Mertice Rood, age 88 of Wahpeton, ND and formerly of Valley City died Saturday Dec. 5, 2015 at CHI-St Francis Hospital in Breckenridge, MN.  A Funeral Mass will be celebrated at 2PM Friday, Dec. 11, 2015 at St. Catherine's Catholic Church in Valley City, ND with Msgr Dennis Skonseng celebrant.  Visitation will be from 5-7PM Thursday at the Lerud-Schuldt Funeral Home with a Prayer Service beginning at 7PM.  Interment will be in St. Catherine's Cemetery.

"Mert" (Gilbertson) Rood was born September 12, 1927 to James and Ida (Kunze) Gilbertson in Valley City, ND. She attended grade school in rural Dazey, ND at Moore and Ladbury schools through the 3rd grade; she then attended St. Catherine's School in Valley City, ND, graduating in 1945. Following her high school graduation, she went on to attend Mercy School of Nursing at Mercy Hospital in Valley City, graduating as a Registered Nurse in 1948, also serving as a Cadet Nurse. On July 5th, 1950 she married the love of her life Dan "Bud" Rood. They raised their two children Dan Jr. and Stacey in LaMoure, ND. Mert worked at the LaMoure Community Hospital from 1954-1971 then went on to become the Director of Nursing at Colonial Manor in LaMoure until her retirement in 1988. She also taught CTE-Health Careers classes for LaMoure Public School in the early1970's. Mert and Bud moved back to their home town of Valley City, ND in 1988 where she stayed very active in the community, volunteering at the Nearly-Nu and Mercy Hospital. She was an active member of St. Catherine's Church, Mercy Hospital Auxiliary and the VFW and Legion Auxiliaries in both LaMoure and Valley City, ND. She kept a unique friendship with her Mercy School of Nursing classmates her entire life getting together monthly for lunch until 2014 when she moved to Sienna Court Assisted Living Center in Wahpeton, ND to be closer to her family. Mert will be most remembered for her loving role as a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother. She ended every conversation with "I love you" and will be greatly missed by her family and all those who were lucky enough to have known her. Those she leaves behind to cherish her memory are her son Dan Jr. (Vickie) of Wahpeton, ND and daughter, Stacey (Paul) Knox of Bassett, NE; two sisters, Lucille Ratzlaff of Valley City, ND and Irene (Harvey) Wald of Pierre, SD; Seven grandchildren, Dan (Megan) of Warroad, MN, Christopher (Tiffany) of Grand Forks, ND, Dr. Elizabeth (Patrick) Jahn of Thief River Falls, MN, Heather (Travis) Wiberg of Wahpeton, ND, Sarah Knox of Harvard, NE, Jeffrey (Courtney) Knox of Bassett, NE and Tyler Knox, of Bassett, NE. Mert also leaves eight great-grandchildren who adored their special "Nannie", Marissa and Dan Rood IV, Madison and Carson Rood, Katilyn, Haylie and Allie Jahn and Westin Wiberg. She is preceded in death by her husband Bud and her parents.