Dena Rachelle Mathiasen passed away peacefully with her husband by her side on July 13, 2014 at Evergreen Hospice Care Center, Kirkland, WA.
Dena was born April 23, 1971 in Fargo, ND. Except for a few years in Audubon, MN, she attended school in West Fargo and graduated in 1989. She was a very successful member of the swim team as well as a state champion. In 1992 she met and fell in love with her best friend, Tom Mathiasen. They were married at Elim Lutheran Church, Fargo on October 1, 1994. They were overjoyed at the birth of their daughter, Sydney, in 1996.
Dena worked for Great Plains Software in Fargo for several years. In 2006 the family moved to Seattle, WA where she advanced her successful career with Microsoft. She truly loved her job and was able to travel abroad often. Dena bravely fought breast cancer for more than 5 years and was an inspiration to everyone who knew her, including her doctors and nurses.
She will be greatly missed by all her family and friends. She was preceded in death by her father and mother-in-law, Jim and Marion Mathiasen, grandfather Erling Olstad, grandparents Oscar and Clara Norman and brother-in-law, Jimmy Gross. She is survived by her husband Tom, daughter Sydney at home, parents Shirley Norman, Fargo, Denis (Janet) Olstad, Detroit Lakes, MN, sister Tracey (Chad) Pringle, Jamestown, their children Medora and Ryder, grandmother Verna Olstad, Valley City, sisters-in-law Dee (Becky Masica) Gross, Elk River, MN, their children Matt, Heather and Tara West, Joyce Dinndorf, Sartell, MN, her son Adam, brothers-in-law Mark Gross, Cold Spring, MN, John (Barb) Gross, Prescott, AZ, their children Ryan Brademeyer and Seana O’Brien.