Lorilie Atkinson
July 10, 1978 – July 12, 2022
Lorilie Marie Atkinson,
the daughter of Howard
and Ruth (Ritzman) At-
kinson was born on July
10, 1978 in Bottineau,
North Dakota. She died at
the age of 44 years on
Tuesday, July 12, 2022
while hiking in Glacier
Park, Montana.
Lorilie was raised in
Willow City, where she
attended school and gra-
duated from Willow City
High School. She contin-
ued her education, first at
Wahpeton, then a few oth-
er colleges, before she re-
ceived her master’s degree
from UND. She loved
school and all it entailed,
learning and keeping her
mind sharp. While she
was going to school, she
lived in multiple com-
munities and worked vari-
ous jobs, before settling in
Grand Forks. Her degree
was in Earth Science and
she worked for NRCS,
where she was a soil con-
servationist. Her job re-
quired her to travel to
various locations for con-
tinuing education and she
would bring back what
she had learned to teach
her co-workers and give
presentations. She took
pride in those presenta-
tions, preparing and mak-
ing sure not to miss a de-
tail.
Lorilie took knitting
classes, it seems she al-
ways had to be learning
something, and would
knit hot pot holders and
afgans in her spare time.
She also spent a lot of
time researching her fami-
ly ancestry and went back
generations. Her mother
and her traveled to Penn-
sylvania to see where the
family had land that they
eventually sold to home-
stead in North Dakota.
When she had three-day
weekends or any holiday,
she would come to Wil-
low City to stay and visit
her family. She would
help her mom with holi-
day meals, enjoyed play-
ing cards at her brothers
and spending time with
her nieces and nephew,
whom she loved. She al-
ways had a cat, one was
Salem and her current cat
is Charlie. Being from a
smaller school, she kept
in contact with her class-
mates and they are her
forever friends. Lorilie
was taken too soon and
will be missed and loved
forever.
Lorilie is survived by
her mother, Ruth of Wil-
low City; brothers, Vern
(Lori) Nielsen of Baudette,
Minnesota, Robert of Rug-
by and Camron (Andrea)
of Willow City; three
nieces and one nephew;
an uncle, Richard Ritz-
man; cousins; other rela-
tives and friends. She was
preceded in death by her
father, Howard; uncle,
Harlan Atkinson and her
grandparents.
Funeral services were
held at 2:00 p.m. Wednes-
day, July 20th at First
Lutheran Church in Wil-
low City with burial in
the Memorial Park
Cemetery in Willow City. Pastor Lin-
da Wimmer, Officiating.
Organist: Mark Vollmer
Casket Bearers: Mark
Johnson, Troy Danielson,
Nick Dryer, Curt Guss,
Daryl Pritschet and Kevin
Gietzen.
On behalf of the family, we wish to express
their gratitude for your
many acts of kindness evi-
denced in thoughts and
deed and for your atten-
dance at the funeral ser-
vice.
Arrangements with the
Anderson Funeral Home
of Rugby. Online registry:
funeralsbyanderson.com