Terry Vandal

Terry Vandal, 68,

Garrison, passed away

peacefully on Saturday,

March 14 at St. Alexius

Medical Center in

Bismarck.

Funeral services will be

held on Friday at 10:30

am at St. Nicholas Cathol-

ic Church in Garrison.

A rosary will be said on

Thursday at 7:00 pm at

the church.

Visitation will be held

on Thursday from 5 to 7

at St. Nicholas Catholic

Church in Garrison.

Burial will take place

later this spring at St. Ni-

cholas Catholic Church in

Garrison.

Under the cir-

cumstances and for

everyone’s health, Terry’s

family understands those

of you that will not be

able to attend. Let’s keep

everyone healthy and

please keep Terry’s family

in your prayers.

Terry was born on July

12, 1951 to Albert and

Betty Jean (Evenson) in

Bottineau, ND. His family

later moved to Minot. He

attended McKinley Ele-

mentary, Bishop Ryan

High school and Minot

State College where he

graduated with a speech

and drama degree and an

English minor. While at

Minot State he was very

active in the drama

department where he par-

ticipated in many plays.

He also was involved in

the college student

government where he was

influential in organizing

and bringing in top quali-

ty entertainment. While at

Minot State, Terry became

a member of the Sigma

Tau Fraternity. Those

young men were his fam-

ily while attending college

and beyond. He talked

many times about the frat

brothers, they held reun-

ions and we often saw

many of them over the

years.

While growing up, Ter-

ry spent many enjoyable

summers at Lake Meti-

goshe where he skied,

swam and enjoyed lake

life at his family’s cabin.

Terry met Luci Hoffert,

while in college and they

later married June 14,

1975, in Rugby, ND . They

moved to Garrison where

he first taught at White

Shield for two years and

then started his life-long

teaching career in Garris-

on. He initially coached

junior high wrestling

while teaching English,

speech and drama. Terry

greatly enjoyed the litera-

ture and poetry part of En-

glish but wasn’t as

enthusiastic about gram-

mar. When he became

director for HS plays, he

devoted many hours into

that role and his cast ex-

celled at the district and

state levels. Terry was

chosen Class B Drama

Coach of the year.

Terry was active in the

Garrison community by

participating initially in

the Lion’s Club, the golf

board and then the Garris-on Area Improvement As-

sociation.

In his church he joined

the Knights of Columbus,

sang in the men’s choir,

served on the parish

council and volunteered

as a Eucharistic Minister.

Some of Terry’s pas-

sions were watching the

Minnesota Viking and

NDSU bison Football

teams. There was a lot of

cheering and shouting

during those games. He

had enjoyed golfing for

many years and was al-

ways seeking ways to im-

prove. Terry looked for-

ward to deer hunting

every fall and there were

always a lot of stories

about “the one who got

away.” Another passion

was breeding and raising

paint horses. Terry want-

ed to raise splashy black

and white colts and some-

times, it even worked out.

Terry and Luci were

graced by three lovely

daughters, Alesha (Ni-

cholas) Yarbrough and

their daughter Aurora of

Bismarck, Kayla Vandal of

Bismarck and Garrison,

and Lindsey (John)

Schmidt and their chil-

dren: Jocelyn, Nathaniel,

Lorelei and Allesandra of

Minot. Terry always cele-

brated everyone’s birth-

days with a family cele-

bration and thoroughly

loved family activities.

Also surviving him is

his sister Barb Warden of

Ventura, CA.

Preceding him in death

were his father Albert and

his mother, Betty Jean

who passed away from

cancer when Terry was

only two years old.

In the fall of 2018, Ter-

ry suffered a series of

strokes and that along

with an aggressive form of

dementia greatly dimin-

ished his independence.

Terry became a resident

of the Benedictine Living

Center for the last year

and a half. He had many

excellent caretakers who

were kind and under-

standing with both Terry

and his family.

In lieu of flowers, you

may donate to Backpack

Buddies of Garrison or the

Garrison Knights of

Columbus.