Joanne Marceline Skarda

Joanne Marceline Skar-

da (Blegen), age 86 , Wat-

ford City, passed away on

November 30, 2021. She

is now free from all the

pain and mobility prob-

lems that troubled her in

her later years.

Joanne was born on De-

cember 18, 1934 in Wat-

ford City, North Dakota to

Eddie and Margaret

Blegen (Sivertson). She

was the second of three

children. They lived on a

farm by the old Berg store

with Eddie’s father, John

Blegen, who died 5 years

later and they continued

living in the same house.

She attended Clear Creek

Church as a child and

went to school at Berg

School. After graduating

8th grade, she attended

Watford City High School.

She stayed in Watford

City at a house with

several other girls while

attending school. After

that she worked at several

jobs while living in Wat-

ford City before meeting

her husband, Jack Skarda.

They were married in

September 1955 at the

First Lutheran Church of

Watford City. They had 4

children, Charlotte (Greg)

Willis, Gary (Kathy) Skar-

da, Wayne (Kim) Skarda

and Randy (Tana) Skarda.

They enjoyed attending

rodeos and going fishing.

They made their home in

New Town until moving,

in 1958, to the site of their

current home, south of

Keene. In 1959 they

leased and later bought

the house and store in

Keene. Joanne was active

in the Clear Creek Church

Ladies Aid and in the

Keene craft club. She also

enjoyed making ceramics

with a group of ladies at

Virginia Lund’s house in

Keene. She worked at the

store in Keene while Jack

was busy at the farm. In

1969 they moved a house

onto the farm and moved

into that house. Joanne

continued working at the

store. They sold the gro-

cery store in 1973 and

were at the farm full time.

She enjoyed gardening

and mowing the grass.

She had a big garden

when the children were

small and canned enough

for the whole winter. She

was very active helping

the Ladies Aid making

quilts for the local gradu-

ates and Lutheran World

Relief. In her later years

she enjoyed her puzzle

books and visiting with

people in person and on

the phone. Joanne was a

loving mother, grand-

mother and

great-grandmother who

loved to see the children.

Some of the grandchil-

dren would spend the

summer on the farm and

really got to know their

grandparents and enjoy

farm life such as climbing

the buttes and jumping

hay bales.

Joanne is survived by:

her husband, Jack, brother

Raymond (Lois), and her

children; Charlotte Willis

(Greg), Gary Skarda

(Kathy), Wayne Skarda

(Kim) and Randy Skarda

(Tana). She is also sur-

vived by numerous

grandchildren and several

great-grandchildren.

Joanne was preceded in

death by: her parents Ed-

die and Margaret Blegen,

her sister Arlene Johnson

and infant granddaughters

Melinda and Shawna Willis.

Visitation will be Sun-

day, December 5, 2021

from 12:00 to 5:00 pm at

Fulkerson-Stevenson Fun-

eral Home Watford City.

Funeral Services will

be Monday, December 6,

2021 at 11:00 am at the

Clear Creek Lutheran

Church 11144 35th Street

Keene, ND. Pastor Robert

Schmidt will be officiat-

ing.

Burial will follow at the

Clear Creek Cemetery in

Keene, ND.

Memorial contributions

can be made in Joanne’s

name to the MCHS Bene-

fit Fund P.O. Box 1461

Watford City, ND 58854.

Arrangements are under

the care of

Fulkerson-Stevenson Fun-

eral Home Watford City