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Funeral services for Opal Goplin, 95, of Hettinger, ND will be Saturday, October 16, 2021 at 2:30 p.m. at the Hettinger Lutheran Church in Hettinger, ND.  Pastor Selva Periannon and Rev. Deb Molbert will officiate and burial will follow at the Hettinger Cemetery.  Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the church on Saturday afternoon.

Opal passed away at the Western Horizons Care Center in Hettinger, ND, on October 7, 2021.

OPAL GENEVA MANDAL was born on October 27, 1925 in Brandt, SD, to Gina and Paul Mandal. She grew up on a farm in North Dakota, she eventually moved to Reeder, ND. While attending Reeder, Opal played basketball. The women's team rode the railroad to nearby towns for their games. She graduated in Reeder in 1944, after which she moved to Hettinger. There, she worked at the Co-Op grocery store. She met Julius Goplin and the two were married at Miles City, MT on July 26, 1946. They were blessed with four children, Jim, Joni, Sandi, and Carla.

Her favorite pastimes were bowling and bingo. She was active in the Lutheran church, belonging to a Circle and as a Sunday school teacher.  Not only was she busy with four children, she was involved in Julius' trucking and harvesting, driving truck when needed and bookkeeping. During harvest, she kept busy in the kitchen, hauling great noon meals out to the harvest crew. When the children were older, she went working outside the home. She worked as a receptionist and her favorite, as a ward clerk at the hospital. She enjoyed life -long friendships, joining birthday clubs, playing cards, bowling, and her favorite -- BINGO!. She eventually retired and became a fulltime grandma, but she never gave up BINGO!

Grateful for having shared in her life are her children, James (Joan) Goplin, of Fargo, ND, Joan Schmaltz (Dave Haar), of Hettinger, ND, Sandra (Gale) Hofland, of Hettinger, ND and Carla (Dennis) Ecker, of Hettinger, ND, 10 grandchildren, 18 great grandchildren and one great-great granddaughter.

Opal was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Julius Goplin and her siblings, Olga Larson, Edna Pittereli and Einor Mandal.