Denice Schafer

Denice M. Schafer, 52, of Hatton North Dakota died March 23, 2009 at Northwood Deaconess Hospital, Northwood, ND after a long battle with malignant melanoma. Denice Burke was born on December 27, 1956 in Grand Forks, ND, the daughter of Alden (Dean) Burke and Darlane Burke. She grew up in Grand Forks and graduated from Red River High School to go on to Thermopalis, WY Veterinary Tech School. She graduated and began her 30-year career at the University of North Dakota Nutrition Lab as the vivarium supervisor. She married Mark Schafer on April 8, 1978 and later had four children. Denice loved horse, she would take herself to horse shows around ND where she would ride and show her horses, this was a passion of hers. She also loved to hunt deer and fish for walleye. Denice spent most of her summer weekends at Devils Lake with her family. When she wasn't fishing on the weekends she was faithfully watching NASCAR. Denice also had a green thumb, she always planted a huge garden in the spring and would harvest and can in the fall to get ready for the long winter to come. Denice is survived by her parents Dean and Darlane, husband Mark, four children Lucas, Ellen, Jacob and Joshua, three grandchildren Taiylor, Mason and Avery, sister Debra and brother Dennis. She had a heart of gold and will be missed by all. Denice's family is grateful for the excellent care given to her by the staff at Northwood Deaconess Hospital and the Hospice of the Red River Valley. Services will be held at Amundsons Funeral Home in Grand Forks, ND, on March 29, 2009 at 3:00 pm.