Obituary

Ernest “Ernie” Victor Boucher (September 2, 1910 – February 27, 2011) Guest Book | Sign Guest Book | Send Flowers | Send Sympathy Card Ernie V. Boucher, 100, passed away Sunday, February 27, 2011 at theMissouri RiverMedicalCenter inFort Benton,MT.     Ernest Victor Boucher was born September 2, 1910 the son of Victor and Emma (Casavant) Boucher inThorne,ND. In 1927, Ernie graduated from The Notre Dame Academy High School inWillow City,ND. He later attended theUnionCommercialCollege inGrand Forks,ND, graduating in May of 1933. In March of 1934, the Dakota Sales Company, a beer distribution business inGrand Forks, was formed and Ernie was one of the first employees. After being called to serve in the US Army in 1942, Ernie was sent toEngland aboard the Queen Mary passenger ship. When the war ended, he was honorably discharged from the Army in September of 1945 and returned toGrand Forks. Ernie went back to Dakota Sales Company in October 1945, as a partner in the business. He became sole owner of Dakota Sales Company in 1956 and retired from the company in 1976.     On June 15, 1946, Ernie married Elizabeth Ditton, a widow, with three children; daughters, Madeline and Joan; son, William.Elizabethpreceded him in death on October 28, 1978.     On December 29, 1979, Ernie married Eva Casavant, a widow, with four children; daughters, Blanche and Simone; sons, Harv and Felix. Eva preceded him in death on September 24, 1984.     On September 29, 1986, Ernie married Mary Good, a widow, with three children; a daughter, Anna Mae; sons, Wyley and Kent.     Ernie was a long time member of Holy Family Catholic Church,Grand Forksand at one time serving as a trustee. For many years he was active in the Knights of Columbus and the American Legion.     Ernie is survived by his third wife, Mary, Fort Benton, MT. Children from his first marriage, a daughter, Joan (Roger) Kieffer, Grand Forks, ND and a son, William (Virginia) Ditton, AZ; 17 grand children; 42 great grandchildren; 5 great great grandchildren. Children from his second marriage, daughters, Simone (Robert) Snell, and Blanche (Garry) Klimek; a son, Felix (Marlene) Casavant and daughter-in-law, Gloria (Mrs. Harv) Casavant, all of Prince Albert, SK, Canada; 8 grand children; 4 great grandchildren. Children from his third marriage, a daughter, Anna Mae McKeever, Fort Benton, MT; sons, Wyley (Gail) Good, Fort Benton, MT and Kent (Rolene) Good, Wilmot, SD; 9 grandchildren; 16 great grandchildren.     He was preceded in death by his first wife, Elizabeth; daughter and son-in-law, Madeline (Robert) Lukkason and their daughter, Jo Marie Blackmun. His second wife, Eva and son, Harv Casavant. A son-in-law from his third marriage, Gene McKeever.     Mass of Christian Burial: 11:00 a.m. Saturday, March 5, 2011 in Holy Family Catholic Church,Grand Forks,ND.   Visitation: 5 to 6:30 p.m. Friday with a 4:30 p.m. rosary service and a 6:30 p.m. vigil service in Holy Family Catholic Church. Visitation will continue for one hour before the mass in the church on Saturday.   Burial:CalvaryCemetery,Grand Forks,ND, in the spring.   Military Honors: Members of the American Legion Post 157, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3817 and the North Dakota National Guard, in the spring.   Memorials:Memorials may be given to Holy Family “We Care”, 1018 18th Ave. S.,Grand Forks,ND or the charity of your choice.

Posted by Sharron Gottbreth Shen (59): Everett, WA

Ernest Boucher

Dear Friends,

An era has closed among the descendants of Victor Boucher and Emma Casavant. Our Uncle Ernest Boucher died Sunday, February 27 2011 around 5:30 am, the last survivor of 7 brothers and sisters and 2 half-brothers. Sister-in-law, Emily Birkland Boucher, wife of Herman, survives. I have seen him interact with so many and be they family, friend, neighbor or stranger he gave them his considerate attention. Each cousin was special, unique, each great niece and nephew was equally special and he would inquire about these children by name, even in his 100^th year. I think one felt more whole within themselves by every contact.

“What shall we talk about?” This was the opening of the last visit shared with EJ and I September 3, 2010. I asked for his service story so I shall now share that with all of you. Uncle did not know why his call to serve did not come till June 1942; he thought they might have considered him too “old” for real soldiering. After induction in MN, he was sent to Jefferson Barracks, MO for Boot Camp. What followed was the very worst experience of his life and all because of climate. He said the heat and humidity of that spot on the Mississippi boiled out any beer/alcohol blood level he may have had! When his commanding officer asked for volunteers to go to Fort Carson, CO for Armorer training, Ernie thought anywhere had to be better than MO and readily volunteered. He was there about 2 months and from Colorado, was shipped overseas to England from NY harbor on the Queen Mary. The September crossing took 51/2 days because of evasive zigzag, the Nov 1945 crossing less than 5 days. The deep plunging of the ship was a challenge for all the “green” travelers, but even so cards were played during all free time. Ernie was soon known as the Banker, not only because of his success at cards, but because he was a soft touch for loan or credit. He retained this title throughout his service. Ernie grinned and said that all his clients paid up except one pilot KIA and one Alabama mechanic.

There was a flush of pride when Ernie spoke of the 336^th Fighter Squadron. It was made up of volunteer USA pilots that had been serving in England since the beginning of WWII, and all new pilots and support troops – 197 strong. Uncle said there were no Privates, in fact any service personnel less than Corporal. All had to take their turn at KP, Latrine and Guard duty. Ernie spoke of a number of pilots by name, especially Don Gentile who was one of 5 Aces in WWII. He spoke of the occasion when Gentile crashed his P51 Mustang during a buzz demonstration for a photographer review. Uncle said that had Don not crashed [pranged??] in a nearby field, the plane might have killed a large number of observers. The furrow in the field was deep and long, the propellers were wrapped back around the cowling. They could hardly believe that Gentile could walk away unscathed except for a reprimand by his commander and was sent home to sell bonds.

Debden and Steeple Morden, England were green and pleasant, but no pub offered a descent frothy beer. He never developed a taste for English Ale. Ernie visited Scotland on one leave and could not savor their Scotch. There was a book published about the 336^th and Uncle said that his copy had been lost during one of his several moves. This book has been reprinted but my attempt to purchase failed. Suddenly, or in the fullness of time, Ernest Victor Boucher left us and has now no use for any meager memoir.

I do not think I understood Ernie’s devotion to St Joseph, husband of Mary, foster father of Jesus. The feast of St Joseph’s Fatherhood was celebrated this past week and I finally realized that Ernie, foster father to the three children of Elizabeth Dietz Ditton must have prayed often for guidance in the important role he assumed back in 1946. Mame, Bill and Joan were his treasure; Elizabeth his good fortune. “How did you meet Elizabeth, Uncle?” I met her in a local bar and when they closed, I asked Elizabeth to come along to the next one!

Bakery Memeries

From Dick Johnson (68): Dunseith, ND

Gary and Friends,

Good to hear from Tim Martinson yesterday. He mentioned how the
bakery got lively when the basketball players came over after practice.
The bakery was a great place to hang out. Many places don’t want kids
around and certainly not in the back where it’s often employees only. As
long as we stayed out of Herman’s way and behaved, he was OK with it. I
remember being fascinated watching some of the prep work Herman did. He
cut cookies with his right had and held a cookie sheet on his left arm
and would just ‘flick’ his hand and the cookies would literally snap
over onto the sheet in rows. Herman did this while talking about the
game the night before! Another thing he did that impressed me every time
was when he reached into a big wooden box where his bread dough was
rising and reached around what looked like a hundred pounds of bread
dough and then in one motion, would pick it up and throw it up onto the
big table where he made it into loaves. If he didn’t do that move
exactly right he would have had the biggest mess on the planet!

Herman was also a mentor to many town kids. He would let us talk and
goof around but when we got a bit off the mark, he would say something
to correct us and do it in such a way that we understood he was right
and that we should change that idea. Many parents could have said the
same thing and we wouldn’t have paid much attention but if Herman said
it, it was right. One cute story from the bakery was when I walked in
and Tom Evans was sitting watching Marvin Kalk putting the jelly in
‘bismarcks’. Marvin was operating a machine that resembles a power
greaser in a shop. It had a handle on it that you pushed down like a
pump handle and it had a small pipe on the side where you pushed the
bismarck on and filled them with jelly, with a pump of the handle.
Marvin was a sports nut and was closely listening to a baseball game on
the radio and not paying very good attention to his operation. When I
walked in, Tom just looked up at me with this funny look on his face and
then looked back down at Marvin’s feet, without saying a word. I looked
down and in his excitement over the ballgame, he was pushing the rolls
too far onto the pipe and going through the other side and the jelly was
going on his foot. We both just sat and watched the operation until he
noticed it and then we all had a good laugh. I remember eating Herman’s
special ‘three rolls for a dime’ many many times. Often we checked out
the lunch at school and if it wasn’t what we wanted that day, we headed
for the bakery! Great place! Thanks Gary!

Dick

Dick, I remember those “3 donuts for a dime” days well too. Only thing for me though it wasn’t one or the other when it came to eating lunch at the school cafeteria or eating 3 of Herman’s donuts. For me it was always both. I went to the Bakery nearly every day in all four of my HS days for my fill of 3 glazed donuts following my noon cafeteria dinner at the school. I’d put my dime on the counter and help myself to three doughnuts. It was the honor system. Gary