By Lori Carlson

Editor

Lori Goertzen’s benevolence was a boon to victims of the wildfires in Grand Marais last week.With two children in college, Lori
Goertzen now has more time to
focus on her many other loves:
singing, knitting, spending time
with her husband Donovan and
hanging out with the family's two
Maltese dogs. (Photo by Lori
Carlson)

She went up north to the family’s cabin and volunteered to take in the pets of those displaced by the fires.

“The fire came within 13 miles of our cabin,” she said. “A lot of the people up there walked out of their cabins and resorts with only the shirts on their backs. They lost everything.”

Goertzen, a North Dakota native, lived in Prior Lake for 25 years with husband Donovan before the family moved just over the border into Savage four years ago. Her heart, though, has stayed with Prior Lake.

“I love that it’s growing, but it still has the positive side of a small community,” she said. “We’ve worked really hard to make our neighborhood a community within a community.”

After meeting at Trinity Christian College in Chicago, Lori and Donovan moved to Burnsville briefly and then settled in Prior Lake.

“It was all farmland then – it’s hard to believe,” she said.

They raised two children – Lexie, now 19, and D.P., 22. Lexie studies vocal opera at Wheaton College in Illinois; D.P. studies art at the University of Minnesota.

The children got their “artsy” interests from Mom.

“I used to travel with singing groups,” Goertzen said. “Now that our baby is gone to college, I’m getting back into it. When she was here, I wanted to just support her.”

Goertzen has had many jobs throughout her life, but the artistic ones included working as a salesperson at the Bead Monkey and as a floral arranger at Linder’s.

In her spare time, she enjoys arranging flowers and volunteering with various groups. She also runs a small business that makes mittens out of recycled wool, and she works with organizations to come up with mission and vision statements.

Q and A with

Lori Goertzen

What three words would people use to describe you?

Enthusiastic, compassionate and fun.

What’s the last good book you read?

“Blink” [by Malcolm Gladwell]. It’s about the choices we make and why we make them.

Who is your favorite singer?

Josh Groban.

If you could meet someone famous or from history, who would it be?

Mother Teresa. My mom actually got to meet her.

What was your best vacation?

My husband took us to Paris for Christmas and New Year’s Eve. He gave me a ring that looks like the Eiffel Tower. Christmas isn’t that exciting there, but New Year’s Eve is great. Everyone brings their families out to celebrate.

What would be your ideal vacation?

Being with family in Grand Marais by the lake. We’re going up there, by Devil’s Track Lake, for Memorial Day weekend.

If you were governor or president for a day, what would you do?

Create awareness of literacy, AIDS and initiatives that would help people to see that geography isn’t a destiny … that there are opportunities for everyone to be blessed.

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

Do you know someone who would make a good Faces in the Crowd candidate? Call the editor at (952) 345-6378 or e-mail editor@plamerican.com.