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“Harriet is continually volunteering to make our community a better place for people of all ages. She is definitely a doer of jobs that need to be done,” read the nomination by Mary Sperley for Harriet Dent.
Harriet was born on July 14, a long time ago, in Arco, Minn. Harriet’s widowed mother moved her three daughters to the Twin Cities area where Harriet graduated from Anoka High School.
Following high school graduation, Harriet attended the Minneapolis Business College where she completed what was to have been a year long course, in seven months. Harriet met her husband, James Wallace (Wally) Dent, in Minneapolis. They were married after an extended three week courtship on September 17, 1939. Harriet has two daughters, Kathy Engholm of Little Falls; and Beverly Grout of Kalispell, Montana. She has four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
Harriet, Wally and family moved to Staples in 1951. Wally passed away in 2001.
Harriet worked briefly as secretary for the Adult Agriculture Program located in the present Nordell Building until she was hired as the Independent School District #793 superintendent’s secretary.
When asked to assume that position by Superintendent Atwood, Harriet exclaimed, “Oh my gosh, Mr. Atwood, I can’t do that.” To which he replied, “Oh yes you can.” And she did. She remained in that position for 25 years. Twenty three of those years were as secretary to Dr. Duane Lund. She retired July, 1981.
After Harriet retired she began volunteering. The list is long:
o Staples Area Food Shelf: Board member, volunteer coordinator, worker when volunteers are unable to be there.
o Lakewood Health System Auxiliary: Gift shop volunteer in former hospital building; crochets newborn baby caps; decorated the halls for Christmas; hostess for patients scheduled for specialist visits; registrar at blood mobiles.
o Staples ’93 Lions Club: White cane fund raiser; volunteers on committees when needed; Christmas for Kids fund raiser.
o Faith Lutheran Church: Counts weekly offering; folds weekly newsletter; past chairperson for funeral luncheons.
o General Volunteering: Meals on Wheels; visits with people in care center; brings friends to medical appointments and other destinations; coordinates Red Hatter’s snail mail.
Many of these volunteer activities consume hours of Harriet’s time. When asked why she volunteers, she responded, “While I worked full time, I knew I wanted to give back to this community when I retired.”
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