Ilene Schimmelpfennig

Ilene Schimmelpfennig,

78, rural Minot, died Fri-

day, October 8, 2021, in a

Minot Hospital.

Ilene was born De-

cember 11, 1942, at Rug-

by, North Dakota, the

daughter of Nels and

Lenora (Kettleson)

Opstedal. She was raised

and educated at Rugby

and graduated from Rug-

by High School in 1961.

She was employed at

Cooks Lounge while at-

tending high school and

was once married to John

Deibert.

Ilene moved to Texas in

1970 and was employed at

a car dealership for a

short time. She returned

to North Dakota in 1972

and was united in mar-

riage to Kelley Hamilton

that same year. They were

later divorced. Ilene re-

turned to school at a

Minot College, where she

received an associate de-

gree in science in 1989.

She was united in mar-

riage to Larry Schimmelp-

fennig on November 27,

1998, at Coeur d’ Alene,

Idaho. They made their

home on a farm west of

Ruthville, where they

have since resided. Ilene

was employed for a Minot

law firm as a legal secre-

tary in Minot and at the

North Central Experiment

Station south of Minot.

While living in Rugby,

Ilene was active with the

Eagles Auxiliary for over

30 years, holding a

number of leadership po-

sitions there. She was

well known in the bowl-

ing circles both in Rugby

and Minot. She attended

many State and National

Bowling Tournaments

and received several

awards for her abilities.

She was also a former

member of Lynch Im-

manuel Lutheran Church,

rural Minot, where she

played the piano for many

services, funerals and

weddings until the

Church was closed.

Her loving family in-

cludes, husband, Larry;

children, Mark (Sue)

Hamilton, Rugby, Renee

(Steve) Leitzke, Mandan,

Rochelle (Mark) Caster,

Fargo, Charles Hamilton,

Rugby, Travis (Chantel)

Hamilton, Rugby and Julie

(Mike) Hamilton, Rugby;

step-daughters, Debbie

(Tante) Lagman of Blaine,

Washington, Becky (Jeff)

Burks of Cheney, Wash-

ington; DeeDee (Craig)

Sauer, Minot; 24

grandchildren and 11

great grandchildren; si-

blings, Arlan (Luanne)

Opstedal, Minneapolis,

MN, Harley Opstedal

Sauk Center, MN and

Layne Opstedal, Rugby.

Ilene was preceded in

death by her parents.

Funeral service: Thurs-

day, October 14, 2021, at

11:00 a.m. in St. Paul’s

Lutheran Church, Minot.

To view the livestream of

the service or share

memories and con-

dolences please access

Ilene’s obituary at www.

thomasfamilyfuneralhome

.com.

Interment: Lynch

Cemetery, rural Glenburn,

ND

Visitation: Wednesday,

October 13th from

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

Family Funeral Home,

Minot.

Memorials: In lieu of

flowers, memorials are

preferred to St. Paul’s

Lutheran Church, Minot,

Dakota Boys and Girls

Ranch or organization of

the donor’s choice.