Dolores Erna Krueger Nord, age 94, a resident of Golden Valley, MN, passed away on April 3, 2019, from complications related to a fall. She was a woman with great energy who loved people and never waivered in her abiding Christian faith. She loved hats, flowers, entertaining, and helping others.
Dolores was born September 30, 1924 to the Rev. Arthur Carl and Josephine Krueger in Goodhue, MN, the fourth of five surviving children. She attended a one-room schoolhouse through grade 8, then lived with her grandmother in Austin, MN, so she could complete high school.
At age 17, Dolores was accepted as the youngest nursing student ever at Fairview Hospital in Minneapolis. The program was rigorous: with many nurses enlisted in the war effort at the time, student nurses were put to work on the wards immediately. Dolores graduated with a bachelor’s degree in nursing in 1947, the fulfillment of a dream she’d had since early childhood. She treasured her RN license and kept renewing it until she turned 70.
During the post-war baby boom, Dolores rose to the position of OB-GYN Night Supervisor. While receiving specialized training at the University of Chicago, she met William “Bill” Nord, a graduate student and Navy veteran. After courting by mail for a year, Dolores and Bill were married in 1953 and settled in Minneapolis. They had four children. Since Bill traveled for work, Dolores gave up her nursing career to care for the family. These years were busy with homemaking, involvement at Christ Church Lutheran, and their “Hotsie Totsie Bridge Club.”
As her children grew, “Dee” applied her time to charitable work. She volunteered for Planned Parenthood of Minnesota, provided infant foster care for Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota, made thousands of layettes, school bags, and bars of soap for Lutheran World Relief, organized letter-writing campaigns for Bread For the World, and served for decades on the Hunger and Human Needs Committee at Calvary Lutheran Church in Golden Valley. She volunteered for Community Emergency Services in Minneapolis and Metro Ministries, helping establish the Healing House for single mothers with children in North Minneapolis.
Most notably, for 32 years Dolores volunteered overnight every Tuesday as a phone counselor for Crisis Connection, providing help and hope for those who called the emergency hotline. For this remarkable record of service Dolores received KARE-TV’s “Eleven Who Care” award and a new call center in Minneapolis was named in her honor. After years of speaking with LGBTQ callers, Dolores became a passionate advocate for the Reconciling in Christ movement in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Although just 5’2” tall, she was a powerful force--as the pastors with whom she argued scripture can attest.
In their later years Dolores and Bill traveled extensively. She was happy going wherever there would be new people to meet. They moved to Covenant Village in Golden Valley in 2008—where she collected thousands of paper grocery bags for the food shelf at Community Emergency Service--and joined Westwood Lutheran Church in St. Louis Park in 2012. They were also deeply involved in Redeemer Lutheran Church in North Minneapolis--often they went to services at both churches on Sunday mornings.
This past June, Dolores became a resident at Colonial Acres Care Center, where Bill visited her daily. They would hold hands and sing to one another. An extrovert to the end, she loved living in memory care and developed close relationships with the staff. Her family cannot adequately express their appreciation for the wonderful care she received there.
Dolores was preceded in death by her parents and siblings, and is survived by her husband of 65 years, William, her sons Dan (Amanda Franklin), and Michael (Colleen Vallad-Hix), daughters Kristin (Kirk) Lufkin and Rev. Nancy Nord (Kenneth) Bence, ten grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held on Sunday, May 26, 2019, at St. James Lutheran Church, 6700 46 th Place N, Crystal, MN 55428. Visitation at 2:00pm, service at 3:00pm, reception to follow. Guests are invited to bring paper grocery bags to be donated to Community Emergency Services. Memorials may be given to
The Dolores Nord Memorial at Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota or Community Emergency Services of Minneapolis.
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