St. Paul - Heidi Mickelson, 35, died Sunday, September 12, 1999 at her home in St. Paul after a two and one-half year battle with brain cancer.
Memorial services were held at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 18 at Hillside Baptist Church in Dickinson, ND with Rev. Rande Kerr officiating. Klayton Kirsch was the organist, and Carol Varner was the soloist. Honorary casketbearers were Jackie Feil, Carla Adamek, Cindy Wagner, Brenda Kelley, Peggy Neill, John D. Haas, Sarah Haas and Patti Flekke. Interment was in Killdeer Cemetery in Killdeer, ND. The Landbury Funeral Service was in charge of the arrangements.
Heidi Carol Lillibridge was born on June 10, 1964 in Dickinson, ND, the daughter of Robert "Bunky" and Sylvia (Haas) Lillibridge. She was educated in rural schools in Billings county and graduated from Belfield High School. In May of 1989, Heidi received her bachelor's degree from North Dakota State University. She continued her education at the University of Minnesota at St. Paul, receiving her master's degree in plant breeding 1992. At the time of her death, she was a PhD candidate.
On June 10, 1989, Heidi married Harold Mickelson, and the couple lived in St. Paul while attending graduate school. They then lived in Mexico for four years while working for CIMMYT, Inc., an international research center with charter under the United Nation's CIGAR system. While there, Heidi had the opportunity to do her thesis research with CIMMYT's wheat breeding program. Wheat varieties developed from her research will have higher protein content and better quality, improving the diets and lives of people living in Third World countries.
Heidi was an accomplished violinist and fiddler, and enjoyed participating in fiddle contests and entertaining locally. She also enjoyed plants and growing them, finding an outlet for these interests by pursuing a career in plant breeding.
Survivors include her husband, Harold; her parents, Bunky and Sylvia Lillibridge of Fairfield, ND; one brother, Jody Lillibridge of Belfield, ND; her grandmother, Carol Haas of Dickinson, ND; and aunts, uncles and cousins.
Also surviving are Carol's extended family including her mother-in-law and father-in-law, Doloris and Roger Mickelson of Goodridge; four brothers-in-law including Tim Mickelson of Goodridge and Stuart Mickelson of Warroad; three sisters-in-law including Beattie Mickelson of Goodridge; and one niece and one nephew.
Heidi was preceded in death by her maternal grandfather and paternal grandparents.
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