Details

Collection Summary
Collection: FND001 - SHSND Foundation - North Dakota Heritage Family Memorial Program
Series: Tribute
Folder: DIG
Item: 271119
Title: Donald "Don" G. Walter
Date: 3/9/1939-12/17/2022
Inscription/Marks: 3/9/1939
Summary: Donald George Walter, 83, Dickinson, ND, died peacefully in his home December 17, 2022, from pancreatic cancer. Funeral Mass was held December 30, 2022, at Queen of Peace Catholic Church with Msgr. Thomas Richter celebrating. Burial with military honors presented by American Legion Post #3 Honor Guard was in St. Wenceslaus Cemetery. Donald was born March 9, 1939, on the family farm north of Gladstone, ND, to Valentine and Beatrice (Kuntz) Walter. The Walter family moved north of South Heart where they were grain farmers and ran the Walter’s Coal Mine. Donald graduated from South Heart High School in 1958 and joined the US Army later that year, training in Kansas, Missouri, and Georgia. His second year was in Korea as a switchboard operator. Donald met his sweetheart, Mabel Laches, in 1958 at a dance west of Dickinson. They were married May 29, 1961, at St. Michael’s Catholic Church and celebrated 55 years of marriage. Don graduated from North Dakota State School of Science in 1962 earning a plumbing certificate and then his journeyman’s license. Don was employed with Montana Dakota Utilities for 33 years as a gas serviceman, retiring in 2001. After retiring, Don wrote the state board exam and earned his Master Plumber license. He began his own plumbing business, working until 2022. Don and Mabel camped, fished, and traveled with their family. They enjoyed weekends at Lake Sakakawea and camping trips to state and national parks and west to Washington State and to California. Don and Mabel continued to camp in the Black Hills of South Dakota at the Hart Ranch and in Medora and Bismarck until Mabel passed on June 6, 2016. Don was well known for his amazing ability to repair or build just about anything he set his mind to. He was an impressive wood craftsman, building a wide variety of exquisite rocking horses, furniture, baby cradles and beautiful scroll saw creations. Don's faith was important to him. He attended mass daily and the weekly Flame of Love prayer group, praying the rosary, and making bead rosaries that would be sent to missions. Don was well known for giving handmade little wooden angels to anyone who touched his heart. He was a big part of helping family, neighbors and friends with all sorts of technical and building projects. Don loved being outdoors, working on his lawn, flowers, garden, and camping, fishing, and visiting with his neighbors. He was a member of IBEW, Eagles, and the American Legion. In retirement he served his fellow Veterans as a member of the American Legion Honor Guard. Don continued to enjoy traveling with his children, most recently fishing in Canada and Alaska, and pilgrimages to Italy and Lourdes and Normandy, France. Don is survived by his four children, Valerie (Allan) Thoennes, Apple Valley, MN, Don (Linnet) Walter, Bismarck, ND, Dave (Janice) Walter, Minot, ND, and Vicki (Robert) Binstock, Sioux Falls, SD; thirteen grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; brother, Clifford (Eleanor) Walter; in-laws, Terry Walter, Bill Powell, Irene Messer, Ed (Gloria Krein) Laches, Jeannette and Jim Sullivan; and many nieces and nephews. Don was preceded in death by his wife, Mabel; his parents; his brothers, Simon (Ann) Walter and Roger Walter; in-laws, Peter and Mary (Reinert) Laches, Mary Beth Powell, and Mike Messer; and niece, Karen Harp.
Red ID: FND_I_78608 Image ID: 575988 Image Notes: FND001 271119

Collection: FND001 Digitized Images from Collection
Title: SHSND Foundation - North Dakota Heritage Family Memorial Program
Date: -

Summary: The North Dakota Heritage Family Memorial Program is sponsored by the North Dakota Funeral Directors Association. The life stories of deceased North Dakotans are featured in an archvied collection. Current partners in the project are Eastgate Funeral & Cremation Services, Bismarck Evans Funeral Homes, Carrington and New Rockford Everson-Coughlin Funeral Home, Williston Fulkerson Funeral Home, Tioga Fulkerson Funeral Home, Watford City Fulkerson Stevenson Funeral Home, Williston Nero Funeral Home, Bottineau Parkway Funeral Service, Bismarck Springan Stevenson Funeral Home, Stanley Stevenson Funeral Home, Dickinson These funeral homes provide recent obituaries to the Foundation, where staff and volunteers format, edit and archive each memorial. The memorials are posted, and copies are sent to the family for their input and approval. The listing currently features more than 13,000 memorials, and is constantly updated as new memorials and histories are received.

Enter a subject or term in one or both of the “Search” boxes.

  • “Item Detail” searches the Title, Creator and Summary fields of all item-level records.
  • “Collection Number” searches the Collection Number field only and requires an exact match.

The “DETAILS” button provides additional information about an item, as well as the following options:

  • “Collection Summary” details the contents of the entire collection in which the selected item is located.
  • You can print the image and its corresponding details by selecting “Print".
  • “Digitized Images from the Collection” returns a list of all digitized items within that collection (available from the “Collection Summary” screen).

Click on image to expand/zoom the image view.

“Photobook home” takes you back to the main Photobook page where you can start a new search.

“Featured Collections” showcases new and/or popular collections and the digitized images within those collections.

Information on how to order copies is located here.

The collections preserved in the North Dakota State Archives include over a million images. Only a small percentage of these images have been digitized. This photo gallery provides a preview of the images that have been digitized.

For more information on the non-digitized images, please refer to the finding aids found on our website at history.nd.gov, or ask a member of our reference staff for assistance.