The Dvorak Sisters

Editor’s note: When I went to interview Tina and Denice, I had no idea they came from such a big family. I had the opportunity to talk with some of their siblings by phone and get a few more details. Read on, about life with the Dvorak’s.

Tina Bakke and Denice Roller, who own Identity Salon in Bismarck, are the youngest girls of fourteen children. The family has three boys and eleven girls, all born and raised in Dickinson.

The younger siblings did not get to know the older ones very well, as there is a 25-year difference between the oldest and the youngest. “Can you imagine – 14 kids in 25 years,” said Denice. “By the time Tina was born, a couple of the older sisters were out of the house having children of their own. Our mom had children with her children.When Tina was born, she was already an aunt four times.”
“Our mom and our second oldest sister actually shared a hospital room,” said Tina.
Darlene remembers that very well, because she was the sister having the baby. “Dallas (her son) was born September 4th and Tina was born September 7th,” she said. “My dad walked into the room after Tina was born and said she was the prettiest one yet.”

Life in this large family was full of compromises, sharing and cleaning. “We cleaned the basement Thursdays, the upstairs on Fridays,” said Denice. “Mom went to the grocery store Saturdays and when she got home, this and this and this better be done.”
Their mother even let them skip school a couple times – if they cleaned first. “We begged to stay home on hot days so we could lay in the sun,” recalled Denice. “As long as the cleaning was done, she let us.”
“And, we were really good at sharing,” she continued. “We slept three to a bed, had hand-me-down clothes and shared bikes.
Mary Jean agrees. “We never got our own Easter outfit,” she said. “If there was a pair of shoes in the closet that fit, we had to wear them. It was a big surprise to me that I could buy new clothes after I got married. My sister and I had to have a double wedding, because Dad said we had to double up. There were three of us that got engaged at the same time.”

The Dvorak’s did not have a dishwasher, and apparently the girls did all of the dishes. “The boys never had to do the dishes,” said DeLayne Dvorak. “After we turned six, we were put to work at our Dad’s car dealership.”
The fact that their dad owned a car dealership didn’t affect their transportation options. “We had to walk everywhere,” said Tina. “We would walk to church every Sunday and fill up a couple pews. Even though our dad had a dealership, we all had to buy our own cars.”
But it did affect other areas of their life. “We thought to get to heaven, you had to be Catholic and drive a Mercury,” said Darlene.
Their father taught them all to be hard workers. “My dad always said ‘you’ll never be poor if you can sell ice to an Eskimo,’” said Darlene. “We were taught to succeed and couldn’t go anywhere unless the chores were done.”
And how did their mother handle everything that came with having fourteen children? “She had faith,” said Mary Jean. “She would always say, ‘what good does worry do me?’”
Their mother also knew how to deal with bad behavior. “When we were naughty we had to sit in the corner,” said Denice.
Besides learning there were consequences for their actions, the girls were taught to be independent. “We all had to find jobs and get working,” said Denice. “We didn’t get to participate in school activities much, because we would have to get to our jobs.”
There was some time to relax, though. “The neighbor ladies would come over for coffee and we would have to go downstairs so they could watch the Young and Restless,” said Denice.

There are five hair stylists in the family and Darlene was the first. “My mother wanted to be a hairdresser,” said Darlene. “I did it in her honor.”
Darlene was a big influence on her younger sisters. “We got into the hair business because of our sister Darlene,” said Tina. “She did hair in Dickinson for twenty years, then Denice bought the salon from her.”
“We grew up watching our mom give the neighbor ladies perms,” said Denice. “We would go to Darlene’s salon and clean the stations. That is how we found our passion.”
After Tina and Denice moved to Bismarck, they worked together at several area salons, then decided to go into business together. They opened Identity Salon four years ago and were recently awarded their second consecutive “Best of the Best Hair Salon” award.
“We have a great staff,” said Denice. “Tina and I support each other. We get along and work together really well.”
“We also have wonderful, supportive husbands,” said Tina.
The Dvorak hard work ethic has paid off for these sisters.