Melissa Marie Bietz

Melissa Bietz, 53, was born on August 5th, 1970, in Denver, Colorado. She moved to Fargo, ND in 2009 and started building her life according to her own personal values and beliefs. Melissa worked at Blue Cross Blue Shield of ND and moved herself quickly up the ladder to becoming a Team Lead in the Customer Contact Center. Her favorite part of her job was the relationships she built with each of her team members, each of whom she genuinely cared about. She was the sort of Team Lead that made herself available to talk, listen, teach and encourage those whom she supervised and found great joy watching her team members learn, grow and become confident. Melissa was interested in furthering her education so that she could guide her career into working in Human Resources and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Business with an emphasis in HR and a minor in Psychology. While working at BCBS, Melissa was involved in volunteering opportunities, giving to United Way, and joined the DEI Committee to advocate for an accepting and welcoming work environment for each and every employee.

In 2012, Melissa began dating Chris Bietz, who on November 15, 2014, became her legal husband. Together they raised two Basset Hounds and two cats, all of whom Melissa loved dearly. She had a special bond with each of them and the love she gave them was returned to her tenfold. Melissa and Chris moved to Moorhead, MN in 2020 after purchasing their forever home. Melissa loved being home, working in the yard and gardens and began new hobbies such as cooking new recipes, canning and pickling. She made spaghetti sauce she’d learned how to make growing up in an Italian family, canned a variety of sauces, vegetables, fruits, salsa (a definite crowd favorite) and ventured out into pickling not only cucumbers but other vegetables. Melissa’s interest in cooking is forever documented in the many books she’d spend hours writing new recipes in and copying down recipes handed down from Chris’ family members. These books will forever be a part of the kitchen and traditions to come.

Melissa and Chris shared many interests and spent a lot of time playing card games, board games and yard games. She always doubted her athletic ability but was a natural at darts and corn hole. Melissa was learning how to golf, throw a softball and enjoyed going axe throwing. There was a lot of Melissa that others didn’t have the opportunity to see such as the little spark in her eyes when she was driving her own motorcycle, using power tools and fixing small projects. It’s a side of her that peaked out when she was feeling adventurous and challenging herself to do things which resulted in a ‘how far do I dare to go’ smirk.

In April 2024 Melissa’s health began to decline and on April 26th, 2024, she was hospitalized with symptoms none of the doctors could piece together. She was undiagnosed until she wound up in ICU after she became unresponsive, and her heartbeat dropped to the mid-50’s. It was at that time the doctor’s began to do more testing and look deeper into what the root cause(s) was to Melissa’s health. She was then diagnosed with a liver disease called NASH that was destroying her liver function. She was in a coma and on ventilation for 10 days. While she was intubated, she began to slowly become more alert and responsive. On Father’s Day, Melissa gave Chris the most amazing gift which was to greet him as he entered her hospital room with a big smile and open eyes. Melissa’s recovery was slow, but she was making progress and was moved to a medical floor that didn’t require as high of medical care and she began to thrive. She was interactive, smiling, joking, laughing, lip singing to songs and being more like herself. Unfortunately, this didn’t last more than a week before she was once again experiencing unexpected medical and cognitive problems and after a few days she was moved to an intermediate care unit which was the level of care just below ICU. Her time on that unit was short and her health continued to decline, now involving not only her failed liver function but also her kidney function and ability to remain alert and responsive. She was again moved to ICU and intubated a second time to give her lungs a chance to heal from the now pneumonia she was fighting against. She was intubated for two and a half days before she experienced full systemic failure. Chris was lying next to Melissa for the last hours of her life and was there to hold her in his arms as her heart stopped. Chris and Melissa were surrounded by three close friends as she passed, and Chris fully believes that Melissa felt the love for her in that room as everyone cried and said their final goodbyes.

Melissa wished to be cremated and have her ashes remain with Chris until the day Chris passes so that they can be buried together in Chris’ family’s cemetery where they’ll be surrounded by Chris’ family members who loved her and gave her a family that she would always be a part of.

Melissa is survived by her loving husband, Chris Bietz, their two Basset Hounds (Mantin and Byr’Nee), their two cats (Marlee and Vela). Melissa is also survived by her chosen family members and an abundance of loving, supportive friends. Everyone who knew Melissa knew the angel she was here on earth, and she’ll always be remembered for her infectious smile and genuine ability to see the good in everyone.

Melissa has biological family, including her father, younger brother, three children and a granddaughter whom she never met. Her dad, brother and her three adult children have not been in contact with her for years nor did they respond to messages sent by Chris alerting them about Melissa’s health and subsequent death. They missed out on her unconditional love.

Melissa is preceded in death by her biological mother, Marlene Sue Johnson who passed when Melissa was 21 years old, grandparents from both biological family sides, and several uncles, aunts, and cousins.

Melissa was not the type of person who wanted to be the center of attention so Chris has decided that instead of holding a funeral service there will be a celebration of life at Melissa and Chris’ home where those in attendance will have the chance to join in the yard games, grilling, bon fires and friendship that Melissa loved to be a part of. Date and time of the celebration will not be made public to keep it to those who’ve been an active part of her life and have built a close relationship with her. For information, contact Chris Bietz.