Mary Jane (Kovarik) Dahl

Mary Jane Dahl, 92, of Fargo, formerly of Willmar, died Wednesday, January 15th at Bethany on 42nd in Fargo. Her Mass of Christian Burila will be 11:00 am, Monday, January 20th at Church of St. Mary in Willmar with visitation starting at 9:00 am.  Interment will be in Clover Leaf Cemetery.  Funeral arrangements are with Harvey Anderson & Johnson Funeral Home in Willmar.  www.hafh.org

Mary Jane was born February 17, 1932, Montgomery, MN, the daughter of Rudy and Margaret (Benzick) Kovarik.  She grew up in Montgomery and graduated from high school.  Following graduation, she moved to Minneapolis and began working for Honeywell. Mary Jane met her husband to be, Arvid Dahl, on a blind date with her roommate.  Their song was Sentimental Journey of which was perfect for this couple and as they enjoyed the dance floor, doing the jitterbug, polkas and waltzes.

Arvid was stationed at Naval Air Station in Minneapolis at the time they were married on June 26, 1954.  This union was blessed with two children, Mary Lee and Tom. In 1961, Arvid was transferred to Floyd Bennet Field Naval Air Station, Brooklyn, NY.  They lived in Lindenhurst on Long Island, until Arvid retired with 21 years of service in the navy in June 1966. They moved back to Minnesota and lived in Willmar, on Eagle Lake.  Mary Jane worked at Sears Catalog, and later for JCPenney.  She continued to work even following Arvid’s death in 1994, eventually retiring when she was 75 years old.

In 2013 she moved to Fargo to be near her daughter and lived at One Oak Place until moving to Bethany Retirement Living in 2021.

She loved baking cookies, apple pies and kolackys and her special “Nana” bread was loved by all. Her pork roast, sauerkraut and dumplings were the best. Montgomery Kolacky Days was her favorite event for many years, and also her annual Montgomery HS class reunions. She enjoyed playing Yahtzee and doing word search puzzles, going to the salon and getting her nails done. Mary Jane always loved the annual trips back to Montgomery to celebrate Kolacky Days and attend the class reunions.

She is survived by her daughter, Mary Lee (Jim) Lilleberg of Fargo, and granddaughters, Amy (Lucas) Johnson and Amanda (Josh) Rude; son, Tom (Cathy) Dahl of Kerkhoven and grandsons, Austin Dahl, Brandin (special friend, Madelyn Shughart) Dahl; great grandchildren, Aubrey and Hailey Rude and Brynlee Johnson.  Also surviving are her sister-in-law, Darlene Lecy of Savage, as well as many nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, Arvid; brothers, Gerald (Ceil) Kovarik and Thomas Kovarik, and sisters, Loretta (Art) Tiede, Alice (Vladamir) Krocak, Helen (Venda) Soulek and brother-in-law, Merle Lecy

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