Happy Birthday Darrel Fassett (’47): Boynton Beach, FL
Happy Birthday Don Boardman (’60): Bottineau, ND
Gary Cota (’56) Passing
Message from Dick Johnson (’68): Dunseith, ND
Gary,
Just letting you know that Gary Cota of the DHS class of ’56 has passed away. His funeral will be Monday in Dickinson. Gary had a long battle with cancer for several years.
Dick
Gary Cota (’56) Passing
Message from Lee Stickland (’64): Dickinson, ND
Gary Cota, 76, died at his home in Dickinson on November 23, 2014. He, and his folks, once worked at the Peace Gardens. I will attend his funeral on Monday, December 1 at 10 am MST. I saw Gary about town at times. LEE s 11-29-2014
Gary A. Cota
B. Sunday, January 2, 1938 D. Sunday, November 23, 2014
Gary A. Cota
A funeral service for Gary A. Cota, 76, of Dickinson, will be held at 10:00 a.m., Monday, December 1, 2014 at Stevenson Funeral Home, Dickinson. Military Rites will be provided by the Dickinson Honor Guard. Burial will take place in the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery, Mandan, ND.
A Family Receiving Friends service will be held from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Sunday, November 30, 2014 at Stevenson Funeral Home, Dickinson.
Gary passed away Sunday, November 23, 2014 at his home in Dickinson.
Gary A Cota was born January 2, 1938 in Bottineau, North Dakota, the son of Lela (Johnson) and George Cota. He graduated from Dunseith High School. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1960 and was honorably discharged in 1963.
He worked at McGuires in Rugby, lived at Petersburg, Crosby, Grafton, West Fargo and Dickinson, working for ND truck regulatory. He was foreman at International Peace Gardens, painter at Minot Air Force Base, worked for Western Crude, which later became Texaco, KD Motors and BNSF rail crew bus driver, retiring in 2002.
On May 6, 1965 he was married to Darla Brummond at Sisseton, SD.
He enjoyed old cars, car racing, and collecting Texaco memorabilia. He was very proud of his 29 model A and 1968 Torino. But most of all, he was proud of his family.
Gary is survived by his wife Darla (49 years); sons Maynard (Sheila) and Dean (Denise); four grandchildren; brother-in-law, Arlyn (Leone) Brummond of Laramie, WY; sister-in-laws, Eileen Brummond, Sandra Duschscherer, Valda Mahle all of Granville, ND, and Judy Brummond of Red Lake, MN.
He was preceded in death by his parents; mother-in-law and father-in-law, Violet and Maynard Brummond, and grandson, Jesse Cota.
Remembrances and condolences may be shared with the family at www.stevensonfuneralhome.com
Posting from Vickie Metcalfe (’70): Bottineau, ND
Games on Rabbit City Lake and Bergin HillSide School
While living on Rabbit City Lake as a child, for my father, there were no store purchased toys. Oops. (Ah, with the exception of one which I learned came from a surprising source, years after Dad passed away. And that my friends is for another tale.)
The Bill Metcalfe I owned two pair of boxing gloves. Bill Metcalfe I taught each of his children from Wild Bill to Lucky down to Cliff, including Leona, the “Marques of Queensbury” rules of boxing. Whenever there was a disagreement, their father would say, “STOP! Go put on the boxing gloves.” Usually after going through the routine of putting on the gloves and securing the laces tempers had cooled down.
They were thinking and found they were not interested in fighting anymore. Their father discussed anger, strategies, and basic rules of “fair fighting”. A common family saying: What is right is right and what is wrong is wrong!
My father told me that he was seventeen before he could win a boxing match against his big sister. He said, he was determined to fight her fair and square. But on that day, after finally winning, he decided didn’t have the stomach to box her any more when she cried.
He didn’t hurt her, she had realized he was growing up and she was not the big tough sister.
Boxing was a sport which always remained a continued interest the family. The years before T.V. they looked forward, discussed and listened to boxing matches on the radio.
How well I remember. My dad, Uncle Jim, Art Seim, and Emil Morin gathering to listen to a fight on the radio.
Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, and Rocky Marciano, Sonny Liston, and Cassius Clay were familiar names at our house any body else remember?
In the fall, when his father and elder brothers butchered hogs for the winter’s food, Dad recalled blowing up the pigs bladders to make balls which he learned to play kickball and football with his brother Emil. He said, once when he was a little chap he carried around a homemade pigs bladder ball made by one of his elder brothers. His mother would find him pulling and chewing the dirty strings off with his teeth. “Acht Cliff!,”she’d’ say. (Kids then did the darndest things too)
All of the Metcalfe children learned to play softball. They played with classmates during recess at Bergin School,
where aunt, Leona was a champion slugger!
Living on the lake, the boys learned rather quickly to swim and dive. They could not go in until June 15.
One fall, their maternal aunt, Liza, sent the family many pair of recently hided raw leather shoes. The shoes were far too big, ragged and raw. Using their wits and bits of ingenuity the children soaked the shoes, fashioned the toes to curl up, put them outside to freeze the shape, and stuffed them with rags. They would each grease their feet with lard , wrap with rags and stuff them into the “shoe”. Then off to the lake, where they enjoyed sliding on the ice.
They had learned about the game “Shinty” a Scottish Highlands game from their father.
He showed them, how young chokecherry trees have a natural curve at the bottom which made perfect “sticks”. Soon Cliff, Leona, and Emil fashioned their own
hockey sticks and played “shinty” on the ice of Rabbit City Lake skating in their raw hide “skates”. And many of their neighbors joined them.
My dad and his brother Emil had the winter chore of going to the straw pile on the hill gathering and bringing the milking shorthorns down the trail to be milked. On the way running up the trail, their breaths were frosty as they kicked the frozen cow pies off the trail.
Once the cows were gathered and counted they sent them down the trail. Emil would grab a cow by her tail, Cliff grabbed the last cow by its curly long tail as the cows ran by.
The brothers lay face down, hung on sliding on their bellies behind the running cow! It was all fun!
Until one or the other hit a frozen cow pie.
HUG, huH! knocking their breath away. Sore chest.
Or, hitting a fresh, warm, fragrant cow pie down the trail.
Yee ha!
Another family game was called “Last Face”. Who could startle another? Who could make the worst face of the day? And whoever made the last face of the day would the champion. Of course in this big family they all enjoyed startling each other, by just making faces without making a sound. HIding behind trees, bushes, snowbanks, doors, windows……
This game picked up once again years later, after he and Emil left WWII service.
Once in a while they would grin, sneak out the door, run around the house to make a face in the window and frighten their sisters or poor mother washing dishes at the kitchen sink.
Oh, the gales of laughter! They all absolutely loved to tell stories on each other and laugh.
In July of ’35, when my dad was just twelve, his father, William I, died. The little family moved into the town of Dunseith. My father then completed grade eight at Dunseith Public School where he learned all about marbles.
and….( years later yet… my good friend Hank shared with me what my father learned as a result of another game played by older It was a Dunseith high School boys.)
The fond memories of playing with his siblings and country friends never faded from my fathers mind.
He never forgot his first friends. He remained stalwart in all of the fond friendships and the laughter of Rabbit City Lake and Bergin School.
Thanks Gary, and friends.
Until another story.
Later,
Vickie Metcalfe
====================================
Blog (207) posted on August 27, 2008
Reply from Erling Landsverk (44):
HI GARY:
OF COURSE I KNOW OSWALD LANDSVERK, HE IS MY BROTHER. SADLY HE PASSED AWAY ABOUT 9 YEARS AGO. I MISS HIM VERY MUCH AS DOES MY OLDEST SISTER BORGHILD. OSSIE, AS WE CALLED HIM, WAS CHRISTENED HAROLD OSVALD, BUT SINCE THERE WAS ALREADY ANOTHER HAROLD LANDSVERK, OUR PARENTS CHOSE TO USE HIS MIDDLE NAME TO AVOID CONFUSIO . MY OLDER SISTER BORGHILD AND I ARE THE ONES LEFT IN OUR IMMEDIATE FAMILY, SHE LIVES IN COLORADO MY KID SISTER THELMA ALSO ATTENDED DUNSEIT H HIGH,AND IF THE FAMILY WOULD HAVE REMAINED THERE SHE WOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE CLASS OF “46”. MY OLDER BROTHER ROLF AND MY SISTER BORGHILD,(BORG FOR SHORT) BOTH GRADUATED FROM DUNSEITH IN 1938. I WROTE A BOOK ABOUT MY EXPERIENCES AND MY FAMILY AND NEIGHBORS, AS WELL AS OUR FRIENDS, THE BOOK WAS WRITTEN ORIGINALLY AS A STORY FOR OUR DECENDENTS , BUT I AM TOLD THAT THERE HAS BEEN SOME INTEREST IN THE BOOK, SINCE IT COVERS A TIME PERIOD FROM THE MID TWENTIES, THE DROUGHT, DEPRESSION AND WORLD WARII
I HAVE A LOT OF MEMORIES OF THE TURTLE MOUNTAINS (THE HILLS), DUNSEITH, AND THE SURROUNDING AREA. THE MEMORIES ARE ALL GOOD AND RESPECTFUL,OF ALL THE WONDERFUL PEOPLE I WAS PRIVELEDGED TO KNOW AND ASSOCIATE WITH.
THANKS FOR ASKING GARY!
ERLING
From Mel Kuhn (70):
Howdy Gary,
I don’t know that saying I’m going to be the Chef for the Rolette County Historical Society steak fry is a plus or not. You may be chasing people away. For 10 years of running Mel’s Diner in St. John, I was known as the Crabbiest Cook in town. I don’t like cooking a steak past medium rare and most of these old Hillbillies like ’em turned into shoe leather. HA! HA! It should be a good time with some good music if Old Dick’s hand gets healed up so he can play. On Sunday afternoon the City is sponsoring a Mud Run and we’ll be there cooking burgers, brats and dogs. I’ve been collecting dogs for the last week and have a few really nice one’s [been trying to stay away from road kill] so they should be good too. So if your looking for something to do this weekend come on up. Hope to see lots of you this weekend.
Mel Kuhn[70]
Picture/Message from Evie Gottbreht Pilkington (65):
Picture was sent to me today from my cousin’s wife Tangee Brunsell of Bottineau, guess there are free Wondrasek photos at the museum in Bottineau. Rachel Berube’s wedding 1965
Evie Pilkington
RACHEL BERUBE, CECILE BERUBE, AND EVIE GOTTBREHT 1965
Picture/Message from Evie Gottbreht Pilkington (65):
Hi Gary,
I wanted to share this picture of my Mom and Dad, thought my old friends would enjoy it. This was taken, summer of 1938, in Thorne, ND – my Mom was raised in Thorne. This was the summer before they married. I especially miss them the month of August. Dad died suddenly Aug 29, 1961, 45 years old and Mom died Aug 15, 2005, 88 years old. They produced 8 children, 35 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren and counting……
Thanks Gary
Evie
Alma and Dale Gottbreht1938
Reply from Sandra Zeiler Vandal (62):
Hi Gary,
I’m up at Nancy Hosmer’s place. She showed me the picture
taken so long ago. The kids names’ are from left to right are
Dawn,Teri, Kelly and Todd. Order of birth, Todd, Dawn, Teri and
Kelly. When Kelly was five, we had Heather. Who knew way back
when we would have twenty grandchildren and one great
grandchild. Mike remembers your Dad having to pull him out of
the ditch, once. I think he had to pull Dad out, too. Folks are
coming to Mn. with us for a few weeks. We will enjoy catching up
on the e-mails. Thanks a lot, Sandra
Pictrue L to R:
Back: Sandra & Mike
Front: Todd, Dawn, Teri & Kelly
Toni Parisien has identified these 2 photos
Fabian and DeDe (Agnes) Azure
Peter J. (Butch) Azure, DeDe Azure (Agnes), Fabian Azure,
Francis (Sam) Azure, Agnes (Dolly) Plumage, Caroline Davis
