Joan Wigen

Joan E. Wigen, 57, Bismarck, wife of Bob Kallberg, died April 9, 2008, after a heroic 12-year battle with cancer, at her home with Bob and her beloved Siamese cats by her side. Services will be held at 2 p.m. on Monday, April 14, at Trinity Lutheran Church, Bismarck. Burial will follow with a private commitment at Sunset Memorial Gardens, Bismarck, where she will be buried next to her beloved father, J.O. "Bud" Wigen. Visitation will be held at Parkway Funeral Service, 2330 Tyler Parkway, Bismarck, on Sunday, April 13, from 6:00 - 9:00 PM and will continue one hour prior to the service at the church. Joan was born on May 10, 1950, in Fargo, and was adopted that year by Bud and Phyliss Wigen. She grew up in Hettinger and Bismarck, attended schools in Bismarck, and graduated from Bismarck High School. She graduated from Bismarck State College in 1970 and from North Dakota State University, Fargo, in 1972 with a BA degree in Education. Up until February 29, 2008, Joanie was working for the Hoeven Committee in Bismarck, where she had been employed since 2002. She had worked on Governor Hoeven's 2000 campaign, and then went to work with the Tourism Division of the Department of Commerce for just over a year before returning to the political arena. Prior to that, she had been Director of the Schafer Volunteer Committee for Governor Ed Shafer from November 1993 to December 1999. Other jobs she held over her lifetime included Assistant Director at Missouri Slope Areawide United Way, Consultant with the North Dakota Public Employees Association, Associate Director, Auxiliary Services, Bismarck Junior College, Assistant Manager, Town House Motor Inn, Bismarck, and Senior Program Director at Missouri Valley Family YMCA. Joanie was always involved in her community, and the list of her activities includes the following, Trinity Lutheran Church: Board of Deacons 1978-81, Trust Committee, 1993-96, Church Council 1997 and 1998, and the Facility Planning Task Force 1999 serving as chairman in 2000; Capitol Grounds Planning Commission 2001; Planning Committee, Midwest Governors Conference; Board of Directors, Big Brother Big Sister Program, 1995-97; Mountain Plains Youth Services/Youthworks, Board of Directors, 1997-2000; Sakakawea Girl Scout Council; Bismarck-Mandan Directors of Volunteer Services, 1988-1991; North Dakota "Party of the Century" co-chairman busing and information booths; and a member of the Missouri Valley Family YMCA Y's Men's Club, serving as its president 1981-1982. Joanie was also a member past and present of the following: P.E.O. Sisterhood, Kappa Alpha Theta Social Sorority, Bismarck Elks Lodge, North Dakota State University Alumni Association, and Bismarck State College National Alumni Association. Joanie will be long remembered by those familiar with her 12-year long battle with cancer as someone who exhibited great courage, an incredible attitude, and an indomitable spirit and while she slipped away peacefully, she fought well and did not go quietly in to that good night. She is survived by her husband, Bob Kallberg; her step-son, Ryan Kallberg and his wife, Kim Randall; her grandson, Declan Kallberg, all of Los Angeles, CA; her sister, Ann Chase, Bismarck; her brother, Richard Wigen and his partner Fritz Lichty, San Francisco; her sister, Virginia Stringer, and brother-in-law, Ed Stringer, St. Paul, MN; her uncle, Richard Vevle, and aunt, Karla Vevle, Birmingham, AL; niece, Jesse Chase, Bismarck; great-niece, Talihna Chase; great-nephew, Jaxson Chase, Bismarck; nieces, Rosa Chicaiza and Patricia Chuquin, San Francisco; numerous Wigen and Vevle cousins; her two Siamese cats, Brandy and Bailey; and the Ya-Ya Sisters and all of her other many friends. She was preceded in death by her parents, J O "Bud" and Phyliss Wigen; her natural mother, Betty Scott, Grand Forks; and aunt, Del Piper, Menlo Park, CA. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to the University of Minnesota Women's Health Fund, Minnesota Medical Foundation, PO Box 64001, St. Paul, MN 55164-000 or Trinity Lutheran Church Building Fund, 502 N. 4th Street, Bismarck, ND 58501.

Joan Wigen

May 10, 1950 - April 9, 2008