Ann Promersberger

Ann K. Promersberger died Saturday, August 27, 2011 at the Sanford Palliative Care Hospital in Fargo, ND at the age of 96. The daughter of Erick and Signe Wick, Ann was born June 23, 1915 in Mizpah, MN. She attended grade school in Mizpah, and high school in Northome, MN. Upon graduation in 1932, she worked for a year in a rural Minnesota school helping a teacher prepare meals for her students. A year later, she enrolled at Bemidji State Teachers College in Bemidji, MN where she received a two-year teaching degree in 1935. She then secured her first teaching job at the Indahl one-room country school near Littlefork, MN. Besides her teaching duties, it was also her responsibility to arrive at work an hour early so she could get the coal-burning furnace started to assure the school was warm when her students arrived. After a year, she moved on to teach 42 first and second graders at the Northome Elementary School. On June 9, 1938 she married William J. (Bill) Promersberger, who had just graduated from the University of Minnesota, with a degree in agricultural engineering. They then moved to Fargo where Bill was hired by the North Dakota Agricultural College (now NDSU) to become a professor of ag engineering. At that point, she became a homemaker and supported Bill in his close-to-40-year career as chairman of the NDSU Agricultural Engineering Department. Ann and Bill were married 69+ years at the time of Bill’s death in 2008. In 1962, Ann went back to school at Moorhead State University and received a bachelors degree in elementary education in 1964. During the 1965-1966 academic year, Ann, Bill and their daughter, Nancy, lived in Dublin, Ireland where Bill was a visiting professor. Upon returning to Fargo, Ann continued her career by teaching home-bound students. Ann was particularly interested in food her entire life. She was an excellent cook and loved preparing meals, sharing recipes, and entertaining. She also loved playing bridge, and continued doing so until as recently as two weeks before her death. Daily walks were also part of her every-day schedule. Most of all, she loved ballroom dancing. In fact, she met Bill at a dance and continued dancing all her life … as recently as at her grandson’s wedding last summer. Ann is survived by her son, Ken (Jan) Promersberger; daughter, Nancy Novak; grandchildren, Tom (Sarah) Promersberger, Eric (Trish) Promersberger, Heather (Tim) Rahn, and Seth (Heather) Novak. She is also survived by ten great-grandchildren: Dylan Promersberger and Ellie Grann; Austin, Anna and Abby Promersberger; Cody, Ethan and Olivia Rahn and Madelyn and Cambelle Novak. She is also survived by her sisters, Milly Gordon and Edith Jones. In addition to her husband, Bill, she was preceded in death by their daughter, Carol Ann, who was five years old when she died in 1950; her son-in-law, Tom Novak and her sister, Blanche Henrich. In lieu of flowers, memorials are suggested to the NDSU Development Foundation, for the Ann and Bill Promersberger Scholarship Fund, or to the First Lutheran Church. Funeral: Thursday, September 1, 2011, 11:00am at First Lutheran Church, Fargo, ND. Visitation: One hour prior to services at the church. Burial: Riverside Cemetery, Fargo, ND.