Rosalie Ridl

Rosalie J. Ridl, Dickinson?s 101 plus year old Centenarian passed away on Friday, April 8, 2011, when her staunch heart quit beating. Funeral Mass will be 1:00 p. m. Friday, April 15, 2011 at St. Patrick?s Catholic Church, Dickinson, ND with Father Todd Kreitinger Celebrating. Burial will follow at St. Patrick?s Catholic Church, Dickinson. Visitation will be from 1:00 p. m. to 9:00 p. m. Thursday, April 14, 2011 at Stevenson Funeral Home, Dickinson with a Rosary and Prayer Service taking place at 7:00 p. m. Visitation will continue on Friday from 8:00 a. m. to 12:00 p. m. at Stevenson Funeral Home. Rosalie was born on January 25, 1910 to Joseph and Rosie (Polensky) Steffan in Dunn County, North Dakota. Her formal education was limited to eight grades because of her being the oldest in the family, Rosalie was needed at home to work on her parent?s farm. On October 16, 1929, Rosalie and Theodore P. Ridl were married at Sts. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in New Hradec. A farm was bought north of South Heart where she lived many years. On October 29 of the same year, the stock market crashed which ushered in the great depression, and the subsequent ?Dirty Thirties? decade. In order to make a living during this difficult time, the young couple started a business selling farm-fresh products directly to housewives and restaurants in Dickinson. It was through this heroic effort that the couple paid all of their financial obligations and also sent their two children, Gilbert and Rosie Ann to college. Bankruptcy was not a part of their vocabulary!Rosalie was multi-talented. She was a self taught seamstress and through the years sewed many fine garments for her family. She also was an excellent cook with Czech heritage foods being one of her specialties. Her cooking talents were put to use when she worked in the kitchen as St. Joseph?s Hospital for several years. Rosalie had many interests and hobbies. She enjoyed gardening; also clipping and saving newspaper articles about people she knew. She especially enjoyed singing. She performed with the ?Pioneer Singers? through the age of 94, entertaining residents at area nursing homes which were many years younger. She was a member of St. Patricks? Catholic Church and proud 25 year member of RSVP. Travel was also a part of hter life, spending winters in California, seeing the Grand Canyon and getting to Hawaii were some of the highlights. Of the many birthdays which Rosalie was blessed to celebrate, two were particularly memorable. Her 90th Birthday was a very special event with her entire family present at a dinner in the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco. The climactic event was the 100th Birthday Gala held at Lady J?s in Dickinson on June 27, 2010. She was honored on that day by people who came from eight different states!Rosalie is survived by her loving son Gilbert. Additional survivors are grandson, Roger Lee Strom, granddaughter Nancy Ann Miller, son-in-law, Jerome L. Strom, great grandsons, Erik, A. J. and Zachary Strom, great granddaughters Lucy and Rosie Miller, and grandson-in-law, Gavin Miller. In addition, she is survived by sisters-in-law Dorothy Steffan and Cecilia Steffan. There are also numerous nieces and nephews and some first cousins that survive. She was preceded in death by her husband, Theodore P. Ridl who passed away in 1968. Additionally she was preceded by her loving daughter, Rosie Ann Strom, brothers, William J. Steffan, Henry C. Steffan and Joseph J. Steffan; sisters, Hattie Samek and Lillian E. Ridl; sister-in-law Mary Steffan; brothers-in-law, Joseph Ridl and Joseph Samek. Of the Ridl Family, she was preceded by brothers-in-law, Andrew T. Ridl, Joe V. Ridl, Charles G. Ridl and Victor Ridl; and sisters-in-law Minnie Meduna, Mary Marsh, Jennie Marsh, Agnes Karsky, Margaret Kaisershot, Rose Ficek and Ann Sadowsky. Rosalie?s passing away marks the end of an era for both the Steffan and Ridl family as she was the last living member of that generation!Rosalie will always be remembered for her warm friendly smile and twinkle in her eye which was a reflection of the kind, gentle, loving lady she truly was! She had many favorite sayings, but one adage that she lived by was ?If you cannot say something nice about a person, then do not say anything at all?.


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Burial Date: April 15, 2011
Funeral Home Dickinson, ND

Funeral Mass: Friday, St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, Dickinson, ND