Cletus Burbach
Cletus “Clete” Francis
Burbach, 84, Minot, died
Sept. 23, 2015, surround-
ed by his loving family.
Clete was born July 3,
1931, in Whitewater
Township, Winona
County, Minn., to Cletus
N. and Agnes (Welch)
Burbach. He was raised
and educated in Winona,
Minn., graduating from
Cotter High School in
1950. He enlisted in the
United States Air Force
on Oct. 7, 1950.
Clete was united in
marriage to Loretta Man-
ning on May 5, 1953, in
Torbay, Newfoundland,
Canada. He proudly
served his country at a
number of bases in loca-
tions including Spokane,
Wash., St. Paul, Minn.,
the Aleutian Islands,
Thule, Greenland,
Brussels, Belgium and fi-
nally, Minot, where he
retired on Aug. 31, 1971.
Three months after retir-
ing, Clete retained his Air
Force job in Electrical
Power Production as a
member of the Civil Ser-
vice until retiring a
second time in July 1996.
Clete was a member of
Little Flower Catholic
Church, Am Vets, Moose
Lodge, NARFE, VFW,
American Legion and the
Knights of Columbus. He
was avid in his enjoy-
ment of hunting, reading,
crossword puzzles, and
spending time with his
family. He particularly
enjoyed fall hunting
expeditions with his son,
Wayne, and grandson,
Nathan.
Family: Clete is sur-
vived by his loving fami-
ly, his wife of 62 years,
Loretta; children, Bettye
Chadwick (Bob) of Ro-
chelle, Ill., and their chil-
dren: Paul (Kaycee), Mike
(Emily) and Bobby (Kris-
tine); Clete (Leslie) of
Bismarck and their chil-
dren: Kara (Jason), Brynn,
Brittany, Elisabeth (Jim),
Mark (Olya) and Katie;
Tony (Britta) of Bismarck
and their children:
Madison and Blake;
Wayne (Lori) of Minot
and their children: Alex-
andra (Paul), Nathan and
Kaari; Cathy Weiner (Ho-
ward) of Gilbert, Ariz.,
and their daughter, Carly.
Clete is also survived
by his siblings: John Bur-
bach (Julaine) of Winona,
Minn; Patricia Steinhoff
(Bill) of Winona, Minn.;
Mary Brown (Tom) of
Buffalo City, Wis.; and
Patrick Burbach of Eau
Claire, Wis.
In his later years Clete
was blessed with and
greatly enjoyed 16
great-grandchildren and a
number of nieces,
nephews, great nieces
and great nephews.
Clete was preceded in
death by: his parents and
an infant son.
Mass of Christian
Burial: 11 a.m. Saturday,
Sept. 26, 2015, at Little
Flower Catholic Church,
Minot.
Vigil Prayer Service: 7
p.m. Friday, Sept. 25,
2015, in Thomas Family
Funeral Home, Minot.
Interment: 2 p.m. Mon-
day, Sept. 28, 2015, in
the North Dakota
Veterans Cemetery, south
of Mandan.
Visitation: 3 to 6 p.m.
Friday, Sept. 25, 2015, in
Thomas Family Funeral
Home, Minot.
Memorials: preferred to
the Little Flower Church
Building Fund or
Wounded Warriors Pro-
ject.
Those wanting to sign
the online memorial regis-
ter or share memories and
condolences are invited
to use the expressions of
sympathy section at