Gladys Hellwig

Gladys M. Dewalt Hellwig, 103, Bismarck, died August 10, 2008 at the Prairieview Nursing Home, Underwood, ND. Services will be held at 10:30 am Friday at Bismarck Community Church, Bismarck with Rev. Darrel Aleson officiating. Burial will be in Sunset Memorial Gardens. Visitation will be held from 6:00 pm until 9:00 pm Thursday at Eastgate Funeral Service, Bismarck and will continue one hour prior to services at the church. Gladys was born November 18, 1904, in McPherson County, SD, the daughter of George Dewalt Sr. and Rosabell Hart Dewalt. Gladys “Grandma” was the oldest of 14 children. She quit school after the eight grade to help out on the farm and then when she was 28, her mother died. Since she was the oldest, she took on the difficult task of raising her 13 brothers and sisters, cooking, cleaning and sewing clothes for them out of gunny sacks. She did teach for awhile at Haskins School in South Dakota. In 1935 she married Emanuel Hellwig and in 1940 they made their home in Bismarck. Emanuel died in 1972. Grandma had nine children-eight girls and one boy. Her first child was born when she was 32 years old and she had her ninth child when she was 44. When her youngest child started school, Grandma joined the work force, working as a cook and a baker at Vi’s Café and Coffee Cup, which is known today as the Main Bar. She not only raised her own nine children, but several of her grandchildren and great grandchildren spent quite a lot of time at Grandma’s house while their parents were working. She was a self-taught organ player and when she would visit family in Bemidji, MN, everyone would gather at the Moose Club to hear her play. She was a great story teller and she would always tell of when she was younger and Bismarck still had dirt streets, the downtown business people would have to “roll out” their wooden sidewalks every morning and at the end of the day, they would have to “roll them up” again. We never grew tired of listening to those stories. She is survived by five daughters and their spouses, Edna Virgil Smith, Bismarck, ND, Linda Charles Vincent, Bemidji, MN, Della Brilz, Medina, ND, Carol Clifford Rath, Bismarck, ND and Bertha Doug Rittel, Bismarck, ND; one son-in-law, Ken Wrangham; 30 grandchildren; 71 great-grandchildren; 31 great-great grandchildren; six siblings, Elmer Dewalt, Cleo Lee, Edna Reid, Grace Delzer, Florence Sailor and Rose Rohrer; she is also survived by many nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents, George and Rosabell Dewalt; her husband, Emanuel; four children, Audrey, Helen, Charles and Shirley and seven siblings, Orville, Chester, Wilbur, William, George, Irene and Leona. Grandma’s family would like to thank the nurses and doctors at Merit Care Hospital in Fargo and also the staff at the Prairieview Nursing Home in Underwood for all of the loving care they provided.

Gladys Hellwig

November 18, 1904 - August 10, 2008