Joan Heitkamp

Joan Heitkamp, 84, Breckenridge, MN, passed away Friday, December 30, 2011 at St. Francis Healthcare Campus, Breckenridge, MN. The Funeral Mass will be 10:30 a.m., Monday, January 2, at St. Thomas Catholic Church, Kent, MN, with Rev. Stan Wieser as Celebrant. Visitation will be Sunday from 4 PM to 8 PM with a 7 PM Prayer Service at Willow Creek Chapel, Wahpeton and one hour before the service at the church on Monday. Interment will be at St. Anthony's Catholic Cemetery, Mooreton, ND. Vertin-Munson is in charge of arrangements.

Joan was born July 20, 1927, at Wahpeton, ND, the daughter of Ernest J. and Helen (Haire) Mishak. She grew up near Kent, MN, where she attended grade school and graduated from Breckenridge High School in 1945. She worked on the family farm and on November 6, 1951 she was united in marriage to Clarence Heitkamp at St. Thomas Catholic Church in Kent. The couple lived and farmed near Barney, ND, and in 1954 she moved into Barney to care for her father-in-law, Henry Heitkamp. Later that year after the death of her husband and father-in-law she moved to rural Kent, to move in with Grotloschen family and raise her son.

Joan worked for Scheel's in Breckenridge from 1956 to 1959 and for the next 33 years worked for St. Francis Hospital in Breckenridge. She continued to live in rural Kent until 2010 when she moved to Twin Town Villa in Breckenridge, MN.

Joan was a member of St. Thomas Catholic Church. She enjoyed baking pies and watching all sports, especially the Minnesota Twins. She crocheted; making many afghans for family and friends and was an avid bingo player at Twin Town Villa.

Joan is survived by her son Gregory Heitkamp, Lisbon, ND; three grandchildren: Phillip (Jennifer) Heitkamp, Kent; Sarah (Kelly) Peterson, Abercrombie, ND; Erik Heitkamp, Fargo, ND; one great granddaughter, Sophie Kate Peterson; her brother-in-law, William Grotluschen, Kent; two nieces and nephews: Stephanie (Merrill) Miranowski, Breckenridge; Helen Zajac, Wahpeton; Robert (Patty) Grotluschen, Kent; James (Nancy) Grotluschen, Kent; several grand nephews and nieces, great grand nephews and nieces, who considered Joan their second grandmother.

She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband Clarence, her sister Mildred Grotluschen, her father-in-law, Henry Heitkamp, and infant brother Alan Peter.