Mary Ann Boeddeker

Mary Ann’s service will be livestreamed below starting at 2:00 PM Monday, July 20, 2026 central time.

Mary Ann (Veen) Boeddeker, 89, of Hillsboro, ND, and Mesa, AZ, joined her Heavenly Father early Wednesday morning July 1, 2026, after a brief battle with stomach and abdominal cancer.

She was born to Evelyn (Hammer) and Taylor Veen in New Rockford, ND, on November 4, 1936. The family lived on a farm near Cathay with cattle and chickens.
Mary Ann attended Wells and Foster County Country Schools through eighth grade. She was the only one in her class and often said she read every book in the school’s little library multiple times a year. In the fall of 1950, the family moved to Cummings, ND, and Mary Ann began attending Hillsboro High School. There she met Dallas Boeddeker, both graduating in 1954. The high school sweethearts married on September 28, 1956, and renewed their vows two years later at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Moorhead, MN.

Mary Ann earned her kindergarten and elementary education degree from Concordia College with a minor in history and geography. She had an unquenchable thirst for learning throughout her adult life, taking classes from UND, Mayville State, NDSU, and Moorhead State. Together Mary Ann and Dallas built a life around faith, family, and farming. They had three children: Jan, Jay, and Jill.

Mary Ann held a variety of jobs, including piano teacher, WDAY Promotion secretary and receptionist, newspaper typist, first-grade teacher in Barnesville, MN, (1956-1959), fifth- and sixth-grade teacher in Hillsboro (1970-1972), substitute teacher, Health, and Humanities Foundation Director (1994-2002), and Kelleher Manor manager (1999-2002).

Mary Ann was a dedicated volunteer in the community and was well known for being generous with her time, talent, and treasury. A natural leader, she held numerous positions at Highland and Our Savior’s Lutheran Church. She will likely be remembered most for sending out birthday and holiday cards to nursing home and assisted living residents and area shut-ins, sending out as many as 400 cards a month. She was a big fan of the written word and was a prolific letter writer.

Mary Ann and Dallas traveled to all 50 states and multiple foreign countries, as well as hosting students from Japan, Norway, and Germany in their home. Deeply devoted to her 5 grandchildren, Mary Ann accompanied each of them on two educational elder-hostel trips of their choice.

Mary Ann belonged to Homemakers, Women’s club, book club, was a lifetime member of American Association of University Women, and was board member of the Traill County Historical Society. She found time to garden (achieving Master Gardener status), tend to her flowers, and play bridge. She collected stamps, coins, and North Dakota historical artifacts. She was a voracious reader, consuming newspapers, magazines and novels.

She was a proud advocate of the farming community as a member of Agri Women and the North Dakota Farmers Union.

Mary Ann was passionate about seeing the community of Hillsboro flourish now and into the future. She served as a board member of the H509 Scholarship committee. As director of Hillsboro Health and Humanities Foundation, she co-chaired the effort to raise over 2 million dollars for the expansion of the Hillsboro Medical Center and was instrumental in the development of Kelleher Manor Senior Living, later serving as manager.

After Mary Ann and Dallas retired from farming, they decided they’d had enough of North Dakota winters and bought a home in Mesa, AZ. They thoroughly enjoyed their time in the sunny climate and made many dear friends there.

Mary Ann was preceded by her parents and infant brother, Dale.

Mary Ann is survived by Dallas, her husband of nearly 70 years, and their three children: Jan (Dwayne) Leidholm of Mesa, AZ and Vergas, MN, Jay (Kelly) Boeddeker of Fountain Hills, AZ, Jill (Eric) Rotvold of Waconia, MN.

She was extremely proud of her 5 grandchildren: Nathan (Pinar) Leidholm of Ankara, Turkey, Matthew (Shane) Leidholm of Mandan, ND, Kendra (Steve) Barthel of Plymouth, MN, Scott (Emily) Rotvold of Eden Prairie, MN, Ellie Rotvold of Austin, Texas.

Mary Ann’s heart burst with joy over her 4 great granddaughters: Evelyn, Rose, and Grace Barthel and Elizabeth Rotvold.
She spent much time with her caring brother Ted (Emily) Veen.

Our family would like to thank the wonderful doctors, nurses, and staff at the Sanford Hillsboro Hospital. They treated mom like she was family. We’d like to recognize the Wildeman-Boulger Funeral staff in helping us with all the arrangements and everyone who played a part in the funeral service.

Visitation will be from 1-2 PM on Monday, July 20, at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Hillsboro, followed by the Celebration of Life at 2:00 PM. A small lunch will be served, followed by grave-side service at the St Rose of Lima Catholic Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Hillsboro Food Pantry, the Hillsboro Nursing Home Activity Department, Hillsboro Sanford Hospital Auxiliary, Kelleher Manor, or Our Savior’s Lutheran Church of Hillsboro.