John’s Obituary John Franklin Ankenbauer was born and 86 years later, passed away at the Kenmare Hospital. John was the tenth child of eleven children born to Earl and Edith (Dollahon) Ankenbauer. He was a life long resident of the Kenmare, North Dakota area.
He attended Elmdale Country and Kenmare Public Schools. As a youngster John went to the Church of the Brethren and during the summers enjoyed attending the First Baptist Vacation Bible School. As an adult he was a member of the United Methodist Church until it closed.
John helped on the family farm. At a young age he worked in the Ankenbauer Coal Mine and later for Richard Ankenbauer Trucking. In the spring of 1956, John began employment for the Earl Schwartz Company.
John was united in marriage to Dorothy Olesen on July 4, 1956 at the Nazareth Lutheran Church in Kenmare. They made their home at the Coady apartments until moving to the Schwartz farm in January 1958. August 1970 their purchased his family’s farm just west of Kenmare and continued to live their until moving into Kenmare in September 2008.
Late 1977 John began employment with Bomac Drilling (WR Grace) for 10 years. He continued farming until retirement in 2002. John enjoyed retirement, more time with family, twenty winters in Mesa, AZ, golfing, fishing, flea markets, threshing shows, downhill skiing, and coffee with the men at Cindy’s Cafe and the Pizza Hub.
In 2002, John realized a lifelong dream when he and Dorothy took a two-month motorhome trip across Canada and into Alaska. John liked the simple things in life. Driving around the country-side, observing the changes of the seasons and he loved good, home cooked, fried chicken.
His childhood was active. As the youngest of the seven Ankenbauer brothers, growing up in the valley west of town was filled with hard work, but also included many memories of brotherly shenanigans. Swimming in the creek and skiing down the hills made for fun on the farm.
Edith always said it was a wonder they all lived to adulthood! John is survived by wife Dorothy of 62 years; son Lawrence and Kathleen, Kenmare and their daughter Jennifer, Wade and Jaden Berhow, Forest Lake, MN; daughter Donna and Mike Bryson, Cedaredge, CO and their daughter Lindsey (Anthony d.2012), Madysen and Hunter Holden, Las Vegas, NV; brother Robert (Ruth) Ankenbauer, Vancouver, WA; sisters Margaret Elizabeth Jones, Portland, OR and Shirley Duff, Woodbury, MN; sister-in-law Theresa Ankenbauer, Kenmare; brother-in-law, Millard Bushey, Bakersfield, CA. Eighteen nephews and seventeen nieces, over 100 great nephews and nieces, several cousins.
Also, Dorothy’s two brothers, seven sisters and their families. John was preceded in death by his parents Earl (1972) and Edith (1985); siblings Richard (2004) wives Patricia (2015) Aileen (1990), Doreen Bushey (1957), Mary Kathryn Berney (2009) husband Lloyd (1966), Berlin “Bill” (2002) wife Joy (2010), Forrest (1994) wife Vivian (2016), Foster (1998), Alden Joe (2013) wife Carol (2016); brother-in-laws Harold Schletty (1978), Donald Duff (2010), Rupert Jones (1993); nieces Jeanne Bushey (1958), Jolene Ankenbauer (2000); nephew John Jones (1993). All the pain and grief is over, the restless tossing passed, I’m now at peace forever, safely home in heaven at last.
There will not be a public service. Interment will be at Lakeview Cemetery, Kenmare, ND.
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