Merle Enno

Belcourt

Edward Merle Enno was born on June 17, 1943, in Belcourt, ND, on the Turtle Mountain Reservation, the third son of Alfred and Mary Enno (Everling). Around 1945, his family moved to Rolette County, where they built a home and made a life on the farm. During his school years, his mother began calling him by his middle name to avoid confusion with the older boys named Edward.

Though life was not always easy, the Enno home was rich with music and family. Relatives gathered for evenings of guitar, fiddle music, and dancing jigs. It was from his cousin, Charles Everling, that Merle first learned to play guitar.

At age 11, Merle’s life changed forever when a hunting injury took his right leg. He spent the winter of 1954 in the hospital in Minot and was home schooled through the fifth grade.

Still, Merle lived fully. He kept playing guitar, learned the coronet, raised sheep to help cover expenses, and played FFA basketball, where, as a guard, he “learned to make those long shots.”

After high school, he pursued the college education his father hoped for all three sons. At Minot State College, Merle was initiated into the Tau Kappa Epsilon Fraternity – Epsilon Omega Chapter, serving as chapter crysophylos (treasurer), and played lead guitar at college events.

After graduating in 1965, with a Bachelor Degree in business administration, he returned home and began a career with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, serving the Turtle Mtn. Tribe for more than 40 years. He also worked for a time at Rolette Hospital and later served as interim general manager for the tribal casino.

Merle faced a long struggle with alcohol that brought hardship to many relationships. During those years, he found companionship with Bonnie Eurich (Kegley), whom he married on November 18, 1980, and became stepfather to her four children and later “PaPa” to their grandchildren.

In the 1990s, with the help of a priest and Alcoholics Anonymous, Merle found freedom from alcohol, a grace that reflected both perseverance and hope.

In 2009, a quadruple bypass led Merle to retire. A few years later, when Bonnie was diagnosed with severe dementia, his focus turned fully to her care, with help from their granddaughter Ashley.

After Bonnie passed in 2016, Merle began to experience memory loss. In 2020, he entered assisted living and later moved to Trinity Homes, where he remained until his passing on June 10, 2026, seven days before his 83rd birthday.

In addition to his parents and wife, he is preceded in death by two stepsons, David and Norman Eurich; and three brothers, Roland , Don Enno and Aloyius, who died as an infant.

Merle is survived by Missy Finkbeiner (Mark) and Blaine Eurich (Patty), and by his grandchildren Ashley Cox (Jeff), Logan Beaver, Lizzy, Emma, and Ellie Eurich and Levi and Danny Ryan.

A graveside service will be held at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church cemetery, 8 miles west of Belcourt, North Dakota on Saturday, June 13, 2026 at 11:30 A.M.

Letters or cards may be addressed to Ashley Cox in care of Niewoehner Funeral Home 213 2nd Ave SW, Rugby, ND 58368.

www.niewoehnerfh.com

Published by The Minot Daily News, June 13, 2026.