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Mary T. Karhoff • 1918 - 2007 Mary was born on August 11, 1918, on the family farmstead in the Barton-Turbridge area of Pierce County, ND, the daughter of Jacob and Catherine (Keller) Voeller. She was reared in Rugby and at a young age moved to Gary, Indiana where she graduated from Froebel High School in 1940. After graduation she worked for awhile at the Kingsbury Ordinance Plant in La Porte, IN. She enlisted the United States Navy on December 2, 1943, serving during World War II as a switch board operator, postal clerk and a communication officer's secretary at the Naval Training Center in San Diego, CA. She was awarded the World War II Victory Medal and the American Area Campaign Medal. Mary was honorably discharged on February 21, 1946. After the service Mary worked in the Veterans Administration Office in Gary, IN, before returning to Rugby and marring Douglas Karhoff on March 29, 1948, in Billings, MT. They moved to the Burlington area in 1954, where she remained in her current home. She worked at the Howdy Café in Burlington, Minot Livestock Auction Café, International Inn and the Comfort Inn and later as a teacher's aide in Burlington Elementary where she retired in 1984. Mary was very involved in her children's lives serving as a Cub Scout Den Mother, 4-H Leader and Burlington School PTA member. She also was a member of the Burlington Homemakers, Confraternity of Christian Mothers, Senior Citizens League and St. John the Apostle Catholic Church of Minot. She enjoyed her grandchildren's visits and attending many of their sporting and music activities. Growing up Mary enjoyed her horses, sports, track, weekly dances and bowling, receiving the highest game (243) in her Naval District Waves bowling league. Mary will always be remembered as a kind, caring and compassionate person. She never met a person she didn't like and considered herself a friend to every stranger. She was very generous and never wanted for more than she had. Her smile, humor and laughter were precious even through her most difficult trials. Her passion was growing things, particularly flowers which lit up her world and were enjoyed by many people. Survivors: son, John (Patty) Karhoff, Burlington, ND; daughter, Jeanne Karhoff, Bismarck, ND; grandchildren, Shane and Brandon Karhoff, Leticia ( Nick) Holden and Deidre Karhoff; sister, Helen Avens, Billings, MT; her beloved caretaker, Rosalie Evanoff, Des Lacs, ND and numerous nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, Douglas, son, James "Jim" Karhoff, and her parents, Jacob and Catherine, brothers, Mike, Frank, Anton, Martin, Carl, Joe, Jack, Bennie, Johnnie and Vincent Voeller, and sisters, Margaret Keller, Elizabeth Brossart, Clara Held, Lena Volk and Frances Lacher. Mass of Christian Burial: Tuesday, August 21, 2007, at 10:30 a.m. St. John the Apostle Catholic Church, Minot. Visitation: Monday, August 20, 2007, from Noon until 7 p.m. at the Thompson-Larson Funeral Home, Minot with a prayer service at 7 p.m. at the funeral home. Burial: Rosehill Memorial Park, Minot To sign the online guest register
for Mary |
Mary
T. Karhoff, 89, Burlington, ND, died Monday, August 13, 2007,
in a Minot hospital.