Bismark, ND – Milan Edward Ward, 101, went home to be with his Lord and Savior on Sunday, January 8, 2023. He was currently residing at Missouri Slope Washington in Bismarck, ND.

Funeral service will be held on Friday, January 13, 2023, at 2:00 p.m. (CST) with visitation at 1:00 p.m. at the Living Hope Church of the Nazarene, 1826 N 8th St, Bismarck ND. 

Interment with military honors will be at Sunset Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Bismarck.

Milan was the middle child of nine brothers and sisters born to Thomas and Emily Belle Livingston Ward. He was born in a log cabin located on the Belle Prairie homestead near Intake, Montana on June 26, 1921. He completed eight grades at a one-room school house in Stipek, Montana, before attending and graduating from Dawson County High School in Glendive, Montana in 1941. 

His first real job was working for the Northern Pacific Railroad until he was drafted in July of 1942 to serve in the Air Force during World War II.

Milan’s basic training was at Shepherd Field Air Corp Base in Texas, where he learned about glider airplanes. After his training, he was sent to Miami, Florida where the Air Force was experimenting with glider planes that could hold 25 people. After a few months, Milan was stationed in Washington, DC to retrain as an airplane mechanic, later becoming an aerial engineer and helped to fly passengers including various state and federal secretaries and dignitaries. Milan later became a flight engineer helping to fly supplies in a C-47 cargo plane to the Air Force men stationed in Greenland from Westoner Field, Massachusetts. He finished his deployment in 1949 with the Air Transport Command’s 503rd AAF Base Unit stationed in Washington D.C. as a staff sergeant and continued in the Air Force reserve unit for three more years.

Milan married Dorothy Mae Hines on January 18, 1946, while he was stationed in Washington DC. They returned to Montana where their two children were born. Milan went to work for the Northern Pacific Railroad for 26 years before retiring. He then went to work for the Youth Correctional Center in Mandan, North Dakota, for 18 years as the Chief Engineer at the boiler building on the campus.

Milan loved the outdoors. His interests were many such as gardening, traveling, camping, fishing and ice fishing, not to mention all types of bird and wild animal hunting, especially up in the mountains of Montana with his brothers. Milan was a humble man with a fun-loving twinkle in his eye. Always on the go and eager to help anyway he could. Grandpa Milan loved to wrestle with his grandchildren, teaching them to fish, garden, sledding on the ice while ice fishing and driving around on the riding lawn mower. He and Dorothy loved God and their faith and church were a big part of their lives. They were married for 73 years. Some of the big highlights during their life span were a trip to Jerusalem, helping to build churches, and Milan getting to take a trip with the Bismarck Honor Flight to Washington DC to see the many war memorials.

Milan is survived by his daughter Joylynn (David) Schulte, Fargo; daughter-in-law Cindy (Thomas) Ward, Minneapolis, MN; sister-in-laws Martha Satterwhite and Louise Hines of Henderson, NC and Betty Lou Ward of Livingston, MT; five grandchildren: Jason (Amanda) Schulte, Chantilly, VA; Pamela (Dr Jonathan) Eklof, Minneapolis, MN; Nancy (Scott) Davidson, Fargo, ND; Jessica (David) Evenson, Mesa, AZ; Craig (Lisa) Ward, Burnsville, MN. And ten great-grandchildren: Nathaniel, Collin, Emrie, Odin, Iva, Nicole, Morgan, Amber, Autum, and Tyler; along with several nieces and nephews.

Milan was preceded in death by his wife, Dorothy; son, Thomas (Tom); his parents; four brothers and four sisters; and several sisters- and brothers-in-law. 

To order memorial trees or send flowers to the family in memory of Milan E. Ward, please visit our flower store.

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Denton, TX – Bobbie Niemeier Denson passed away at the age of 101 on the evening of December 20th, 2022, at her home in Denton TX. She spent the days prior enjoying quality time with her family.

Bobbie Helen Niemeier was born on August 27th, 1921 in Coryell City, Texas to Henry Niemeier and Floy Sparkman. She was a loving younger sister to their eldest daughter, Lois, and a caring older one to her baby brother Charles.

After she graduated from Crawford High School, she pursued a career in nursing, where she met Otis M. McKinzie. He was a patient who landed a date with her by sheer luck after several attempts to ask her out. The pair married in 1939.

She began working in hospital administration at Perrin Air Force Base as they settled down in Sherman TX where they had their 2 daughters Barbara and Linda. They spent 25 years together building a home and a family.

Otis passed unexpectedly at the age of 45 in 1964 due to health complications, leaving Bobbie and her girls to navigate life as the girls transitioned into adulthood. She later met Joe Douglas Denson, a pilot who was new to Texas, through her best friend. They married in 1966 in Sherman and blended their two families; Joe had 3 children, Myron, Mary Ann, and Dana. They decided to move to Anchorage AK, where Bobbie’s daughter Barbara lived until her death, and where her granddaughter Andi lives now with her two sons. While she lived there, she continued her work in personnel administration at Elmendorf Air Force Base.

The couple spent their golden years together in Lake Whitney and Clifton TX enjoying their retirement by painting, cross-stitching, boating, and flying. Inspired by their love of nature, Bobbie and Joe were regular donors to charities that work to preserve wildlife and they adopted a parrot, Tasha, who became their lifelong companion.

Joe passed away at the age of 86 in 2009. Bobbie moved back to Denton to be closer to her youngest daughter, Linda, and her grandchildren Leslie, Michelle, and Tammy. She found community as a part of the Good Samaritan Society where she enjoyed playing cards with her friends and dominating in dominoes. She kept in touch with everyone she met and loved people. Bobbie was a social butterfly and a loyal friend. Much like her cross-stitching work, she was the thread that tied her family and community together. An irreplaceable presence that touched many lives, the absence of which will be forever felt by the people who were fortunate enough to have known her.

Bobbie is survived by her youngest daughter Linda and step-children Myron, Mary Ann, and Dana; her grandchildren, Andi, Leslie, and Michelle, her step-grandchildren, Tammy, John, David, Tanna, Adam, Tracy, Jamie, Denver, and Isaac. Her legacy continues with her 24 great-grandchildren and 6 great-great-grandchildren.

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