickinson with Pastor Dawn Busch officiating. 

Visitation for Bambi will be one hour prior to the service.

Bambi passed away on Monday, August 26, 2024 in Denver, Colorado. 

Bambi Mansfield was born on June 1, 1962 in Southfield, Michigan to Walter and Bonnie (Steiss) Mansfield. She grew up in Southfield and graduated from Southfield High School in 1980. While she was in school, she was a diver and broke many records, both men’s and women’s. If you asked her about it, she’d say that they weren’t even good records, anyway.

On December 26, 1989, Bambi welcomed her first daughter, Bonnie Lace. After Bonnie passed away at the age of four, dandelions became a sign to Bambi of her love for Bonnie. She moved to Utah, where she adopted her son, Dakotah. After some time, Bambi ended up back in Michigan, where she lived with her dad. It was there that she had her second daughter, Bennette. In February of 2014, Bambi met Deane Nichols. She and her family moved to North Dakota in August of that same year, where she gained another son, Coedy. 

Bambi had a life-long love for learning. She earned her Master’s Degree in Library Science, another Master’s Degree in Art, and she also got her teaching degree so that she could pass on her love of learning to others. While she lived in Michigan, she taught art, and she was also the director of the county library. This put her in charge of six libraries in the area, and she started many programs for the people who lived there. When she moved to North Dakota, she became the K-12 art and library teacher at the New England Public School. Bambi also taught art at the women’s prison and was a museum director in Medora.

Horses were a large part of Bambi’s life. While she lived in Utah, she showed horses, specifically Clydesdales. She also helped special needs children by providing them with the opportunity for therapy with her horses and ponies.

Bambi was an artist and passed on her love for everything art to her students. She particularly loved Western art, and most recently started teaching her students pottery. She also used her talent to write and illustrate a few children’s books.

She loved gardening and was a self-proclaimed hippie. She had a huge garden and always grew so much that she would spent much of her time canning. Her garden also allowed her to make nearly everything from scratch.

Bambi was obsessed with making people happy. She always tried to include everyone, and she “adopted” many people, giving them a place to live or just being someone they could talk to. She was also a very spiritual person, and felt comfortable walking into any church – she just loved being close to God in any way that she could.

Bambi is survived by her children, Dakotah Mansfield, Bennette Mansfield, and Coedy Nichols; brother, Dave (Melanie) Mansfield.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Walter and Bonnie; daughter, Bonnie Lace; fiancé, Deane Nichols; Bennette’s father, Dan Sanderson; and her best friend, Jane Jacobs.