Joy Berntson, 80, Sanborn, ND, passed away June 23, 2024, at Vibra Hospital in
Fargo, ND. Visitation will be from 5:00 PM until 7:00 PM, Friday, June 28 at Sacred
Heart Catholic Church, Sanborn. A prayer service will begin with the praying of the
Rosary at 7:00. Funeral Mass will be celebrated Saturday, June 29 at 10:30 AM
with burial to follow in Sacred Heart Cemetery. The service will be live streamed,
then archived, on a link provided along with her obituary on her tribute page at
www.lerudmathias.com. An online guestbook is available there as well.
Joy Marie was born November 13, 1943, to Archie and Irene (Schuldt) Rolfzen. She
was born in Denton, TX while her dad was stationed there. The family returned to
Barnes County, ND when she was a small girl. Joy attended country school before
going on to Eckelson School, graduating in 1961. From there she went to Valley
City State University and took some business classes. She worked for Roy
Shepherd until starting her family.
On November 23, 1963, she married Rodger Berntson at Sacred Heart Catholic
Church in Sanborn. Together, they raised two children. Those children gave Joy
her greatest gift…grandchildren that she adored. She and Rodger attended as
many activities as possible to support them. Patrick and Megan were treated to
“alone vacations” with Grandma and Grandpa. Jonathan and Henry lived closer and
were able to get quality time with them as well.
Joy was busy with activities of her own. She belonged to several groups: Forget-
Me-Not Birthday Club, Eckelson/Sanborn Legion Auxiliary, North Dakota Winter
Show Women’s Division, and Christian Mothers and Circle 4 at Sacred Heart
Catholic Church. She was a 4H Leader and taught BB gun classes. Her hobbies
included flower gardening, embroidery, quilting, and bird watching. She enjoyed
playing cards, her games of choice being pinochle and cribbage. She was a great
cook. The family favorites were pancakes, red hotdish, Kumla, date cookies and
her delicious rhubarb pie.
Her calendars are lists of birthdays and anniversaries. She has older ones that are
a diary of sorts. She made notes about rainfall amounts and when someone visited
or other things she felt were important.
Joy is survived by her husband of 60 years, Rodger; children, Susan (Greg)
McCarthy and Bill (Pam) Berntson; grandchildren, Patrick (Hannah) McCarthy,
Megan McCarthy, Jonathan Berntson and Henry Berntson; brothers, Jim (Diane)
Rolfzen and John (Starla) Hoyer; sister, Jane (Al) Kunkel and many nieces,
nephews, great nieces and great nephews.
She was preceded in death by her parents and stepfather, Jack Hoyer and her
sister, Judy Strobel.