LaVern C. “Vern” Neff

LaVern C. “Vern” Neff,

92, longtime Williston,

ND attorney, more recent-ly of Bismarck, ND,

passed away peacefully

Sunday, October 13, 2019

in Bismarck. Fulkerson

Stevenson Funeral Home

of Williston is assisting

the family. Friends may

sign the on-line register

and give their con-

dolences at

www.fulkersons.com.

His funeral service will

be held at 11:00 AM, Sa-

turday, October 19, 2019

at Faith United Methodist

Church in Williston with

Rev. Mike Skor officiating.

Interment with military

honors will be held at

1:30 PM in Riverview

Cemetery, Williston.

On Friday, October 18,

2019, a Masonic service

open to the public will be

held at 5:30 PM at the

Fulkerson Stevenson Fun-

eral Home in Williston

and a family service open

to the public will be held

at the funeral home at

6:00 PM, following the

Masonic service.

Friends may call at the

Fulkerson Stevenson Fun-

eral Home in Williston on

Friday from 9:00 AM until

5:30 PM.

LaVern C. “Vern” Neff,

92, died peacefully, sur-

rounded by family, Satur-

day morning, October 13,

2019, after having lived a

long life of love, kindness,

generosity and service.

Son of Charles G. and

Martha (Schindler) Neff,

Vern was born January 17,

1927, on the kitchen table

of his grandparents’ farm-

house outside of McClu-

sky during a howling bliz-

zard. Raised in and

around McClusky, he was

class Salutatorian, but did

not attend his graduation

ceremony, having already

enlisted and headed for

basic training at Ft. Ben-

ning, GA. Mr. Neff served

in the active military from

1944-1946 as a member of

the 11th Airborne Divi-

sion, 503 PIR, attaining

the rank of S/Sgt, and

from 1946-1952 in the US

Army Reserves as a 1st Lt.

While in training, he

saved the life a fellow

paratrooper whose para-

chute failed to deploy by

grabbing the fellow’s har-

ness as he went by. Mr.

Neff spent time in the Phi-

lippines, before being sta-

tioned in Sendai, Japan,

as part of MacArthur’s oc-

cupation forces. Mr. Neff

enjoyed his time in Sen-

dai and enjoyed the

Japanese people.

Continuing his life of

service while on campus,

Vern served as president

of the ATO fraternity and

Associate Editor of the

N.D. Law Review. He not-

ed that sometimes service

has unexpected rewards.

While volunteering as

escort for new freshman

arrivals to campus, he met

the lovely Juanita Jones

from Wyndmere at the

train station and the rest,

as they say, is history.

Vern and Juanita married

on June 4th, 1950. The

couple moved to Williston

in 1952, where they raised

three children, Donna,

Barbara and Charles. Both

remained active in their

community until Vern’s

health concerns moved

them to Bismarck in 2015.

Vern received his BA in

Commerce in 1949 and

his Juris Doctor in 1952,

after which the couple

moved to Williston, fol-

lowing the advice of

Juanita’s boss at the time,

Dr. Wilson Laird, the ND

State Geologist, who

foresaw the coming oil

boom in Western ND.

First serving as Assis-

tant States Attorney under

Telmer Rolfstad, Mr. Neff

joined the law firm that

became Bjella, Jestrab,

Neff and Pippin, presently

Neff, Eiken, Neff, where

he practiced oil and gas,

estate and commercial

law for 58 years before his

grudging retirement in

2009.

Throughout his profes-

sional and personal life,

Mr. Neff assumed leader-

ship roles in many and

various organizations. He

was an active member of

Faith UMC, Past Post

Commander, Edgar M.

Boyd Post #37 of the

American Legion, Past Ex-

alted Ruler, Williston

B.P.O.E., Chairman of the

North Dakota State Histor-ical Society and President

of the State Bar Associa-

tion. He served on the

board of the Williston

State College Foundation,

Mercy Medical Center,

James Memorial Library,

American State Bank and

Trust, ND Council on the

Arts and Humanities, ND

State Parks Advisory

Council,

Yellowstone-Missouri Fort

Union Confluence Com-

mittee and was an early

participant in the Ft. Bu-

ford 6th Infantry. In addi-

tion, he served on the Pol-

icy Council for Head

Start, the Industrial

Development Committee

and the Lewis and Clark

Trail Advisory Council.

Mr. Neff also served as

Governor Link’s appointee

to the ND Centennial

Commission and Gover-

nor Olson’s appointee to

represent North Dakota on

the Interstate Oil Compact

Commission.

Mr. Neff was director of

the State Historical So-

ciety during the creation

and planning of the North

Dakota Heritage Center,

and was a founding and

incorporating member of

the North Dakota Ger-

mans from Russia Histori-cal Society, the Frontier

Museum Society, Willi-

ams County Historical So-

ciety, Williston Jobs & In-

dustries, Inc., and the

Dakotas United Methodist

Foundation.

In recognition of his

hard work and dedication,

Mr. Neff received the

North Dakota Jaycees Dis-

tinguished Service award

in 1958, a Distinguished

Service Award from the

State Bar Association of

North Dakota in 1987 and

later the Williston

Chamber of Commerce

Western Star Award in

2001. He was also very

pleased to receive Boss of

the Year award in 1972.

Vern did all these

things, not for the honors

that eventually followed,

but as a reflection of his

abiding Christian faith, in-

herent drive and his dee-

ply held belief that our

true purpose as human

beings and followers of

Christ was to always leave

things, whether person,

place or thing, in some

way better than you found

it.

Vern was also a hand’s

on father to his three chil-

dren. Many family adven-

tures have become legen-

dary, such as spinning

cookies on the ice or driv-

ing our VW bug back-

wards through the zoo’s

tiny train tunnel. Other

outdoor adventures in-

cluded climbing buttes

(and then picking out

cactus needles), family

outings on the boat and

later at the family cabin,

enjoying beautiful Lake

Sacajawea. Vern also en-

joyed auctions, stock car

racing, rock collecting and

to his last days, main-

tained an avid interest in

coin collecting.

Vern is survived by: his

loving wife of 69 years,

Juanita. In-laws: Audrey

(Don) Neff, Lois (Harold)

Neff, Bonnie (Robert) Neff

and Tom (Janet) Wentz.

Three children: Donna

(Walt Jesteadt) Neff,

Omaha, Barbara (David)

Nash, Bismarck, and

Charles (Sherry) Neff,

Williston. Ten grandchil-

dren: David (Monica Mon-

zingo) Jesteadt, Los

Angeles, CA, Eric (Tif-

fany) Jesteadt, Arlington,

VA, Brian Jesteadt,

Omaha, NE, Laura (Jon)

Dronen, Hazen, ND, Ben-

jamin (Meghan) Nash, Ed-

monds, WA, Alexander

Nash, Poughkeepsie, NY,

Kristine Neff, Tulsa, OK,

Matthew (Sarah) Neff,

Tulsa, OK, Miranda Neff,

Sand Springs, OK, Tara

(Samuel) Erickstad,

Williston. The Neffs also

have 11

great-grandchildren, Sid-

ney, Cordelia, Elliott, Cait-

lin, Dillon, Kaia, Margaret,

Lucas, Jordan, Penelope

and Vance.

Vern was preceded in

death by: his parents,

Charles G. and Martha

(Schindler) Neff, and si-

blings Dorothy Ostrom,

Donald, Harold, Robert

and Richard Neff and

Janet Wentz.

The family would like

to sincerely thank the staff

of Missouri Slope Luth-

eran Care Center as well

as Dr. Louise Murphy,

Eric Lutzwick and the

doctors and staff of CHI

St. Alexius for their loving

and compassionate care

during these past several

years, gifting us with so

many ‘bonus’ days with

our beloved husband, dad

and grandpa. Thank you.

Family suggests

memorials to the Willis-

ton State College Founda-

tion, Box 1286, Williston

58802, Heritage Founda-

tion for Germans from

Russia (HFGR), 1125 W

Turnpike Ave, Bismarck

58501 or the State Histori-cal Society of North Dako-

ta (SHSND) Foundation,

PO Box 1976, Bismarck

58501.

Thank you for joining

us to celebrate Vern’s life

and mourn his loss. If you

have ever visited the

North Dakota Heritage

Museum, Fort Buford,

Fort Union, or any of our

wonderful state parks, or

perhaps received a scho-

larship from the Alva J.

Field Foundation, re-

ceived services at Mercy

Hospital in Williston, or

researched your ancestors

through the HFGR, then

you, too, share Vern’s

legacy.