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Hilmer “Bud” T. Rice

Aug. 1, 1927 – Jan. 23, 2017

Hilmer “Bud” Theodore

Rice, 89, passed away

peacefully on January

23rd, 2017 at the Moun-

trail County Bethel Home

in Stanley, ND. He was

born August 1st, 1927 to

Joseph & Carrie (Gram-

stad) Rice on his

grandmother’s homestead

northeast of Tioga. When

Bud was one year old, his

family moved to another

farmstead three miles

away where he spent the

remainder of his child-

hood.

Bud attended Loomis

School for his first four

years of grade school. He

then attended Hulberg

School where he would

drive a horse and buggy to

school each day with his

sister Clarice. After gra-

duating eighth grade, he

quit school to help his fa-

ther farm his homestead.

In 1946, Bud began farm-

ing his own land & a few

years later he took on his

uncle Reuben Rice’s land.

Bud was proud to receive

the Mountrail County Soil

Conservation award in

1974.

On July 27th, 1951, Bud

married Marian Elizabeth

Jensen in Tioga, ND. To

this marriage five wonder-ful children were born &

they enjoyed over 65

years of marriage to one

another.

During the years, Bud

took care of his family by

farming & working in the

oilfields. He originally

started working for Tioga

Oil Field Service, but

hired on with Amerada

Hess on the Iverson

Discovery Well in 1951.

He spent 22 years working

for Amerada Hess before

becoming a full-time

farmer & rancher. In 1968,

Bud went off to Mason

City, Iowa to attend auc-

tion school. Upon gradua-

tion, he started Rice’s

Auction Service & auc-

tioneered countless sales

throughout the area dur-

ing the following 35 years.

He cherished & proudly

wore a buckle he won at

the 1981 auctioneering

contest in Bismarck.

Over the years, Bud was

an active member of Nor-

man Lutheran Church, the

White Earth Valley Saddle

Club, Sons of Norway &

many other organizations.

In 1992, he helped form

the Sons of Norway in

Tioga of which he served

as president for the first

nine years. He also en-

joyed teaching square

dancing for 25 years &

singing karaoke.

Bud delighted in giving

back to his community by

volunteering his time &

auctioneering talents for

the local 4-H clubs, FFA

organizations & horse

shows where his children

& grandchildren compet-

ed. He received numerous

honors through the years

for his dedication to ser-

vice in the community.

In 2004, Bud was given

the opportunity to travel

to Norway with his

daughter Jan and her hus-

band, Jim. While visiting,

he loved meeting relatives

& exploring his family’s

history. Grandson Richard

gifted him his first ever

new saddle & all the ac-

cessories for his 78th

birthday in August of

2005.

Bud was always a great

father, grandfather,

great-grandfather &

great-great-grandfather.

He adored having his

grandkids around & his

arms were always open

for a bear hug. Bud always

had a kind word to say to

everyone & visiting with

new & old friends was

what he did best. He will

be missed dearly by all

his family members &

friends.

Family: Bud is survived

by his wife, Marian, of 65

years; his sons Keith &

Debbie (& the late Wanda)

Rice of Tioga, ND, Ho-

ward & Lisa Rice of Bur-

lington, ND & Duane &

Deb Rice of River Falls,

WI; his daughters Jan Rice

(& the late Jim) Johnson of

Scottsdale, AZ & Karen &

Joel (Rademacher) Hol-

men of Berthold, ND;

grandchildren Rikki

(Sarah) Rice, Bobby

(Tami) Rice, Jason

(Danett) Rice, Trevor

(Brittany) Rice, Brett

(Brookelyn Pfau) Rice, Jon

“Bucky” Watterud, Emily

Potisk, Josh (Yin-Zih

Huang) Rice, Justin

(Marissa Weibusch) Rice,

Sara (Brent) Nelson, Ryan

(Charli) Arndt, Chris

(Amra) Hickel, Anthony

“AJ” (Courtney Post) Rice,

Tara (Shane Mahlum)

Holmen, Ashley (Aaron)

Skarsgard, Nikki (Lynn)

Heinle, Brooke Walter,

Katie Walter, Jared

Walter, Jaycee Walter;

great-grandchildren Paige,

Logan & Leah Aadnes,

Cody, Kash & Presley

Rice; Zachary, Joseph,

Dawson & Tyson Rice;

Wyatt, Tucker & Lucas

Rice; Tayton & Rylan

Rice; McKenna & Ashlyn

Sirek, Logan Gorr, Blake &

Brynlee Nelson; Camden

Arndt; Braxton Hickel;

Cooper & Sawyer Skars-

gard; Maycee Copeland &

Hudson Heinle;

great-great-grandchild

Karter Rice; sister Clarice

Savage; brother Jerome

(Ardis) Rice; and his

many nieces, nephews &

other relatives.

Bud was preceded in

death by his parents,

brother Chester Rice, sis-

ters Evelyn Melgaard &

Olga Sather,

daughter-in-law Wanda

Rice, son-in-law Jim John-

son, & great-grandson

Oliver Skarsgard.

Services: Family service

will be held Friday, Janu-

ary 27th, 2017 at 6:00 pm

at Springan’s Funeral

Home in Stanley, ND. A

memorial service will be

held at Zion Free Luth-

eran Church in Tioga, ND

at 1:00 pm Saturday,

January 28th, 2017. Burial

will be held at Norman

Lutheran Church

Cemetery at a later date.