George Officer

Minot, formerly of Ryder,

ND, passed away peace-

fully with family and

friends by his side on

Wednesday, January 15,

2020, in a Minot hospital.

George Blaine Officer

was born on February 5,

1920, a son of Blaine and

Petra (Opheim) Officer in

Ryder, ND. He was raised

and educated in Ryder,

where he graduated from

Ryder High School in

1937. Following his gra-

duation, George enrolled

into the Civil Conserva-

tion Corps.

On June 1, 1941, George

was united in marriage to

Dorothy (Tiny) Burtness.

They made their home in

Ryder, where they raised

two sons, Michael and

Rodney. Dorothy passed

away on November 23,

1981.

On June 10, 1983,

George was united in mar-

riage to Jeanice (Skogen)

Peterson in Ryder, ND.

They later moved into

their home on Debbie

Drive in Minot and

remained there until they

moved into Somerset

Court in October 2016.

They spent many sum-

mers at their cabin near

Garrison, ND. They were

charter members of Bread

of Life Lutheran Church

and were very active

there. Jeanice passed

away on November 28,

2019.

George worked as a

lineman for Ottertail

Power Company for over

30 years. While living in

Ryder, he was an active

member of St. John’s

Lutheran Church. He was

affiliated with the Ryder

News, the Ryder Museum,

was an appliance sales-

man, a farmer, a fireman

(and fire chief), a hunter

and County Commission-

er Appointee. George was

also a Justice of the Peace

for 17 years. He also

served as Mayor of Ryder,

during which time one of

his proud accomplish-

ments was paving a few

roads in his small town.

He was a member of the

Scandinavian Heritage

Association, where he

served as President for 3

years. He was also a

member of the Sons of

Norway, the Ward County

Historical Society, the Ea-

gles Club, the Moose Club

and was an active

volunteer at the Norsk

Hostfest. He was a 75 year

member of the Elks Club

and Chairman of the Elks

Crippled Children’s Com-

mittee for many years.

George was especially

proud of his Norwegian

heritage and family, al-

ways willing to tell a story

of years past, which al-

most always included the

day, month and year that

the event happened. As

an avid collector of silver

dollars and coins, he

loved to share them with

his grandchildren and

great-grandchildren. He

was well known for his

hot buttered rums, his

homemade horseradish

and his homemade deer

jerky. In tribute to his

years with Otter Tail

Power Company, he

would climb a telephone

pole every year on his

birthday. He continued

this tradition up until his

88th birthday. This was

an indication of his

get-up-and-go as George

did not like to sit still.

While living at Somerset,

he logged over 950 miles

of walking. It was this

determination to keep

moving that kept him 99

years young. Lovingly

known to many as “Pa,”

his legacy will live in our

hearts forever.

George will be missed

by: daughters-in-law:

Renee Best-Officer, Kathy

Officer; grandchildren:

Todd (RaNae) Officer,

Troy Officer, Traci

(Nathan) French; great-

grandchildren: Tyler Off-

icer, Grace Officer, Kayli

French, Tanner French;

brother-in-law: Bob

Thom; and numerous

nieces, nephews and

cousins.

Jeanice’s family, whom

he loved as his own:

Marcia (David) Haugen,

Bruce (Debbie) Peterson,

Nancy (Tom) Schuelke;

grandchildren: Chris (Car-

la) Haugen, Jacqueline

Haugen, Melissa Haugen,

Sara (Brad) Schmidt,

Curtis (Nicole) Peterson,

Samantha (Lance) Cle-

land, Drew Schuelke,

Tyler Schuelke;

great-grandchildren:

Keanin Haugen, Stuart

Schmidt, Chaskee

Schmidt, Piper Schmidt,

Kiera Peterson, Savaya

Peterson, Kaylee Peterson;

sister-in-law: LeAnna Sko-

gen; brother-in-law:

Russel Johansen.

Greeting him in heaven

will be: his parents, wife

Dorothy, second wife

Jeanice, two sons Michael

and Rodney, brother Eu-

gene Officer and

sister-in-law Fern, brother

Alvin Officer and

sister-in-law Eleanor and

several members of

Dorothy and Jeanice’s

family.

Memorials: Preferred

to St. John’s Lutheran

Church, Ryder; Ryder His-

torical Society; Scandina-

vian Heritage Association,

Minot.

Visitation: Friday, Janu-

ary 24, 2020, from 5 until

7 pm at Thompson-Larson

Funeral Home, Minot.

Funeral Service: Satur-

day, January 25, 2020, at

11 am at Bread of Life

Lutheran Church, Minot,

ND.

Burial: Saturday, Janu-

ary 25, 2020, at 1:15 pm at

Sunset Memorial Gar-

dens, Minot .

Thompson-Larson Fun-

eral Home, Minot