Christine Dick

Christine Dick, 104, went home to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Tuesday, January 12, 2021. Christine was born on February 28th, 1916 to Jacob Damn and Elizabeth (Luft) Damm on the family farm near Culbertson, Montana. She was the fourth out of five children born to this union. They were one of the many strong German families that homesteaded from Russia to this area. When Christine was 2-years-old, her father died of tuberculosis, and her mother then remarried Edward Kaschube. They had 5 more children and homesteaded north of Brockton, Montana. Christine, being taller than her sisters, helped "Pa" Edward Kaschube with the farm work along with her oldest brother Dave. When she was 13, she was behind the horses and a harrow for a month..... shall we say she had to work like a man. One thing “Pa” made sure of was that all the children always went to school. He would take them in a wagon with a sled on it to school even when it snowed, keeping them warm with buffalo robes he carried in the wagon. When Christine was 17, she moved to Poplar with her sisters and worked at Jensen's soda shop saving her money to buy a lot of fashionable clothes which was quite an accomplishment back in the day. She attended her first picture show, and remembered it was a western starring Tom Mix. When Christine was 18, they had visiting relatives from Colorado, and when the visitors were ready to leave, they asked if anybody wanted to go along. Christine did not have to be asked twice; she was ready to go. Once in Colorado, her newfound cousins took her to a dance to meet a blind date which ended up being Clarence Dick. They were married in November 1936, and settled in Sterling, Colorado for a short while. Clarence, being a rolling stone, took Christine to Portland, Oregon, and while he worked in the shipyards, Christine worked at a door factory and later at a Safeway store. She had a lot of stories about different things throughout the years, but the one that stuck more so than others was about VJ Day (Victory over Japan Day). She was coming home from work, and the bus line stopped because there were people in the streets; everyone was celebrating the victory over Japan. We often see stuff like that in movies, but she lived it. While in Oregon, they were blessed with 2 sons, Alan in 1947 and Gary in 1949. They moved to South Dakota while Clarence worked on the Fort Randall Dam in Pickstown, SD. They added a daughter, Kathy, in 1953 and then moved on to Sterling where they added Vicki in 1958. While in Sterling, Christine worked at the school as head cook for 3 years, and then they moved to Haxtun where she operated the Drive Inn Cafe. The Drive Inn was the hotspot after football and basketball games. She and Clarence would attend the games and then hurry back and start cooking to beat the rush. Christine was known for her "world-famous" cinnamon rolls and the best coconut cream pie ever, and even made curly fries before they were cool. During the summer when wheat harvest was in full-swing, she would be at the Drive Inn kitchen at 4 am and not return home until midnight. In 1968, they moved one more time to Greeley. Christine went to work at Bayley's where she was an inspector. She retired from there but wasn't done working yet. She went to work for District 6 school district as a substitute cook. She volunteered by clipping coupons for RSVP and as an election judge. When Clarence passed in 1983, Christine got her travel bug and went back and forth to Utah to visit her sons and families, and also to Montana to visit her sisters and their families. She would often take her grandkids, Josh and Jamie, with her on trips with the most memorable being a train trip to California. Christine was always busy crocheting afghans or rag rugs for everyone in the family. When she was 82, she moved into Broadview apartments continuing to live on her own and being a very active senior and good friend to the residents of Broadview. Only after she turned 100 and her eyesight started failing did she allow her daughters to share in the caregiving of her, alternating every 3 weeks back and forth. She loved the Lord with all her heart and attended Trinity Lutheran every Sunday until the recent public health sanctions were enacted. She was a Lutheran Hour regular every Sunday. She will be missed and remembered by her son Alan (Becky), son Gary (Rose), daughter Kathy (Eddie) Gallegos and daughter Vicki Akin, and her special son Dennis (Jeanette) Workman, 11 grandchildren, 25 great-grandchildren and 4 great-great-grandchildren. She was preceded by husband Clarence, son-in-law Gary Akin, mother, father, stepfather, and brothers David, Alfred, Harold and Otto, and sisters, Molly, Dorothy, Bertha, Erna and Minna.

A Visitation will be from 5-8 pm, Thursday, January 28, 2021 at Stoddard Funeral Home. Funeral services will be held 10:00 am, Friday, January 29, 2021 at Trinity Lutheran Church, 3000 35th Avenue, followed by interment in Sunset Memorial Gardens.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to Trinity Lutheran School Scholarship fund. Please visit www.StoddardSunset.com to read more about Christine’s life.