Anita Rohde

New Town

Anita (Holmquist) Rohde was born on May 2, 1947, to Lester and Ina (Lenard) Holmquist in Miles City, Montana. She was brought home to the farm in Rhame, ND, to a house with only a kitchen and a living room. There was no running water and no electricity. Lester built a new house with the help of relatives and neighbors before her brother, Lee, was born. They enjoyed the electricity, running water, and having their own rooms as long as they lived there.

During her youth, she worked both in the kitchen helping her mother and in the barn with her father. Her best memories of cooking with her mother were the feasts they prepared for the sheep-shearing crews and neighbors back when everyone helped each other with harvest. Anita was also responsible for caring for the orphaned lambs. She carried down several five-gallon buckets full of bottles of rehydrated milk twice a day. Anita was also active in 4-H, especially in sewing. As a young girl, she would often spend summer days under the cottonwood trees reading in the pasture, a hobby she loved her entire life.

Anita left home in August of 1965 to study Home Economics at NDSU, where she received both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. She became a loyal Bison fan, which she passed on to her boys and shared with her husband, Dennis. She remembers the double standard of having the girls’ dorms locked at 10 p.m., and if you came in late, your parents were called. She fondly remembers her college days and especially the University Lutheran Center, where she drank many cups of coffee talking with friends and studying.

Anita moved to New Town, North Dakota, at the end of spring 1969 and began her career with the NDSU Extension Agency as the Fort Berthold Extension Agent on June 1st. One of the first things she did was drive the wrong way down one of the one-way streets past Elmer Miller’s Barber Shop. Dennis Rohde was getting a haircut and noticed that good-looking lady in the wrong lane and decided he had to meet this confident woman. It wasn’t love at first sight, but according to her, she married the best man in the whole world. Dennis and Anita were married on December 27, 1970, during a snowy winter in her hometown of Rhame. During the early years of their marriage, they attended many social clubs like the Jaycees and made lifelong friends.

Anita and Dennis started their family with Chris in 1978 (born the same day as her) and soon after Greg in 1979. She also loved celebrating holidays with her extended family, especially at her in-laws Gilbert and Edith Rohde. Anita was known to host a holiday feast for friends and extended relatives with card tables set up next together making the table appear to bend around the corner. Everyone was hot and uncomfortable from eating too much, but that was the point, food is love. Anita was active in church her whole life and played organ for the church services intermittently since she was 14 years old and regularly since the 90s up until a few months before she got sick. She was active in her Circle, supporting people with illnesses and funerals, and she was grateful to those who supported her and her family now.

Anita retired after 32 years working for the Extension Service. She loved her friends from the Extension Agency and cherished her colleagues who worked for the Three Affiliated Tribes and other organizations. One of her jobs after retirement was the president of the ND Horticultural Society. Additionally, Anita was an accomplished Rosemaling painter; she painted at the Norsk Høstfest for several years. She and Dennis were empty nesters, so they started driving around the US, visiting friends and relatives along the way. They never had a hotel reservation and just drove through the part of the country that wasn’t in a deep freeze.

In 2012, after a particularly bad winter, they had enough of the cold and dark of North Dakota and became snowbirds. For the next 12 years, they traveled each winter to Leisure World in Mesa, AZ. They had the most wonderful neighbors there and had so much fun. During the warm months, they returned to the farm, and Anita’s top priority was helping care for their grandchildren; Cora and Greta would run across the driveway to get snacks. One great joy was to help with their 4-H projects.

On Monday, December 30, 2024, at the age of 77, Anita passed away from cancer under the care of Hospice of the Valley at her home in Arizona and surrounded by family. She will be remembered as a kind, loving woman who showed compassion and empathy for others. Anita was preceded in death by her parents, Lester and Ina Holmquist; parents-in-law, Gilbert and Edith Rohde; and brother-in-law, Gary Rohde.

She is survived by her husband of 54 years Dennis; sons, Chris (Nina) and Greg (Melissa); grandchildren, Cora and Gretta; brother, Lee (Megan) Holmquist; brother-in-law, Brad (Karen) Rohde; sister-in-law, Patti Rohde; and nieces and nephews, Doug, Dena, Kari, Kevin, Jorin and Megan.

Memorial Service: Saturday, January 11, 2024, at 11 a.m., at Bethel Lutheran Church, New Town

In lieu of flowers or memorials, please consider donating to the American Cancer Society (https://donate.cancer.org), Prairie Public Broadcasting (https://www.prairiepublic.org/support/donate), or the Western 4-H camp (https://tinyurl.com/NorthDakota4HFoundation).

Arrangements with Langhans Funeral Home, Parshall www.langhansfuneralhome.com.

Published by The Minot Daily News, January 7, 2025.