A ceremony to celebrate the life of longtime Grand Forks politician Eliot Glassheim will be held next week.
The service will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, Jan. 3, at the North Dakota Museum of Art, which is located on the UND campus.
Glassheim, 81, died Wednesday, Dec. 25, at Altru Hospital after a long battle with lung cancer.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials be made to one of the following charities:
- North Dakota Museum of Art
- UND's Writers Conference
- Red River Valley Habitat for Humanity
- District 18 Democratic Party
- Red River Valley Community Action Agency
Glassheim served on the Grand Forks City Council and in the North Dakota Legislature for decades and will be remembered for his many contributions to the city and the state, local leaders say.
Glassheim, a Democrat, joined the North Dakota Legislature in 1975, where he stayed for a year. He returned in 1993, after serving a decade on the Grand Forks City Council. He continued to hold both offices for nearly 20 years. He retired from local politics in 2012 and state politics in 2016, capping his career with a U.S. Senate run against Republican John Hoeven.
“Our community is a better place for his service,” Mayor Mike Brown told the Herald Thursday. “He was the ultimate statesman, a caring public servant, humble. He set the bar high for the rest of us.”
