Sam Verbitsky

Sam Allen Verbitsky, 89, of Minot, went to be with his Eternal Father, Friday evening, July 3, 2009, in Trinity Hospital in Minot.

On June 20th, 1920, in a sod shanty, on the south slope of the Dogden Butte in Arena Township of McLean County, a son was born to Arsen and Lula (Krupsky) Verbitsky. Sam Allen Verbitsky was the eighth of 10 surviving children.

In 1923, when Sam was 3 years old, he moved with his family to Birch Run, Mich., where his father found employment in the Body by Fisher automobile factory. Finally, in 1926, Sam and his family moved to a farm near Pine Run, Mich. It was in the fall of 1926 that Sam entered the first grade in Pine Run. In 1930, with the economy failing and the Great Depression in force, Sam's mother and father sold out in Michigan and moved the family back to North Dakota, where Sam continued his schooling in the Byersville Township School south of Butte. Sam enrolled in Butte High School in 1934 and graduated in 1938.

In the fall of 1938, he enrolled at Minot State Teachers College, where he received a two-year standard diploma in 1940. In the fall of 1940, Sam was hired for his first teaching job in a country school south of Kief.

Sam continued to teach until he was drafted into the Army Oct. 29, 1941. He served his country in the South Pacific during World War II and was awarded Two Bronze Stars for the New Guinea Campaign, the Asiatic-Pacific Ribbon, the American Defense Medal and the Good Conduct Medal. He was honorably discharged on Sept. 27, 1945. Of the 47 months that Sam served in the Army, 32 of those months were spent in continuous combat.

After being discharged from the Army, he enrolled at Minot State Teachers College and graduated in 1947 with a bachelor of science degree in education. Sam taught in Alamo from the fall of 1947 to the spring of 1952. In the fall of 1952, Sam took his second teaching job in Nashua, Mont. Sam continued in Nashua until the spring of 1957. From the fall of 1957 to the spring of 1958, Sam taught in Las Vegas.

In the summer of 1958, he received his master's degree in public school administration from the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks. That same fall, Sam took his last teaching job in the Minot Public School System. Sam retired from teaching in the spring of 1986 after 40 years. In 1994 and 1995, Sam worked the halibut and crab seasons out of Kodiak, Alaska, on the F/V Laurie Lynne, as a deck hand.

Sam was united in marriage to Mabel Zavalney on Nov. 27, 1958. In November 2008, they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.

He was a member of First Assembly of God Church, Minot, the Butte American Legion, the National Education Association, the North Dakota Education Association, The Golden K's, Gideons International and the Future Business Leaders of America.

Those who shared his life: wife of 50 years, Mabel, Minot; children, Alan (Laurie) Verbitsky of Minot, and Alisa (Rodney) Hartman of Las Vegas; grandchildren, Nikolai Verbitsky, Kathryn Verbitsky, Karena Verbitsky, Jessica Hartman and Samee Hartman; brothers, Peter (Emma) Verbitsky, Gus (Effie) Verbitsky, George (Evelyn) Verbitsky and Harold (LaWanda) Verbitsky; sisters, Mary (William) Sloboden, Olga Roberts, Pauline (Reuben) Johnson, Ann (John) Paddock and Elsie (Paul) Tarasenko; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins. Of his brothers and sisters, Sam is survived by his sister, Pauline Johnson, and his brother, Harold Verbitsky.

Sam was a gentle, loving man, who was respected and liked by those who knew him.

Visitation: Wednesday, July 8, 2009, from noon to 6 p.m. at Thompson-Larson Funeral Home, Minot.

Prayer service: Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Thompson-Larson Funeral Home, Minot.

Funeral service: Thursday, July 9, 2009, at 11 a.m. at First Assembly of God Church, Minot.

Burial: Thursday at 2:30 p.m. at Butte Community Cemetery, Butte.

Memorials: In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the donor's choice.

Those wishing to sign the online register and share memories may access the online obituaries section at (www.thompsonlarson.com).