Darlene Miedema, age 84, of Valley City, ND, died Tuesday, May 1, 2018 at her residence at Bridgeview Estates. A funeral service will be held at 10:00 AM Saturday, May 5th at Grace Free Lutheran Church in Valley City. Visitation will be held on Friday from 5:00 PM until 7:00 PM at Grace Free Lutheran and one hour before the service on Saturday morning. A prayer service will be held at 7:00 PM Friday evening at the church. Interment will be in Memory Gardens Cemetery near Valley City.
Elinor Darlene Sortland, the daughter of Olaf and Edith (Olson) Sortland, was born May 15, 1933 in Valley City, ND. Darlene grew up on her parents farm northwest of Litchville, ND. She attended school in Svea Consolidated School and graduated from high school by correspondence from State College Station at NDSU in Fargo, ND. In the fall of 1950, she began working at the American National Bank in Valley City. She was married to Ernest Miedema on May 26, 1950 in Litchville, ND. They began farming in the Svea community for over 5 years before returning to Valley City where they owned and operated Auction City Sales Company for over 30 years. In 1986, the business was sold and they moved to Minneapolis, MN where she became a sales associate at Carson Pirie Scott at the Brookdale Mall.
After retiring in 1997, they began spending winters in Sarasota, FL where Darlene did seasonal part time work in various stores in Sarasota. Ernie passed away on February 11, 2012 and Darlene has continued to live in Valley City. Her life was centered around her husband, children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. She dearly loved each one. She spent part of each day with Ernie while he was a resident of the Sheyenne Care Center for almost 4 years. Ernie and Darlene were members of Grace Free Lutheran Church in Valley City from 1963 until the present time.
Darlene is survived by her children Darryl, Sarasota, FL, and Gwen (Dwight) Schmidt, Jamestown, ND; daughters-in-law, Cathryn Schmidt, Bismarck, ND and Debby Miedema, Sarasota, FL; five grandchildren, Heather (Mike) Thune, Justin (Amy) Miedema, Nick (Danielle) Schmidt, Nicole (Chris) Pearson and Tyson (Mark) Quire; six great-grandchildren, Kylar, Scarlett and Aria Pearson, Nolan Schmidt, Saige Quire and Abbigail Thune; one sister, Lorraine Miedema, Chanhassen, MN; one brother, Duane Sortland, Valley City, ND; two sisters in law, Maxine Muske, Bismarck, ND and Elaine Miedema, Valley City, ND; one brother in law, Robert Miedema, Valley City, ND.
Darlene is preceded in death by her parents, her husband Ernie, oldest son Larry, her mother in law and father in law Andrew and Ruth (Rohrbeck) Miedema, two sisters in law, Ellrene Sortland and Norma Miedema, three brothers in law John Miedema, Herman Muske and Stanley Miedema.
Funeral arrangements by the Lerud Schuldt Mathias Funeral Home. An online guestbook is available at www.lerudschuldt.com