Bernadette Engelhard

Bernadette Engelhard,

89, passed away after a

long battle with

Alzheimer’s Disease May

13, 2021 at home with her

loving husband of 66

years and family by her

side. Mass of Christian

burial will be held 8:45

a.m. Wednesday, May 19

at Church of Corpus

Christi, 1919 N 2nd St.,

Bismarck. A service lives-

tream will be available on

the church’s Facebook

page.

Visitation will be held 5

to 7 p.m. Tuesday at East-

gate Funeral Service, 2302

E Divide Ave., Bismarck.

A rosary/vigil service will

begin at 7 p.m.

Burial will be held at

North Dakota Veterans

Cemetery, Mandan.

Bernadette was born

May 8, 1932 in the Tarsus

community of Bottineau

County. She was the

daughter of Bernard and

Alice (Greenwood) Hamil-

ton, the fifth of eight liv-

ing children. Looking

back on her childhood life

in the Tarsus community,

they were very happy

children, not realizing

how bad things really

were in the 1930’s depres-sion. As a family, they

played cards, listened to

the radio (because the TV

had not been invented

yet), played tag,

ring-around-the-rosie and

hide-and-go-seek. They

also made homemade

swings and stilts. In the

winters, they enjoyed

sledding and skiing. It

was self-entertainment –

and FREE. To teach them

responsibility, they had

chores, such as dishes,

wood chopping, hauling

water from the well, feed-

ing animals and bringing

cows in for milking. They

were always kept busy.

Bernadette enjoyed being

outside, whether it was

mowing grass, shoveling

snow or fishing. The fresh

air was always worth the

work.

She attended school in

a one-room rural school

for three years. The family

then moved to Bottineau

for one year, after which

they moved to Minot,

where she attended grade

and Minot High schools.

While attending high

school, she also worked

for a short while at Trinity

Hospital, taking care of

food trays on the fifth

floor. In 1948 she began

working at Kresge’s 5 and

10, working there until

after her marriage in 1954.

On July 22, 1954, Ber-

nadette was united in

marriage to Orvin

Engelhard at St. Leo’s

Catholic Church in Minot,

after his return from ser-

vice in Korea. They lived

briefly in Minot. Later in

1954 they moved to the

Glenburn area and began

farming. While living at

Glenburn, three daughters

were born: Kathryn, De-

borah and Lori.

In 1962, Orvin began

employment with the

Truck Regulatory Division

of the ND Highway

Department. In 1964 the

family was transferred to

Petersburg where they

lived for one year. In 1965

they were transferred to

Bismarck where their son,

Brian, was born. Ber-

nadette and Orvin have

resided in Bismarck since.

Bernadette and Orvin

were faithful members of

the Church of Corpus

Christi since 1965. She

spent her life taking care

of others.

They placed their prior-

ities on Bernie being

home for their children.

She was a full-time house-

wife and very loving and

caring mother. Besides

cooking and cleaning, she

was also a self-taught

seamstress and sewed

much of the girl’s clothes.

She also sewed items for

the St. Mary’s Carnival for

many years. Bernadette al-

ways had baked goods

around for friends and

family, especially her

beautifully decorated

cookies around the holi-

days.

Bernie loved her

grandchildren and

great-grandchildren. They

spent many hours togeth-

er playing and enjoying

each other’s company.

Bernadette is survived

by her husband, Orvin;

daughters, Kathryn (Greg)

Hoovestol, Fargo, Deborah

(Lynn) Best, Bismarck,

and Lori (Hal) Sathre, Tut-

tle; son, Brian (Caroline),

Valley City; 11 grandchil-dren, 13

great-grandchildren; and

numerous in-laws.

She was preceded in

death by her parents;

three brothers, Lester, Ar-

nold and David; four sis-

ters, Eleanor Clementich,

Deloris Hamilton, Joyce

Seney and Lois Volk.

A special thank you to

the Home Care Compan-

ions and Caring Edge Hos-

pice for their excellent

care.

To share memories of

Bernadette and to sign the

online guestbook, go to

www.eastgatefuneral.com.