Dorothy Bork

Dorothy Zinter Bork died peacefully on September 15, 2020, at the Sheyenne Crossing Care Center in West Fargo.

Dorothy was born March 9, 1920 in Albian Township, Dickey County, North Dakota to Gustaf Zinter and Rose Warner Zinter.  Dorothy was the third child born into the Zinter family.  Her siblings were Ernest Zinter, Frances Zinter Musland, Florence Zinter Oster, and Bernice Zinter Schulz.  The youngest child, Paul Albert, died in 1925 at the age of five months.  Dorothy was baptized on March 28, 1920 and confirmed on July 7, 1929 at the Albian Lutheran rural church outside of Ellendale, ND.

Dorothy’s education included Hamberg Township Dickey County one room schoolhouse for grades 1-8.  She graduated from Monango, ND High School in 1937.  She was a star basketball center there.  She attended the State Normal and Industrial School of Ellendale, ND which was established in 1899 and closed in 1971.  She earned her two year standard teaching certificate there.  In 1965 she graduated from the Ellendale branch of the University of North Dakota with a Bachelor’s Degree in elementary education.  She earned a Master’s Degree from Northern State College in Aberdeen, SD in 1967.

Dorothy married Harold Kobler on September 14, 1940 in South Dakota.  They had one child, Kay Anita, who was born in 1950 and died in 2012.  Harold died in a car accident May 11, 1963.

Dorothy’s teaching career spanned many years.  The first four years she taught in a one room schoolhouse.  She took a five year sabbatical to stay home with her daughter, Kay, and then proceeded to teach school at the Edgeley Elementary School for 28 years.  She influenced hundreds of students and proclaimed until the day she died that she “loved every minute of teaching”.

On August 1, 1965, she married Melvin Bork at the Zion Lutheran Church in Edgeley, ND.  Both she and Melvin were active in the Zion Lutheran Church with Dorothy a teacher in Sunday school for many years, and Melvin served on many church boards.  They met when they both were on the new church building committee.

After retiring from teaching, Dorothy and Melvin spent 29 winters in Mesa, Arizona.  They built a new home in Moorhead in 1995 which was six blocks from their daughter, Kay, and family, and moved from Edgeley to Moorhead in October 1995.  Dorothy and Melvin joined Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Moorhead.  They moved to Sheyenne Crossing in September 2013.  Melvin died in 2017.  Dorothy continued to live in Sheyenne Crossing after his death.

Dorothy celebrated her 100^th birthday on March 9, 2020.  There was a lovely celebration at Sheyenne Crossing with many family members and friends present.  She felt fortunate to be able to celebrate this before the Coronavirus Crisis.

Dorothy will long be remembered for being a loving wife, mother and grandmother.  Her teaching career brought her great joy and she inspired many young learners who remember her to this day and still communicate with her.  Dorothy enjoyed life-long learning along with gardening, reading, traveling, square dancing, playing cards, and spending time with friends and relatives.  She was thankful for every day of life she was given.  Dorothy was an inspiration to all who loved her.

She is survived by one son-in-law, Douglas (Marsha) Schindler of Moorhead; two grandsons, Jay (Erin) Schindler and Kent (Kristin) Schindler of Maple Grove, MN; four great-grandchildren: Kendall, Cole, Paige and Alyssa; and many nieces, nephews and friends.

She was preceded in death by her parents, all her siblings, two husbands, and her only child, Kay.

A Celebration of Life will be held Thursday, October 1, 2020, at 11:00 A.M., with visitation for one hour before the service, at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Moorhead.  Interment will be at the Fargo National Cemetery where Dorothy will be buried next to her beloved Melvin.

Memorials can be given to Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Moorhead.