Olga Wokal
Olga Wokal, 91, of Watford City, N.D., died Sunday, Dec. 6, 2009, at the Good Shepherd Nursing Home in Watford City. Funeral Mass will be held at 11:00 a.m,. Friday, Dec. 11, 2009, at Epiphany Catholic Church in Watford City. Father John Pfeifer will officiate, and interment will be held at Schafer Cemetery. A Scriptural Prayer service will be held Thursday at 7:00 p.m. at the funeral home. Friends may sign the online register book and give their condolences at www.fulkersons.com
Olga Julia (Jensen) Wokal was born Jan. 17, 1918, on the family farm in Adelaide Township, Bowman County, North Dakota (near Rhame) to Jens and Mina (Stensby) Jensen, the eighth of 10 children.
Olga attended Adelaide country school for two years, and then the family moved to Rhame, where she attended school and graduated from Rhame High School in 1937.
As a girl, Olga enjoyed horseback riding, basketball, and roller skating.
She met Anthony (Tony) Wokal in 1938, and together they enjoyed dancing (especially to the Wokal family orchestra), and roller skating. Tony purchased several pairs of skates, and they had fun renting them out at buildings in area towns, such as Marmarth, Scranton, and Bucyrus.
Tony and Olga were married on Oct. 4, 1942, at St. Leo’s Catholic Church in Tacoma, Wash., four months before Tony was deployed overseas during World War II.
Olga remained on the coast with family and worked at Mannings Café until Tony returned in June of 1945, and upon his discharge in October 1945, they returned home to Bowman, N.D. where Tony worked for his brother, Joe, at Wokal Auto Co.
In 1956, Tony and Olga decided to make a change, and Tony took a job with a road construction company. They purchased a small trailer, and with four girls and two cats, they set out on an adventure that would take them all over the state. Olga always said those were some of the nicest and most enjoyable days of her life.
In 1959, the family settled in Ray, N. D., where they leased the Humble Oil Station. It was in Ray that their youngest daughter was born.
In all, six girls were born to Tony and Olga: Beverly Ann, JoAnn Gail, Rita Jeanine, Mary Lynn (stillborn), Jerry Lynn and Jacqueline Faye.
In 1964, the family moved to Watford City, N. D., and soon after that Olga started work as a pastry cook at Maloney’s Café. Then in April of 1966, she began working at the Good Shepherd Home.
During their years in Ray and Watford City, Tony and Olga’s most enjoyable pastime was boating and fishing. They especially enjoyed the pontoon they acquired in the 60s, and had many wonderful memories of weekends at the lake.
After Tony’s death in August of 1985, Olga continued to work at the Good Shepherd Home. She had worked there 30 years when she retired in 1996 at the age of 78. She moved to the Senior Citizens’ Center in 1997, and into the Good Shepherd Home in 2004.
She was always busy. She was very active in her church, the Women of Epiphany, the Hospital Auxiliary, and the American Legion Auxiliary. She enjoyed basketball, and rarely missed a game. She also enjoyed many hobbies, including sewing (especially making doll clothes for her granddaughters), crafts, playing cards and bingo, traveling or just visiting. One of her favorite pastimes was bus trips to the casinos, enjoying the company of many wonderful friends.
Olga had great faith in God, and handled all of life’s trials and tragedies with grace and dignity. She was an inspiration to her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, and she will be dearly missed.
Olga is survived by four daughters, JoAnn (Jerry) DeFoe and Rita (Richard) Fischer, Watford City, N.D., Jerry (Jerry) Mathistad, Alliance, Neb., Jacqueline (Blane) Freitag, Bowman N.D.; 17 grandchildren, 28 great-grandchildren, one great-great-granddaughter; brothers, Al and Norman Jensen; sister, Dora Carlson; sisters-in-law, Alice Wokal, Gene Jensen, Vera Jensen, and Barb Mihulka; brothers-in-law, Pete and Joe Mihulka; and numerous nieces and nephews who were a very special part of her life.
She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Tony; daughters, Beverly Ann and Mary Lynn; sisters, Marie and Lillian; brothers, Lars, Clarence, Ted, and Mel; brothers-in-law, and sisters-in-law, Henry and Eleanor Pavlick, Warren and Beatrice Cotes, Vic and Eva Wokal, Charlie and Lillie Wokal, Joe Wokal, and Vic Mihulka; and sisters-in-law, Patricia, Lena, Esther and Clarice Jensen.
Friends may call at the Fulkerson Funeral Home in Watford City on Thursday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and an hour prior to services at the church on Friday.