Dorothy Anne Honeychurch
Dorothy Anne Honeychurch departed this earth on Jan. 30, 2024, exactly how she arrived into it, surrounded by love and embracing life. As a lifelong learner, she was always ready for life’s next adventure. Through her last breath she kept moving forward with her eyes set on the horizon.
Dorothy Anne was born in Arnegard, N.D., into a different time, an era of one-room school houses, the daughter of immigrant homesteaders. From her parents, she learned that even when it seemed there was just enough to go around, there was always enough for one more at the dinner table. While she grew up in rural North Dakota during the Depression, she was just as deeply shaped by her 70 plus years living in Butte.
Dorothy Anne was a lover of people and adventures. Across seven continents and 48 countries, hundreds of trips to Yellowstone, and countless visits with family and friends, she approached life with wonder, fascination, and curiosity. On those journeys she never once encountered a stranger, always gladly sharing a meal and celebrating the blessings forged by new connections.
To those who knew and loved her, and there were many around the globe, she was a monument of strength and perseverance. Her strong Norwegian back supported shoulders that the troubles of the world often fell upon, but never once did it bow. Whether it involved caring for family members, junior high schoolers, economically vulnerable women in South Africa and Kenya, or church friends who had become housebound her life was lived in joyful, compassionate, often exuberant, service.
But her love did not stop with her family. Every person she met, through decades of teaching home economics, running the Butte Floral Company flower shop, a lifetime in the Daughters of Norway, participation in the Gold Hill Lutheran Church, ushering at the Motherlode, her many Elderhostel trips, decades of membership in PEO, and friendships at the Belmont Senior Center, each encounter provided an opportunity to offer kindness; to be a blessing to someone else. Her quiet resolute faith had taught her there was always room for one more person in her ever-expanding heart. She will be missed by many.
She was preceded in death by her husband Fred Honeychurch, three sisters, Ruth, Helen, and Inez; and one brother, Bud.
She is survived by her three children, Sandra Honeychurch, Bob Honeychurch, and Susan Honeychurch Stephens with their spouses, her 7 granddaughters and their families; and 9 great-grandchildren were her pride and joy. She is also survived by and had a special place in her heart for, her younger brother, George and his wife Jean.
A memorial service in celebration of the life of this extraordinary woman will be held at 10 a.m. March 23, at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church. For those unable to attend in person, there will be a live feed of the service, available at www.facebook.com/gloriadeibutte. Memorial donations may be made to Gold Hill Lutheran Church, the Belmont Senior Center, Solheim Lodge #20 of the Daughters of Norway of Butte, or a charity of your choice.
Please visit axelsonfuneralhome.com to offer the family a condolence or to share a memory of Dorothy.