Emilie Reishus

MOHALL – Emilie Jane

(Feland) Reishus, 86,

Mohall, passed away

Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022,

at the Good Samaritan

Nursing Home in Mohall

with family at her side.

Emilie was born Sept. 5,

1935, in Antler, the

daughter of Kathleen Fair

(Leslie) Feland and Ovalt

Arthur Feland, Sr. As a

very young child, Emilie

was raised in Antler. Her

mother later married John

(Jack) Overby and moved

to Hoffman Township

where she went to coun-

try school. She later at-

tended school in Grand

Forks, and Cheyenne,

Wyo. As a junior in high

school, Emilie moved into

an apartment and worked

at the City Drug store un-

til she graduated from

Mohall High School with

honors.

On June 11, 1953, Emi-

lie married Olaf Sondre

“Bud” Reishus at St.

Paul’s Lutheran Church in

Minot. They were mar-

ried for nearly 60 years

until his passing in 2013.

Together they raised

seven children, Susan,

Sondre “Skip,” Christine,

Scott, Patti, Catherine and

Judy. Emilie’s treasure

and joy were her seven

children. She often

shared, “Looking back, I

would do it all over again.

I have great kids and it is

worth everything to me.”

Emilie was an excep-

tional seamstress and

often sewed

custom-decorated, coordi-

nating outfits for her

young family, as well as

gifts for others. She was

generous and

community-minded, shar-

ing her homemade buns,

caramel rolls, baked

goods, canned goods,

meals, home-raised ber-

ries and rhubarb, gifts, or

clothes with friends and

those in need. Olaf

shared that “Your mom is

the best cook in North

Dakota.” She was an avid

gardener with an abun-

dance of crops. She en-

joyed sharing her canned

goods and homemade

freezer jam.

Emilie was a visionary,

even as a young child. In

second grade in 1942, she

told the teacher,

“Someday a man will go

to the moon.” She saw

the potential in people

and the community and

demonstrated it by serv-

ing as: the first president

of the Mrs. Jaycees;

president and secretary

for the Federated

Women’s Club; member

of the Mohall Legion Aux-

iliary and the Merry

Maids Homemakers Club;

an auxiliary member of

Good Samaritan; and a

member of the Mohall

Arts and Humanities

Council, where she intro-

duced four of her children

to oil painting. Emilie’s

artistic talent for oil and

mixed-media painting

resulted in her being com-

missioned for portraits.

Her artwork won awards,

including a blue ribbon at

the ND State Fair. After

raising her seven chil-

dren, Emilie pursued her

passions to help those in

need and to learn and be

involved in the medical

field by serving as a dedi-

cated, volunteer EMT for

20 years, serving Mohall

and the surrounding com-

munities, encouraging

and comforting the criti-

cally ill and dying.

Given Emilie’s commit-

ment to the youth of the

community, she opened

The Beehive recreation

center in the mid-1970s,

where her homemade

chocolate chip cookies

were in high demand.

She partnered with her

husband, Olaf, and son,

Scott, in the family

businesses, Reishus Con-

struction and Sherwood

Lumber, as well as their

farming operation and

prepared countless hot,

made-from-scratch meals

and baked goods for the

work crews.

Emilie was a member of

Zion Lutheran Church,

where she served as a

council member for 18

years and as Church Band

One chairperson. Emilie’s

earnestness to help those

in need spread beyond the

community. She served

many years as chairwom-

an of the Lutheran World

Relief at Zion Lutheran

Church in Mohall. She

donated, organized and

coordinated a small team

of volunteers who sewed

infant layettes, and filled

school and health kits that

were distributed across

the world. The volunteer

team sent out thousands

of kits every year, includ-

ing 5,000 kits in one year,

more than any LWR parti-

cipant.

Emilie deeply loved an-

imals. She joined the

Souris Valley Humane So-

ciety in Minot, where she

served on the board, and

three-years each as

president and secretary.

She also helped lead the

building project for the

animal shelter’s current

location and the addition

of a crematorium and pet

cemetery. Emilie bred

and owned

champion-bloodline Ger-

man Shepherds and,

along with her husband,

Bud, nurtured and adopt-

ed numerous abandoned

dogs and cats.

Family: Emilie is sur-

vived by her children, Su-

san Reishus, Minnetonka,

Minn., Christine (Rick)

Kowalski, North Oaks,

Minn., Scott Reishus,

Mohall, Patricia (Jim)

Tackmann, Rochester,

Minn., Catherine (Scott)

McLaughlin, Golden Val-

ley, Minn., Judith (Bruce

Schmaltz) Reishus, Edina,

Minn.; 14 grandchildren;

five great-grandchildren;

brothers, John (Deanna)

Overby, Leon (Linda)

Overby; sister, JoAnn

South; sister-in-law, Mar-

garet (James) Overby, and

numerous nieces and

nephews.

Emilie was preceded in

death by: Her husband,

Olaf; son, Sondre “Skip”

Reishus; mother, Kathleen

(Kay) Overby; stepfather,

John (Jack) Overby; father,

Ovalt Arthur “O.A.” Fe-

land, Sr.; sister, Ruth

Desilets; and brothers,

Ovalt Arthur Feland, Jr.,

Richard Feland, and

James Overby.

Funeral: 11 a.m., Sa-

turday, Jan. 29, 2022, at

Zion Lutheran Church,

Mohall. Due to CO-

VID-19, attendees are en-

couraged to wear a mask.

After the funeral service, a

link to a video of the ser-

vice will be placed on her

online obituary. Immedi-

ately after the service,

lunch will be served in

her honor.

Burial: Mohall Com-

munity Cemetery, Mohall,

in the spring of 2022.

Visitation: 3 to 6 p.m.,

Thursday, Jan. 28, 2022,

at Brose Funeral Home,

Mohall. Friends may also

sign the online guestbook

at brosefuneralhome.com.

Memorials: The family

suggests memorials be

given to the Souris Valley

Human Society or the

Domestic Violence Crisis

Center in Minot in honor

of Emilie’s love of animals

and helping those in

need.

(Brose Funeral Home,

Mohall)