William “Bill” Artz

William “Bill” Artz was

born on March 29, 1947 to

Harold and Regina

(Fraser) Artz in Bottineau,

ND. He was the third of

fifteen children, growing

up with his seven broth-

ers and seven sisters on

the family farm in Antler,

ND. Bill attended Notre

Dame Catholic High

School in Willow City,

ND, where he graduated

in 1967. He then attended

North Dakota State School

of Science in Wahpeton

for 2 years, graduating

with a degree in Gas &

Diesel Mechanics & Weld-

ing. He worked in Fargo

for a time until he enlist-

ed in the Navy Sea Bees

and served his country

proudly in Vietnam.

Bill married the love of

his life, Trudy

(Deschamp) of Westhope,

on April 8, 1983. They in-

itially made their home in

Newburg, ND until mov-

ing to a farm outside of

Westhope in December of

1983. They welcomed

their first daughter, Sara

Lynn, in September 1983

and 2 years later, in No-

vember 1985, welcomed a

son, Leonard William.

Their family was complet-

ed in September 1990

with the addition of Molly

Jean. They later moved to

a farm outside of Max-

bass, ND.

Bill grew many dif-

ferent crops over a span of

45 years farming in the

Westhope/Maxbass area.

He proudly handed over

the farm to his son, Len-

ny, in 2015 when he real-

ized that the sunshine and

golf courses of Arizona

were calling his name.

Bill and Trudy spent 8

wonderful winters in Ar-

izona where they had lots

of family close by and

where they enjoyed meet-

ing people from around

the country, and even a

few from Canada. The

friendships made during

their time in AZ will al-

ways be cherished.

In addition to farming,

Bill was very active and

involved in the communi-

ties where he lived. He

was a very dedicated and

resourceful member of the

Bottineau County Water

Resource Board for a little

over 40 years. He also

served on numerous other

agricultural, golf, school

and church boards. He

was also a very talented

mechanic and loved help-

ing anyone in his com-

munity and surrounding

area. He loved restoring

old tractors and fixing up

golf carts. He rarely

missed any of his

children’s activities and

tried to make it to as

many of his grandkids’ ac-

tivities as he could. Bill

loved to golf and made

sure his kids and

grandkids did too.

Bill was welcomed into

Eternal Life on October

12th, 2021, surrounded by

his family. He leaves

behind his loving wife,

Trudy, of Westhope, ND,

and children, Sara (Jesse)

Wiedrich of Bismarck,

ND, Lenny (Amanda) Artz

of Westhope, ND, and

Molly Artz (Brieanne

Schmidt) of Bismarck,

ND. He will be remem-

bered and forever loved

by his grandchildren Will,

Ty, Parker and Nash Artz

and Cole, Mason and Hat-

tie Wiedrich. He is also

survived by his siblings

Jeanne Artz of Minot, ND,

Bernice (Phil) Duffy of

Stillwell, KS, Mike (Ruby)

Artz of Antler, ND, Ted

(Becky) Artz of Lyleton,

SK, Loretta (Art) Pieretti

of Rockaway Beach, OR,

Colette (Howard) Cotton

of Hillsboro, ND, Leann

(Curt) Hall of Berthold,

ND, Bob (Brenda) Artz of

Minot, ND, Marie Hender-

son, Norton, MA, Pete

(Georgia) Artz of Bot-

tineau, ND, Don Artz of

Antler, ND, Marilyn (Tim)

Backman of Herman, MN,

Pat (Amy) Artz of Bot-

tineau, ND, mother-in-law

Pauline Deschamp of

Minot, ND, sisters-in-law,

Kelly Rae Artz of Bot-

tineau, ND, Gail (Jim)

Schmitz of Naples, FL,

and brother-in-law Micha-

el Deschamp (Craig Sevin)

of Kalamazoo, MI, along

with numerous nieces and

nephews who each have

held a special place in his

heart.

He was preceded in

death by his parents

Harold and Jean Artz, his

father-in-law, James

Deschamp, his brother

Jim Artz, his

brother-in-laws Jerry

Schutten, Brandt Hender-

son and Ric Schmitz, his

nephews Benjamin Cotton

and Nathan Artz, niece

Ashley Artz and great

niece, Emily Hall.

Mass of Christian Burial

will be celebrated on

Wednesday October

20,2021 at 10:00 AM at

the Presbyterian Church

in Westhope. A prayer

service at 7:00 PM, Tues-

day, October 19th at the

Presbyterian Church. In

lieu of flowers, the family

requests that memorials

be given to the Trinity

Cancer Care Center and

the Westhope Ambulance

Service.

Nero Funeral Home,

Bottineau.