Zita Beatrice Gieser, 85, Dickinson died after a brief illness on Monday, April 21, 2008 at St. Joseph’s Hospital & Health Center, Dickinson. Zita’s Mass of Christian Burial will be at 10 a.m., Saturday, April 26, 2008 at Queen of Peace Catholic Church, Dickinson with Fr. Jeff Zwack as celebrant. Interment will follow at St. Wenceslaus Cemetery. Dickinson. Visitation will be from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., Friday at Ladbury Funeral Service and will continue one hour prior to services at the church on Saturday. There will be a rosary and vigil at 7:30 p.m., Friday at Ladbury Funeral Service with Deacon Ron Wolberg presiding.
Zita was born on January 18, 1923, to Florian and Rosa (Bernhardt) Dauenhauer on her father’s homestead near Taylor, ND, where she grew up. She attended grade school at Richardton and Taylor ND and graduated from Taylor High School in 1942.
Prior to her marriage, she worked at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Dickinson. Zita married Raymond Gieser on June 1, 1943, at St. Philip’s Church in Hirschville, ND. They raised seven children, four girls and three boys, on their farm north of Gladstone. Ray and Zita were married for nearly 64 years.
Zita was active in many community activities. While on the farm, she taught school from 43-44, was the clerk for Wildrose School District from 1947 – 1960, was President of Gladstone PTA from 1962 – 1964, was on the Advisory Board of the Dickinson School District from 1968 – 1971, served on the Dunn County Farmers Union Board of Directors 12 yrs, served as a Dunn County Farmers Union Youth Leader for 18 years, lobbied in Washington DC with the North Dakota Farmers Union in 1963 and 1970, and was a Delegate to the National Farmers Union Convention in 1980.
Zita always served her Catholic Parishes. Her work included teaching catechism at St. Philips from 1962 – 1973, serving as Presidents of the St. Philips Church Council and Gladstone KC-Ettes, contributing with the Catholic Daughters, and being a Eucharistic Minister and Lector at Queen of Peace.
Zita enjoyed her hobbies of crocheting, sewing, and raising flowers. Many churches and homes were decorated with her flowers, and numerous friends and relatives enjoy her very special crocheted snowflakes and braided palms. She also enjoyed traveling to Europe and the former Soviet Union to research her family’s ancestry.
During Zita’s 38 years on the farm, she made the house a home for her family. She canned the vegetables she raised in her large garden, baked bread and sewed for family. She is remembered for ethnic foods including kuchen, borscht, and button soup.
Ray and Zita retired from farming in October, 1981, and they moved to Dickinson. Zita became active in the Stark County Historical Society, the Deutsche Leute Chapter of Germans from Russia and the Northern Plains Ethnic Association.
Zita is survived by her six children, Agnes Kemp, Edith (Harlan) Muth, Raymond, Bernard (Sherry Jacobs), Lauren (Vera Reisenauer), Carolyn Stewart; 17 grandchildren, three great-grandchildren; and her sisters Bertha Hobbs, Rita Amann, Rose Hoff and Stella Rummel.
She was preceded in death by her husband Raymond; her daughter, Rose Marie Frisbee her parents, Florian and Rosa Dauenhauer; her brothers, Bernard and Otto; and her sisters, Agnes Hoff and Emma Braun.
