MORA, Minn. — Ace Hardware is a brand known for helping customers with all their home improvement needs.
But if you travel a bit north to Mora, the local Ace Hardware is known for something a bit more personal: making you feel like family. That feeling doesn't stop with customers; it extends to employees, too.
Longtime employee Dana Fluegge is known for her legacy of keeping the Mora Ace family together. She was a frequent customer who eventually ended up on the payroll.
"She knew her stuff," said office manager Janet Martens. "Dana was the go-to person when someone had [an] electrical problem, plumbing problem."
Fluege worked at the Mora Ace for over a decade, and it would have been much longer had Fluegge not been diagnosed with cancer in Jan. 2023.
"When we found out she had cancer, she didn't work then," said Martens. "We did everything we could for her," said Martens.
Dana wasn't in the battle alone. Her three kids and the community rallied around her, doing anything they could to ease the load.
"Taking her to appointments, taking her to the grocery store, helping out with anything at home, just hanging out," said friend Heidi Johnson.
It was easy to do those things for Fluegge, since she had done it for others.
"I was on a respirator for 61 days, in the hospital for 91. I had 6% oxygen the day they flew me out of here [and] I was in a coma," shared store owner Kevin Nikodym. "When I woke up, the store was in my mind."
COVID took him away from the store in 2020, but what Kevin didn't know was that Dana had already stepped in to steer the ship. She engineered upgrades, updated employees about their boss's condition and did what it took to keep the business afloat.
"I thought we'd be shutting it down," said Nikodym. "You can never repay anybody for doing that."
When Dana passed away following her battle with cancer this September, Kevin thought: now's the time to do more.
"We had donated stuff and helped the family out, but I said, 'We got to do something else.'"
So, the Ace owner started a scholarship at Mora High School in Dana’s name through the Dollars for Scholars program.
"Her kids could give it out in the spring, and we could give it to somebody that's maybe into a trade school or wanting to work in the day-to-day world," said Nikodym.
It seemed like a good way to carry Dana's legacy, and honor his co-worker turned family member.
"I don't think we should forget about her," said Nikodym.
Not only is the scholarship program in the works, but Fluegge also won Individual of the Year at the Mora Area Chamber of Commerce annual gala in November. Her family accepted the award in her memory.
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