Clara "Clare" Josephine Hendrickx

Clara “Clare” Josephine Hendrickx (Vorgert), age 87, of Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, passed away on Sunday, February 26, 2023, surrounded by family members at the Sterling Park Health Care Center in Waite Park, Minnesota.  Mass of Christian Burial will be at 11:00 am on Saturday, April 1, 2023, at Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Detroit Lakes, with a time of gathering an hour prior.  A visitation will be from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm, with a prayer service at 6:30 pm and a rosary to follow on Friday, March 31, 2023, at David Donehower Funeral Home, in Detroit Lakes.

Clare was born on July 16, 1935, along with her twin sister, Nellie (Wegscheid), to her Dutch immigrant parents, Louis and Julianna (Dousi) Hendrickx, in Butler, Minnesota. She was baptized that same day, and later confirmed, at Holy Cross Catholic Church in Butler.  Clare attended elementary school at Oak Tree Country School in Butler Township and would go on to attend the St. Francis Academy in Little Falls for two years.  After which she attended New York Mills High School, where she was Homecoming Queen, with her twin sister, and graduated in 1953. Clare then enrolled in teachers training in Staples where she earned her limited elementary teaching degree. After graduation, she began teaching at schools in Ottertail County, both north and south of Perham, Minnesota.  On June 25, 1957, she married LeRoy Vorgert at St. Stanislaus Catholic Church in Perham and together raised six children.  The couple lived in Wadena for a year before moving to Lake Park, where LeRoy took work as creamery manager. Clare moved to Detroit Lakes in 1995, to Twin Havens Estates, and years later moved to Pleasant View apartments in Detroit Lakes.   

Clare was very active in church functions, Boy Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, and the Lake Park Alert Team for ten years.  She also worked for BecLin Foods for ten years prior to taking classes to work for Multi-County Nursing, where she worked another decade.  She continued in healthcare as a CNA at St. Mary’s Hospital in Detroit Lakes and as a private caregiver.  Lastly, Clare worked as a seamstress at Norby’s Department Store in Detroit Lakes.  Clare had a heart of gold and loved volunteering with St. Mary’s Hospice, at Holy Rosary School, with the Senior Companion Program, and as an usher at the Holmes Theatre.  Clare was a great cook and is remembered for sewing and altering clothes for many in Lake Park and for playing slow pitch softball for 23 years.  She also loved dancing, golfing, playing cards, flower gardening, quilting, and reading.  Clare enjoyed watching professional sports of all kinds but most of all, loved being with her family and friends.

She is survived by two sons: Gary (ReNae) Vorgert of Ottertail, MN; and Paul (Linda) Vorgert of Andover, MN; four daughters: Debbie Reopelle Bendzick of St. Cloud, MN; Joanie (Kevin) Albers of St. Cloud, MN; Bonnie Moltzan of Frazee, MN; and Angela (Jason) Gauert of New Ulm, MN; two sisters, Nellie Wegscheid of Wadena, MN; and Chris Scheidecker of Perham, MN; 14 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

She is preceded in death by her parents, Louis and Julianna; brothers: Frank, Joe, John, Norbert, Bill, Louis, and Andy; sisters: Ann Mulhern, and Marie Kennedy.