Heidi Lee Frie

Heidi Lee Frie, 45, Horace, ND died Thursday, April 6, 2017, after a long courageous battle with ovarian cancer surrounded by her family. Heidi was born on September 25, 1971 in Woodstock, IL to Gary and Teri Hedman. Heidi was raised in the suburbs of Chicago, IL and made the MN/ND area home in her late teenage years, eventually settling in the wonderful community of Horace. She graduated from high school in Kennedy MN. Heidi was united in marriage to Jeremy Frie on June 3, 1995 in Fargo, ND. Heidi earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology from University of MN-Morris and her master’s degree in counseling from MN State University, Moorhead. Most recently, Heidi worked at Concordia College in Moorhead as the Director of the Academic Enhancement Writing Center. She also worked as a Counselor at North Dakota State University, a Case Manager at Southeast Human Services, Director and Volunteer Coordinator at FirstLink and an Intensive In-Home Family Therapist with Norman County, Ada, MN. Heidi had a love for gardening, spending time at the lake, quilting, and all things associated with spending time with her children and their numerous activities. Heidi loved everything dealing with nature. She taught her children to appreciate simple things and not to take them for granted. If there was a chance to see the northern lights, a shooting star, or a meteor shower, you could count on Heidi waking the kids in the middle of the night to go outside and take a peek. She rarely missed an opportunity to show her family her love for things like that. Heidi was the best at taking time out of the busy schedule to enjoy and appreciate the beauty of life. Heidi’s passion was helping others. She dedicated her entire professional career to helping people. Heidi was instrumental in helping with the coordination of the volunteer effort during the flood of 97’ in Fargo through FirstLink. Her real passion at work involved helping college students reach their goals. This fall, Heidi and Jeremy developed the Heidi Frie Memorial Student Success Award at Concordia College. Gifts donated to this fund will go to help students who demonstrate academic progress during their first academic year, show excellent promise, and have a strong likelihood of completing their degree program at Concordia. This is a unique award as it recognizes progress. While there are many scholarships that recognize academic achievements prior to entering college, there are none that recognize and reward students for academic progress during their most difficult year of college, their first year. That’s what Heidi was all about-helping students improve and reach their goals. Memorials may be made on behalf of Heidi to the Heidi Frie Memorial Student Success Award, Concordia College Office of Advancement, 901 8th St. S, Moorhead, MN, 56562. Heidi is survived by her husband, Jeremy; and children, Anna and Sawyer at home; her parents Teri (Fred) Zweifel and Gary (Renee) Hedman; and, brother Aaron (Nicholle) Hedman; sister Holly (Shon) Fandrich; in-laws Bernard and Helen Frie; step sisters Ali (Travis) Pearce and Liz Murray (Peter Cannon); step brother, Greg (Karolyn) Zweifel; step sister, Kim (Stan) Smith; grandparent Erma Raney; nephews Gunnar, Garrett, Cole, Damien, Joel and Ian; nieces Sierra, Ella and Camieo. She was preceded in death by her baby brother Chad. We would like to thank the Roger Maris Cancer Center and the Mayo Clinic for nearly six years of outstanding care for Heidi. We would also like to thank JPII Catholic Schools, Dakota Medical Foundation/Lend-A-Hand and the Heidi Frie Benefit Committee and all of our friends and family who have helped us along this journey. A special thanks to Hospice of the Red River Valley for the great care of Heidi over the course of the last few months. Visitation: 4:30-6:00 PM Sunday, April 9, 2017 at Sts. Anne and Joachim Catholic Church with a prayer service at 6:00 PM. Funeral Mass: 10:00 AM Monday, April 10, 2017 with visitation one hour before funeral.