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Goldie Baker, age 96, of Hettinger, ND, passed away on Friday, January 26, 2024 at the Western Horizon's Care Center in Hettinger, ND.

Memorial services for Goldie will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, February 1, 2024 at the United Methodist Church in Hettinger, ND.  Rev. Laurie Kidd will officiate.  Burial in the Hettinger Cemetery will be at a later date.

Goldie Mae Bartels was born on August 14, 1927 in a tar paper shack in Adams County, ND by the Chandler Store.  Her parents, Milton and Ethel (Haynes) Bartels homesteaded in Adams County.  Goldie attended a country school in the area for her first 8 years of grade school.  Her family attended a little country church on the Cedar River called Cedar Valley Church.  During high school Goldie roomed in Mott, ND and worked at the Mott Cafe.

In 1945 Goldie went to Beauty School in Bismarck, ND.  After getting her beauty license, she worked in Mott for a short time.  She married Ervin Oelke and to that union three boys were born - Reid, Rhys and William.  She divorced and moved to Hettinger and worked at Marty's Beauty Shop.  She married Leo Grunstead and to this union two more children were born - Robert and Jody.  She started Goldie's Beauty Shop in the front of their home.

Goldie enjoyed dancing, golfing, bowling, horseback riding, reading, traveling and playing cards, especially Bridge.

In 1977 after Leo and Goldie's divorce, she moved to Missouri for a short time with family.  She settled in Sapulpa, OK and worked in a Montgomery Wards store and managed an apartment complex there.  She married C.B. Baker while in Oklahoma but when he passed away, she decided to move back to Hettinger, ND.  She always felt Hettinger was her home.

Goldie's life revolved around her family and friends.  Many elderly in the Hettinger area had Goldie as a caregiver before transitioning to the nursing home.

In 2010 Goldie's health started deteriorating so she entered the Western Horizon's Care Center until her death on January 26, 2024 at the age of 96.

Goldie had seven brothers - Lloyd, Kenneth, Merton, Gene, Glenn, Stanly and Arthur, who all preceded her in death along with her parents, Milton and Ethel.  She has one sister, Myrtle Ruth LaMont, Kansas City, MO, four surviving children, Reid (Lauree), Ely NV, Rhys (Carla) Belle Fourche, SD, Robert (Vicky) Sparks, NV and Jody (Allan) LeFebre, Hettinger, ND.  One son William Oelke died of brain cancer at an early age.  Goldie's children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and great-great grandchildren were her pride and joy.

Cremation has taken place and inurnment of her ashes will take place at a later date in the Hettinger Cemetery.