Arloene Laskowski

Arloene Huizenga Laskowski, 85, of Bismarck, died of natural causes and joined her husband in Heaven on October 11, 2019 at Touchmark senior care center, Bismarck. 

A service celebrating her life will be held at 11:00 am Thursday, October 17, 2019 at McCabe United Methodist Church, 1030 N 6^th Street, Bismarck with Rev. Jenny Hallenbeck Orr officiating and dear friend Michael Wolf delivering the eulogy.

Burial will be held at 2:00 pm October 17 at the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery, Mandan.

 Visitation will be held from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm Wednesday, October 16 at Parkway Funeral Service, 2330 Tyler Parkway, Bismarck, and will continue one hour prior to the service at the church.

She was born at home in rural Westfield, ND, on September 8, 1934 to Gerrit Huizenga and Dora IntVeldt Huizenga.  Arloene enjoyed her elementary years at the one-room schoolhouse just down the road from her home.  She attended Strasburg High School, loved school and church activities in high school, was voted Homecoming Queen, and graduated third in her class.  She pursued nurse’s training her next three years at Bismarck’s St. Alexius School of Nursing and then lived out her dream as a Registered Nurse for around 17 years in the pediatric department at St. Alexius Hospital in Bismarck.

She met her husband, the late Dr. Edward John Laskowski, over a patient’s bed, and the two married at First Presbyterian Church in Bismarck in 1967 and honeymooned in Hawaii.  Their only child, Dr. John Gerrit Laskowski, was born February 26, 1972, and Arloene joked that she remained on maternity leave from her nursing career for the decades that followed.  Humor filled her life, as did her love of Jesus, family, and friends.  She and Ed appreciated relief from the cold by spending winters in Mesa (Arizona) and, with their son John, loved their dogs and exploring the United States.  Arloene enjoyed bowling, golf, painting, ceramics, writing about life, laughing and joking with family and friends, and heading up all kinds of social events for loved ones.

She is survived by her son, John Laskowski; daughter-in-law, April Laskowski; grandchildren, Malachi and Rory Laskowski; sister-in-law, Dorothy Huizenga; stepdaughter, Mary Lawrence; stepdaughter-in-law, Patty Reski; and many cherished nieces, nephews, grand-nieces, and grand-nephews.  Arloene and her hubby were the “adopted” grandparents of Brittany Wolf and Brooke (Wolf) Larson, and they treated so many people lovingly that many have thought of them like parents or grandparents.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Gerrit and Dorothy IntVeldt Huizenga; brother, Clarence Huizenga; beloved husband, Edward Laskowski; stepson, Vic Lawrence; and unborn granddaughter, Ivy Laskowski.

In lieu of flowers, memorials can be contributed to the Laskowski Memorial Scholarship at McCabe United Methodist Church, 1030 N. Sixth Street, Bismarck, ND 58501.