Dacotah Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution Scholarship

This Scholarship is endowed to perpetuate the memory of two members of the Dacotah Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution.

Rhoda Freer Newman became a member of DAR in Anaconda, Montana on February 20, 1964. Later she moved and transferred to the Dacotah Chapter. She served as State Regent from 1977-1981 when she died. Rhoda was a dedicated genealogist. She had 18 documented Patriot ancestors. As State regent, she attended the Continental Congress meeting in Washington, DC giving her State Regent Report even though she had been ill and hospitalized just days before. Following her return she was again hospitalized, dying two weeks later.

Rhoda was the postmaster in Grandin, North Dakota from 1975 until her death. She was a founding member of the Red River Valley Genealogical Society. The Society recorded and published cemetery information for all the cemeteries in the Red River Valley.

Rhoda requested that $10,000 be used to establish a scholarship at North Dakota State University. The first award was presented in 1984-85 and continues to this date.

Connie Marie Norheim joined the Dacotah Chapter on December 6, 2003. Connie’s Patriot ancestor was Jacob Percy (Piercy) a fifer and drummer from Pennsylvania. She served on several committees in the Dacotah Chapter. Her greatest interest was conservation. She tended flower gardens at her home and apartment. She was a long-time member of findagrave.org, taking thousands of tombstone photos and providing information to families. She documented the Riverside Cemetery in Fargo and the Fargo National Cemetery. She kept them up to date by adding new records on findagrave each month. Connie was an avid birder and traveled to several countries to see new “lifebirds.”

Connie’s last will and testament provided funds to the Dacotah Chapter enabling the addition of funds to the scholarship at North Dakota State University, which is her alma mater.