Jonelle "Joni" Kummer

Jonelle (Joni) Kummer of Walcott, North Dakota, passed away at the age of 64 at Sanford Palliative Care on Thursday, April 27, 2017 surrounded by family. Joni was born Jonelle Marie Eide in Moorhead, MN on September 27, 1952. Her parents were Arna Leiseth Eide and Newell “Kermit” Eide. She was the youngest of six (Edward, Judith, Barbara, David, and Deborah). Joni graduated from Moorhead High School in 1970. She had a love for cooking and found a job at St. Ansgar Hospital in Moorhead in the kitchen. Over the next few years, she worked in several area hospitals. Her son, John, was born in March of 1973. She met her husband, Rodney Kummer, at a dance that she attended with her older sister Barbara. A year later, Rodney and Joni were wed. Together with her oldest son, John, they made their home in Walcott, North Dakota. Her son, Robert, was born in June of 1981, and her son, Christopher, was born in May of 1982. Along with being a busy homemaker and mother, she owned the Lunch Box Café in Walcott, worked at Big Top Bingo, Innovis hospital and Menards. In 2015, she enjoyed the freedom of retirement. She loved cooking, gardening, knitting and music as hobbies. She really loved taking care of her family and a good laugh over coffee with friends. She will always be remembered by her family for her delectable caramel pull-aparts. Joni will be remembered as a selfless, giving wife and mother who always had a smile, even when times were tough. She never complained and always looked forward to a better future. She always sacrificed her needs for the good of her family. Joni’s character and temperament can best be shown from when she was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer only one week prior to her passing into heaven. Joni had every right to cry, be mad, or even fall into a depression following her diagnosis but instead she loved and lived every moment she was given. Neither hard times nor cancer would rob her of who she was, always graceful, until God called her home. She is survived by her husband, Rodney Kummer of Walcott, ND; sons, John (Kim) Kummer of Moorhead, MN, Robert (Michele) Kummer of Fargo, ND, Christopher (Lisa) Kummer of West Fargo, ND; and grandchildren, Madison, Brooklyn, Avery, West and Tate. She is also survived by her siblings, Edward (Elizabeth) Eide of Jacksonville, FL, Judith (Lance) Johnson of Dilworth, MN, David (Carrie) Eide of Portland, OR and Deborah (Wayne) Hall of Austin, TX. She was preceded in death by her mother, Arna Leiseth Eide; her father, Newell “Kermit” Eide; and sister, Barbara Ann Reppen. Visitation will be from 6-7 p.m., with a prayer service at 7 p.m., Monday, May 1, 2017 at Boulger Funeral Home in Fargo. Visitation will continue from 10-11 a.m., followed by the funeral at 11 a.m., Tuesday, May 2, 2017 at Hope Lutheran South Campus in Fargo. “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith” (2 Timothy 4:7).