Elizabeth “Beth” Zeltinger, age 44, of Valley City, ND, died Friday, July 31st at Sanford Health in Fargo, ND. A funeral service will be held at 11:00 AM on Friday, August 14th at Grace Free Lutheran Church in Valley City. Visitation will be held on Thursday, August 13th from 6:00 PM until 7:00 PM at Grace Free Lutheran Church. A prayer service will be held at 7:00 PM Thursday evening at the church. Interment will be in Hillside Cemetery near Valley City. An online guestbook and livestream of Beth’s service will be available at www.lerudmathias.com. Traditions Funeral Services of Valley City has been entrusted with Beth’s funeral arrangements.
Beth was born August 21, 1981, while her family lived in West Fargo, ND. Two years later her family moved to Bismarck, ND where she grew up, attending Emmanuel Christian School and Shiloh Christian School. Following high school graduation from Shiloh Christian in 1999, she went on to the Association Free Lutheran Bible School (AFLBS) in Plymouth, MN and graduated in 2001. Beth then attended Jamestown College, graduating with a History degree. Although Beth minored in Business in college, throughout her life the business that she loved most was serving people, which usually involved food. As a child she would make handwritten menus for her family to order from and then cook and serve the food with delight. Over the years Beth worked at many coffee shops and restaurants, and catered food for family, friends, churches, and other special events in the area. If you ever ordered food at one of these restaurants Beth had a hand in your coffee or meal. In Jamestown Beth served at Home Shadows, The Bistro, Applebee’s, Paradiso, and the Senior Center. In Valley City Beth served at Alley Beans, Bridges, and volunteered with Meals on Wheels. As much as she enjoyed cooking and serving food she had a real gift for caring for people. She naturally took an interest in the lives of her friends, family, and coworkers, and many kept in contact with her over the years as one opportunity merged into the next. Beth was known to be a prankster and if you ever discovered sugar packets or candy wrappers or a random thrift store trinket in your pocket after visiting one of the places she worked it was probably a gift from Beth! She used these pranks and daily fun-fact trivia to connect with the people around her and bring a smile to their faces. And she used these seemingly insignificant connections with people to invite many to hear about Jesus at church or through a concert. Another one of Beth’s gifts was in music. She loved singing in small groups and choirs in high school, Bible school, and church. She had a beautiful alto voice and enjoyed singing harmony.
Beth is survived by her grandparents Frank and Evelyn Zeltinger; parents Joel and Jacklin Zeltinger; brother Jeremy (Katrina); nephews Ethan (Grace) Zeltinger and children Isaiah and Justin, Luther (Bobbi Jo) Zeltinger and children Rowyn, Jack, and Oliver, and Seth (Jackelyn) Zeltinger and child Theodore; niece Rose (Logan) Printy; along with several aunts, uncles, and cousins.
Beth was preceded in death by her grandparents Theodore Knutson and Agnes Light; uncles Paul Knutson and Jim Knutson; great-niece Allison Zeltinger.
Beth is also survived by Jersey Landscoot. Although not her daughter by blood, Beth was like a second mom to her from the age of 3. Beth loved her as her own and their bond was built on laughter, unconditional love, and countless cherished memories.
