Yvonne Carol Utke

The family of Yvonne Utke regrets having to announce the passing of their mother and grandmother on January 22, 2023 at Essentia Hospital in Fargo. She was 80.

Yvonne Carol Gire was born at St. Mary’s Hospital in Detroit Lakes, MN on December 4, 1942 to George Gire and Lydia (Wandersee) Gire. She grew up on a farm north of Detroit Lakes and just south of Callaway. She attended church at Richwood Lutheran Church; she was baptized, confirmed, and later married there.

Yvonne went to a one-room school in rural Detroit Lakes. When that school closed, she attended Washington Elementary School, Detroit Lakes Jr. High, and graduated from Detroit Lakes Senior High in 1960. She played clarinet for the high school marching band.

She attended Interstate Business College in Fargo, ND. She worked for a shoe store in downtown Fargo until she went to work at Dakota Hospital.

On October 19, 1968 she married Dan Utke. They lived in Horace, ND, before moving to a farm near Westbury, MN. Later they moved into Detroit Lakes, and then to Enderlin, ND. After Dan died, she lived with her son on the family farm, before moving to Touchmark Care Center in Fargo.

Yvonne worked for 31 years as a Certified Nursing Assistant in Detroit Lakes, Enderlin, and Lake Park. Yvonne’s hobbies revolved around cooking, flowers, birds, and helping Dan with Car Club activities. She often volunteered at the churches she went to and also at WMSTR. She loved spoiling her dogs, and always had a cat or two around.

Yvonne is survived by her three children, Julie, Steve (Kay Sperling), and Darnell “Matt.” She has two grandchildren, Brandan (Alisha Zirnhelt) Utke and Kasey Utke. She was preceded in death by her husband, Dan, her parents George and Lydia Gire, and her grandparents Ole and Gertrude Gire and Wilhelm and Caroline Wandersee.