Obituary: Regina Messmer

Regina Messmer

Regina Victoria (McCallister) Messmer of Devils Lake, N.D., and longtime resident of Bordulac, N.D., passed away peacefully at home surrounded by her loved ones on Tuesday, May 9, 2023.

A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, August 19, 2023, at the Bordulac Bar & Grill, 207 Spruce St, Bordulac, N.D., starting at 2:00 p.m. Please stop by and share your memories and stories with everyone.

Regina was born August 14, 1945, in Pueblo, Colorado, to Francis Xavier and Helen Elizabeth (Luther) McCallister. She attended Pueblo public school until the fifth grade, transferring to Pueblo Catholic School and graduating in 1963. During her tenure, she excelled in music and band, playing the baritone. After high school, she attended the local business school and worked at Mt. Carmel Credit Union.

She met her first husband and the father of her four daughters, Kenneth Dennis, in Pueblo, Colo. They married on March 18, 1965. After many moves to several Colorado cities and different states, they finally settled in Burlington, Colo., where she raised her girls while working as the resident manager of an apartment complex.

After divorcing her husband of 20 years, Regina and her four daughters relocated out of state near family in Alabama in the fall of 1985.

Due to an unforeseen change in her career, she and her second oldest daughter moved to Carrington, N.D., to be closer to her third oldest daughter who had relocated there in 1986. For 11 years, she was a favorite waitress to many of the patrons of the Chieftain Inn restaurant in Carrington.

This is where she met the love of her life, John Anthony Messmer, whom she married on November 1, 1994. They built a loving life together in Bordulac where John lived, and she worked part-time at the Bordulac Bar & Grill after retiring from the Chieftain. These were the happiest days of her life, and she cherished their friends in this small community.

Sadly, John passed suddenly in July of 2014. She continued to work at the Bordulac Bar until her health prevented her from doing so. Everyone who knew Regina felt an instant connection with her. She didn't know a stranger and thrived on helping others and the joy of being needed.

In 2020, she relocated for the last time to Devils Lake where she bought a home and lived with her second oldest daughter and son-in-law until her death. She battled and beat stage 4 kidney failure in February 2021, Covid-19 in March 2022, then was diagnosed with lymphoma in June 2022.

She fought the good fight, but with COPD, congestive heart failure, and cancer that had spread. She decided she could no longer continue the fight.

She is survived by her four daughters, Alisa Lane (John), Salem, Ala., Michelle Lundy (David), Devils Lake, N.D., Shannon Jehlicka (Randy), Fordville, N.D., and Jennifer Wade (Brad), Farmville, Va.; three grandsons, Donnie Wade (Eva), Cody Dravland (Lexi) and David Wade; six granddaughters, Ginny Vann (Drew), Samantha Berry (Alex), Casey Lane, Cheyanne Lane, Kristin Wade and Chelsea Burgan; eight great-grandchildren and several beloved nieces and nephews.

The family requests in lieu of flowers, please donate in Regina's name to a local animal shelter to honor her love of animals.

Regina was preceded in death by both of her parents; brothers, Francis McCallister, Grand Junction, Colo., Regis McCallister, Pueblo, Colo., Thomas McCallister (Sybil), Aurora, Colo., and Greg McCallister, Pueblo, Colo.; her sister, Stella White (George), San Bernardino, Calif., and her husband, John Anthony Messmer, Bordulac, ND.

Arrangements by Gilbertson Funeral Home Inc., Devils Lake, N.D.