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.