Loretta Engebretson

Williston

Loretta Engebretson, 82, of Williston, passed away, with her family at her side, at the CHI St. Alexus Medical Center in Bismarck on Thursday evening, March 16, 2023.

Her Funeral Service will be held at 1:00 PM on Saturday, March 25, at the Emmanuel Free Lutheran Church in Williston. Rev. Jon Wellumson will officiate. Interment in Riverview Cemetery will follow the service.

Visitation will be on Friday, March 24, from 9:00 AM until 7:00 PM at Everson-Coughlin Funeral Home in Williston. There will be a family service, open to the public beginning at 7:00 PM at the funeral home.

Loretta was born on September 30, 1940 in Cando, North Dakota to Oscar and Arabelle Johnson. She grew up on the family farm in Perth, North Dakota. She was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith. She attended Monroe school and graduated from Perth High School in 1958. Later, she graduated from business College in Minot, North Dakota. Loretta was united in marriage with Edwin Engebretson on September 22, 1962 in Douglas, North Dakota. Afterwards, they made their home in Minot and Wayne, Yvonne, Cory, and Dale completed the family. Loretta spent many years as a Cub Scout den mother and a Sunday school teacher. Ed and Loretta moved their family to Williston, North Dakota in 1978. Loretta was deeply committed to her family and her faith and served in many areas, including as church secretary for Women of Life for 25 years and volunteering anywhere needed. She retired from Craven Hagan Clinic after over 25 years. Loretta enjoyed word search puzzles, flower gardening, embroidery, fishing and baking. She took great pride in a job well done and her lovely yard was evidence of that. Her thoughtfulness for others was evident and she was always ready to send her baked goods home with family or deliver to a neighbor or to bless someone with an embroidered gift. She loved her family and was always ready to share something she was proud of about them to others or to tell a joke she had saved up for them. She had a knack for telling it like it was! She had a one of a kind laugh and used it often teasing and being teased by her grandkids. Loretta loved Jesus and was not afraid to tell you if you didn’t yet know Him that you should. It is because of her personal relationship with the Lord that we know that when she closed her eyes on earth, she opened them in heaven.

Loretta is survived by her husband of more than 60 years, Edwin Engebretson; children, Wayne (Jane) Engebretson, Yvonne (Mark) Schmidt, Cory (Melissa) Engebretson, and Dale (Rebekah) Engebretson; grandchildren, Kalyse, Josiah (Emily), Keegan (fiancée Bailey) Engebretson, Naomi (Jacob) Smithberg, Leah (Dylan) Batzer, Bethany and Jeremiah Schmidt, McKenzie and Maci Engebretson, and Abby (fiancé Joey) Ruby, Violet, and Georgia Engebretson and 2 great-grandchildren expected in July; Siblings Evelyn (Glenn) Stout, Judy (Jim) Evans, and Linda (George) Farley and in-laws, Neil/Mary Ann Narum and Maryann Engebretson and numerous nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Oscar and Arabelle Johnson; brother, Norman Johnson; brother-in-law, Gary Engebretson; parents-in-law, Ben and Elizabeth Ellingson and several cousins and nieces and nephews.

In lieu of flowers or gifts, memorials can be made to Samaritans Purse or St Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital.

Friends are welcome to visit www.eversoncoughlin.com to share memories of Loretta or leave condolences for her family.

Published by The Minot Daily News, March 22, 2023.