Bill Putnam

Charles William (Bill)

Putnam, 85, Minot, form-

erly of the Grand Forks &

Alsen area, ND, died

Wednesday, November

18, 2020 in a Minot Nurs-

ing Home.

Bill was born October

26, 1935 at Grand Forks,

North Dakota, the son of

Charles and Louise

(Rund) Putnam. He was

raised in Grand Forks,

ND, Proctor, MN and

Seattle, WA. He later

moved to Alsen, ND,

where he lived with his

Aunt Molly and Uncle

Jake Albrecht and gra-

duated from high school

in 1954.

Bill was united in mar-

riage to his high school

sweetheart, Melva Pan-

kratz, July 28, 1953 in Al-

sen. Bill was employed

with Red Owl Grocery

throughout North Dakota

and Minnesota. The fami-

ly moved to Minot in 1971

where he worked for I.

Keating Furniture. He

would later become the

pastor of the Calvary Alli-

ance Church in Minot.

In 1980, he and Melva

would begin a traveling

ministry of music and

evangelism through the

Christian Missionary Alli-

ance denomination,

where they traveled ex-

tensively across the US

and Canada. Following

this, he entered into min-

istry as full time Pastor at

Polson, Montana for 16

years with the Christian

Missionary Alliance

Church. During this time,

he completed studies and

became an ordained min-

ister.

He retired to North

Dakota to be nearer his

family. He was a former

member of the Swiss

Mennonite Church in Al-

sen and had attended

First Assembly of God

Church in Minot. He was

a member of the XYZ fel-

lowship at First Baptist

Church, the Sertoma Club

of Minot and had enjoyed

playing the guitar, hunt-

ing and fishing.

His loving family in-

cludes, wife, Melva of 67

years, children, Gene

(Cynthia) Putnam of

Minot; LaVonne (Mark)

Hamre, Yakima, WA &

Beckie (Jeremiah) Taylor,

Minot, ND; 8 grandchil-

dren & 22 great grandchil-dren; siblings, Frances

Page, Los Angeles, CA

along with numerous

nieces, nephews and

cousins.

Bill was preceded in

death by his parents,

brothers Grant Putnam,

Wendell Putnam, Ted

Walters and sisters, Pearl

Sorenson and Cathy Gour-

dine.

Family Celebration of

Life service: Saturday,

November 28, 2020 at

10:00 a.m. in Our Redee-

mers Church, Minot.

Public Graveside ser-

vice: Saturday at 2:30

p.m. in Alsen Community

Cemetery, Alsen, ND

Public Visitation: Fri-

day, November 27th from

4:00-6:00 p.m. in Thomas

Family Funeral Home,

Minot.

There will be a delayed

streaming of the service

starting Monday, No-

vember 30th by viewing

Bill’s obituary on the fun-

eral home website.

Those wishing to sign

the online memorial regis-

ter or share memories are

invited to use the expres-

sions of sympathy section

at (www.thomasfamily

funeralhome.com)