Nita Joann KORDONOWY

Adjunct Professor at Hazelden Graduate School of Addiction Studies and Counselor and COR12 Clinical Coordinator at the Hazelden Foundation, died on January 7, 2020 at her home in Lindstrom, MN. She was 66. Nita was born in Dickinson, ND on February 27, 1953 to Frank and Stella Kordonowy. Her kind and humble spirit, fostered in Belfield, ND, a small town near Theodore Roosevelt National Park, as one of a large Catholic family of grandparents, uncles and aunts, and 43 first cousins. After graduating from high school Nita began her freshman year at the University of North Dakota as a pre-med student. She was employed as City Auditor of Belfield, working alongside her father who served as Mayor, and was also a bookkeeper in Billings, MT and NV. Nita returned to college at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas where she received a Bachelor of Arts, Psychology and Behavior Health. In 2006 she received a Master's Degree in Substance Abuse and Addiction Counseling at Hazelden Graduate School. Even in Nita's passing, she chose to help others by donating her body to the University of Minnesota Medical School's Anatomy Bequest Program for medical research. Nita is preceded in death by her parents Frank and Stella Kordonowy and brother Kenneth. She is survived by her son Nathan Ewoniuk and grandson Sy, sister Darlene, brothers Thomas (Janet) and David (Anita). She loved her nine nieces and nephews and 13 grandnieces and nephews and remained friends with cousins and high school friends. She was a collaborator and admirer of colleagues, students, and clients from Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation and grateful for their enriching her life. The family requests contributions, in memory of Nita Kordonowy, to be sent to the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, Attn: Karyn Minar, PO Box 64348, St. Paul, MN 55164-9677 for Mission Possible. For credit card gifts by phone, donors can call Karyn Minar (651) 213-4220 or the Office of Philanthropy, direct line (888) 535-9485. Checks can be made payable to "Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation" and include "Nita J. Kordonowy/Mission Possible fund" in memo area.