By Lori Carlson, Editor 

Funeral services are set for today for Prior Lake businesswoman Lisa Dumke, who died Monday at age 45. 

Lisa Kay Risser Dumke lived in Prior Lake with her husband, Bruce, a dentist with a practice in Mankato, and their two daughters, Madeleine, 10, and Hannah, 4. Lisa
Dumke

A successful businesswoman with a master’s degree in business administration, she worked for several companies in the Twin Cities area, including Honeywell, Addco and Prepaid Legal Services. She was a member of the Prior Lake Rotary Club, the Chamber of Commerce and Business Networking International.

Born Feb. 9, 1963 in Minneapolis, Dumke graduated from Owatonna High School in 1981 and was a former Miss Owatonna and a runner-up for Miss Minnesota in the 1980s. She married Bruce Dumke in 1992. The couple adopted their daughter Hannah from Guatemala. Her husband said she was fluent in Spanish and Portuguese and was a foreign exchange student in Brazil in high school. The couple hosted exchange students in their own home, as well. Dumke also enjoyed traveling and spent time working for Honeywell in Mexico City.

A talented musician, Dumke was active in the family’s church, teaching Sunday school music, and was involved in many civic organizations.

Sandra Kaul, president of the Prior Lake Rotary Club, said Dumke joined the club in January and was set to take on the role of club publicist.

“She loved writing and was going to play an integral part in our public relations,” Kaul said.

Kaul described Dumke as “very fun-loving, energetic and full of life.”

In her final months, she had been working on a film called “Wildfire,” which director Michael Vincent was shooting in Prior Lake and the surrounding area. Bruce Dumke said the movie is expected to be released late this year.

“The movie made her happier than almost anything else besides her family,” said her sister, Suzanne Johnson of Stillwater. “She had a passion for acting and drama.”

Animals, boating, swimming and golfing were among her other loves. A dog named Copper was her “first child,” Johnson said. The family also has a guinea pig, a hermit crab and a cockapoo named Polar.

“She loved all types of critters,” her sister said.

Those closest to Dumke said she was at her best in front of a crowd and always reached out to others.

“She was totally vivacious and very charming,” Johnson said.

“She liked being in front of people – that’s where she shined,” Bruce Dumke added.

Her mother, Faith Risser Swenson of Plymouth, said her daughter had a stroke 16 years ago but took her situation in stride.

“She told me she was not afraid to die, and that’s what I hang onto,” Swenson said. “She was a devout Christian.”

Dumke struggled with alcoholism and attended many Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, her husband said.

“She touched a lot of people’s lives in that organization,” he said.

Her mother said Dumke had a close friend, Joe Simms, who “was an angel to Lisa in her last year of life.” She said her daughter struggled in recent years, trying to come to terms with the deaths of her father and brother.

Dumke loved her family and “would want a loving, supportive community to surround her children for the rest of their lives,” her sister said.

Dumke’s funeral service is set for 10:30 a.m. Saturday, July 19 at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 151 E. County Road 42, Burnsville. Visitation is from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, July 18 at the church. Interment will be at Dawn Valley Memorial Park in Bloomington. Memorials are preferred to Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Memorial Fund.

Dumke was preceded in death by her father, David, and brother, James. She is survived by husband, Bruce; daughters, Madeleine, 10, and Hannah, 4; mother, Faith Risser Swenson (Lowell) of Plymouth; grandmother, Ruby Risser; sister, Suzanne Johnson (Michael) of Stillwater; stepmother, Sonja Risser of Woodbury; and nieces, nephews and many other family and friends.

 Lori Carlson can be reached at (952) 345-6378 or editor@plamerican.com.