Dolores "Dee" Knopik

Dolores "Dee" Knopik, 93 year old resident of Little Falls, MN passed away Tuesday, October 31, 2023 at the St. Cloud Hospital. A Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 11:00 A.M. on Wednesday, November 8, 2023 at Holy Family Catholic Church in Belle Prairie, MN with Father Ben Kociemba officiating. Burial will take place in Minnesota State Veterans Cemetery north of Little Falls, MN. A visitation will be held from 4-7 P.M. on Tuesday and from 10-11 A.M. on Wednesday at Holy Family Catholic Church in Belle Prairie, MN. Caring for Dee and her family is the Shelley Funeral Chapel in Little Falls, MN. Dee (Dolores Schantz) Knopik was born November 6, 1929 in Glen Ullin, ND to the late Christ and Anna (Geiss) Schantz. She attended school in Glen Ullin, graduating High School in 1947. Dee then attended St. Alexis Nursing School in Bismarck, ND for 3 years to become a Registered Nurse. Upon her graduation, she was asked by the nuns to continue her education at Creighton University in Omaha, NE to get a teaching degree so that she could go back to St. Alexis and teach the nursing students. While at Creighton University she carried a full load of credits and also worked full-time nights at the Methodist Hospital as a Registered Nurse from December through June. She then returned to St. Alexis Nursing School as promised, being the first lay instructor ever to teach the nursing students, for 2 years. The year Dee graduated from St. Alexis Nursing School, only 10 of the 26 nursing students that had started the program, stayed in the program to graduate. When Dee started teaching the nursing students, it was the first class in the school’s history where everyone who started the nursing program stayed and graduated. All the students also went on to pass the RN exam on the first try. Dee then took a leave of absence to come to Little Falls, MN with a good friend where she ended up staying. She got a job at St. Gabriel’s Hospital and worked on the surgical floor. Two weeks later she was promoted to the Head Nurse position on the surgical floor. She also worked in the emergency room for 6 years. She went on to work as a supervisor and eventually was the Director of Nursing. She was also the first nurse to work in Utilization Review. Her final job was working at the Family Medical Center where she retired at the age of 76. She was united in marriage to Clarence Knopik on September 20, 1954 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Little Falls. Following their marriage, Dee and Clarence lived in Sobieski. She also did the bookkeeping for the Sobieski Creamery for 12 years. In 1970, the couple and their family moved to Little Falls. In her later years, Dee volunteered at St. Gabriel’s Hospital, St. Otto’s Care Center, and the Food Shelf. She also was a lector and a Eucharistic Minister at Holy Family Church in Belle Prairie for several years. She enjoyed walking, feeding the ducks, playing cards, baking bread and reading. Dee is survived by her sons, Dick (Jeanne) Knopik of Little Falls, Charles (Char) Knopik of Brainerd, and daughter, Mary (Scott) Mason of Maple Grove, MN; grandchildren, Eric (Emily) Knopik, Kevin (Rachel) Knopik, Sara (Mike) Nielsen, and Kate (David) Binder; great-grandchildren, Ada, Annie, Joshua, Andrew, and Abigail Knopik, Evelyn and George Binder, Lauren and Megan Nielsen; sister, Kathy Kopp of Bismarck, ND and half-sister, Margie (Gary) Jaeger as well as many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, Clarence, her parents, her stepmother, Anna Schantz, infant son, Joseph, her sister, Lou and brother-in-law, Jerry Haehn, and brother-in-law, John Kopp.

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Dolores "Dee" Knopik

November 6, 1929 - October 31, 2023