Dorothy Virginia Vander Ark

Dorothy V. Vander Ark age 86 of rural Audubon, MN died July 10, 2013 at her residence, under the care of Hospice of the Red River Valley. Dorothy Virginia Vander Ark was born on October 5, 1926 in Gary, South Dakota to Henry and Katherine Switzenberg. She grew up in the depression and her family lived in various places where they could find work. At one time she worked as a welder in San Francisco on WWII Liberty Ships alongside her parents. She later moved to Minneapolis where she went to Beauty School and became a Beautician. It was in Minneapolis where she met her future husband Everett. They were married two months later on April 4, 1954. They lived in St. Cloud, MN and later Moorhead, MN. In 1987 they sold their home in Moorhead and moved to Little Cormorant Lake and added on to their lake home that same year. She has lived at the lake for the past 26 years. Dorothy enjoyed painting, home decorating, flower gardening, yard work, flea markets, and reading true crime stories. She also loved her dog "Riley" very much. She was a very caring, giving, selfless person who always put others before herself. She is survived by three sons, Jan (Ramona) Vander Ark, of Chandler, AZ; Dan (Kay) Vander Ark, of Duluth, MN; and Kevin (Jodi) Vander Ark, of Corcoran, MN; one daughter, Lisa Vander Ark, of McKinney, TX; five Grandchildren; four great grandchildren; one niece and one nephew. She was preceded in death by her husband Everett (2002); her parents; one brother, Bruce Switzenberg; and two sisters, Elnore Snell and Alice LaGore.