Jennie (Regina) C. Melland

Jennie Melland, 102 of Devils Lake formerly of Edmore and Loma, ND passed away on Monday, March 14, 2022 at her home in the loving care of family and Hospice of the Red River Valley. Mass of Christian Burial will be on Thursday, March 17, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. at St. Joseph Catholic Church with Reverend Steven Wirth celebrating the Mass. Visitation will be one hour prior to the funeral Mass. Regina Clementina, was born on March 12, 1920 in Loma ND, one of 11 children born to John and Elizabeth (Mack) Wilhelmi. She grew up on the family farm, attended Loma Public School and was a “star guard” on the girls basketball team. At a young age, she was taught how to help with the farm chores, help with the field work and help with the cooking and baking for a large family. Jennie was united in marriage to Leonard O. Melland on June 30, 1938. They established their home on a farm at rural Loma where they lived, worked and raised their family. Jennie was no stranger to life on a farm. She always tended a large garden from planting, to processing the produce. This also included tending strawberry and raspberry patches. She was involved in the raising of pigs, chickens, cattle and all the work required to be successful in those ventures. She was first and foremost a devoted wife, loving, caring, nurturing mother, grandmother, great and great great grandmother. She and Leonard retired from the farm in 1979 and moved to Edmore and Langdon for a time. While living in Edmore, Jennie worked at the Edmore Rest Home for 10 years. Eventually they moved to Devils Lake and would call it home the rest of their lives. Leonard died on July `1, 2006. Jennie was always busy. She made and shared many beautiful creations with family and friends from her many crocheting, knitting and needlework projects. She made it a point to make each grandchild’s favorite dish when they visited. She was an excellent dessert maker and no one could fry bacon like Grandma Jennie. If a game of 500 Rummy was played, it made the visit even more special. Jennie faced each challenge of 102 years with determination and courage. Jennie loved her Lord, treasured each and every member of her family with her whole heart and felt blessed to remain in her own home until her death with the help of her precious family. May she rest in eternal peace and joy. Jennie’s loving family include her children Glenna Larson, Starkweather ND, Lynn Melland and his wife Jane of Elk River, MN, Angela Blackaby of Oklahoma City, OK; 9 grandchildren Darrel Larson, Devils Lake, Dale (Shelley) Larson, Starkweather, Tamara Rysavy, Devils Lake, Melissa (Petrus) Bezuidenhout, Park River ND: Darren (Marie) Melland, Cambridge MN, Lonnie (Jennifer) Melland, Elk River MN, Keith (Julie) Melland, Ramsey MN: Kent (Gail) Smith, Houston TX, Kim Watts of Arkansas; 21 great grandchildren and 6 great great grandchildren; numerous nieces, nephews and their families. She was preceded in death by her husband Leonard, sons-in-law Duane Larson and Patrick Blackaby, brothers Joe, Mike, Ralph, John, Anthony “Tony”, Henry “Hank” and Frank Wilhelmi, sisters Ann Schmidt, Aileen Bachman and Kay Kelly.