Kimberly "Kim" A. Meissner

Kim Meissner passed away unexpectedly on March 28, 2023, at Sanford Health in Fargo, ND.

Kimberly Ann Potts was born in Billings, MT, on April 26, 1974, to Betty (Scheidt) Potts and Rodney Potts. Kim was the oldest of four children, big sister to Kelly, Kurt, and Katie. Her earliest years were spent in and near Custer, MT, living on her grandparents’ farm.  It was at the elbows of her grandmothers and mother, during these years, that she learned to bake and to cook.

She moved along with her family to Livingston, MT, Clyde Park, MT, and Bozeman, MT, before they settled down in Glasgow, MT, when Kim was in 8th grade. She attended Glasgow High School, where she played volleyball and basketball for the Glasgow Scotties, sang in the choir, and participated in debate and drama, graduating with the Class of 1992.

After high school, she attended Dickinson State University in Dickinson, ND, studying nursing for two years before moving to Norwood, NJ, to work as a nanny.  In New Jersey, she met and in 1995 married John Lyon. They also lived in Pittstown and Lawrenceville, and she attended Rider University. Kim started her career in human resources at a company called i-STAT.   In 1999, Kim and John moved to Moorhead, MN, where Kim attended Minnesota State University Moorhead, from which she graduated in 2001 with a major in Psychology and a minor in Management.

After graduation, Kim continued her human resources career in Moorhead as the human resources manager at CSD/Minnesota Relay. She later worked in human resources at Pioneer Press newspaper in St. Paul, MN (2005-06); Thermo-King in Bloomington, MN (2006-08); Summers Manufacturing in Devils Lake, ND (2008-11); and Houston Engineering in Fargo, ND (2012-13). Working in human resources was Kim’s calling, and she loved helping employees and making their work lives better.

With the end of her first marriage, Kim met Chris Meissner in 2004 and they married in Fargo on February 25, 2006. On July 5, 2006, Kim gave birth to the light of her life, Aspen (called Jackson at birth), and their small family subsequently lived in the Twin Cities area in St. Paul and Bloomington, MN; Devils Lake, ND; and finally, to Moorhead, MN, where Aspen goes to school and where Kim became a proud basketball, Destination Imagination, and orchestra mom. Kim was a proud and loving parent to a trans child since Aspen came out as transgender in 2020. In her final years, Kim had part-time jobs at Hobby Lobby, Joann’s Fabrics, dealing blackjack for Plains Art Museum’s charitable gaming, and at Hornbacher’s grocery store, but mainly Kim took care of her family and most importantly worked on taking care of herself.

Kim was renowned as a baker and cook amongst family, friends, and co-workers, with specialties that included BBQ beef, banana bread, and her famous Christmas sugar cookies. She loved to sing and her go-to karaoke song was “Bette Davis Eyes”. But most of all she loved to scrap, creating scrapbooks of memories for her family, serving as a consultant for scrapbooking company Creative Memories, and helping to organize scrapbooking retreats. For a short time in 2013-14, she had her own scrapbooking business called Kimberly Designs.

She is preceded in death by her grandparents; cousin, Josh Meredith; uncles, Earl Potts and Cliff Potts; and pet dogs, Remmie and Buster. She is survived by her husband, Chris Meissner; daughter, Aspen Meissner; her mother and stepfather, Betty and Jim Smrcka; father, Rodney Potts; sister, Kelly (Justin) Jahner; brother, Kurt (Codi) Potts; sister, Katie Potts; nieces and nephews, Cole Jahner, Bryar Jahner, Ocie Potts, and Corbin Potts; father and mother-in-law, Warren and Claudia Meissner; sister-in-law Joanna (Jon) Hirschey; and brother-in-law, Ben Meissner.

In addition, there are dozens and dozens of cousins, aunts and uncles, aunt- and uncle-in-laws, cousin-in-laws, close friends, casual friends, classmates, and former co-workers who survive her. The warm and loving relationships she had with all of her survivors, and the vivaciousness, kindness, humor, and goodwill that she brought to all of her relationships will be Kim’s legacy.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, North Dakota Chapter, PO Box 11295, Fargo, ND 58106, or at afsp.org/fargo.

A Visitation for Kim will be on Sunday, April 2, 2023, from 4:00 PM until 6:00 PM in Korsmo Funeral and Cremation Service.

Her Funeral Service will be 3:00 PM, Monday, April 3, 2023, in Korsmo Funeral and Cremation Service, with a visitation one hour prior to her service. 

(Korsmo Funeral and Cremation Service, Moorhead, MN)