February 13, 2013

Shirley Bottke

Shirley Bottke, 77, a longtime Alexander, N.D., resident lately of Watford City, N.D., passed away Monday, Feb. 4, 2013, at the Good Shepherd Nursing Home in Watford City.
Cremation will take place and a memorial service will be held in the spring of the year. Funeral arrangements will be announced closer to the date.
Shirley Ann Lien was born to Joe and Ruth (Tibbits) Lien in Williston, N.D., on May 5, 1935. She was raised on her family’s farm in Charbon Township. She attended grade school in Charbon Township and high school in Alexander, graduating in 1952.
Upon high school graduation, Shirley worked at a bank in Billings, Mont., before attending teaching school in Dickinson, N.D. She later taught at Horse Creek School and Moline School.
Shirley married her high school sweetheart, William (Bill) Bottke, on Nov. 11, 1955, at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Alexander. Together, they spent many years on their farm working the land and raising livestock.
As a full time farmer and rancher, Shirley enjoyed riding on her tractor summer fallowing and picking rocks. She also liked attending her grandchildren’s events, working in her garden and driving around the countryside checking on their Black Angus cattle. In her younger years, she liked going dancing with Bill and taking spontaneous car trips. She was never one to pass up a trip to New Town or Deadwood to try her hand at the slots.
Surviving Shirley are her daughters, Victoria Dishon of Sidney, Mont., Melanie Swearingen of Alexander, N.D. and Stacy Koland of Inver Grove Heights, Minn.; eight grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; sisters, Mildred Wangerud of Alexander, N.D., Gladys (Pat) Owan of Maricopia, Ariz., and Marjorie Brown of Pasco, Wash.; and one sister-in-law, Margaret Bottke of Missoula, Mont.
Preceding Shirley in death were her parents, Ruth and Joe Lien; her husband, Bill Bottke; and an infant sister.
Friends are welcome to visit www.eversonfh.com to share memories of Shirley or condolences with the family.
 

WATFORD CITY WEATHER