Catherine Simmer

Catherine Roberts Simmer, 89, Bismarck, died on April 24, 2006 surrounded by her loving family. Services will be held at 11:00 AM Saturday at First Baptist Church, 3rd St. and Divide Ave, Bismarck, with the Rev. Steve Wisthoff officiating. Burial will be in Fairview Cemetery. Visitation will be held from 11:00 AM to 9:00 PM Friday at Eastgate Funeral Service where a prayer service will be held at 7:00 that evening. Visitation will continue for one hour prior to the service at the church. Catherine was born on November 19, 1916, in Belfield, ND, the fourth of eight children born to Chester and Rosa Christman Mason. The family moved to Marion, ND, where Catherine attended the first eight grades. In 1930 they moved to Bismarck where she attended and graduated from Bismarck High School in 1934. After graduation she worked as a typist/secretary at the Bank of North Dakota and then at Provident Life Insurance. Catherine married Stanton Roberts on August 14, 1937. In 1942 the family moved to Vancouver, WA, where Stanton worked in the shipyards during World War II and Catherine worked in the Legal Dept. of McLaughlin Heights Housing Authority. They moved back to Bismarck in 1948 where they started a greenhouse east of town. She worked for the North Dakota Selective Service for several years before starting Roberts Floral as its first florist in 1958. After Stanton's death in 1972, their son Herb and his wife, Mary, took over the operation of the business and their family continues to operate Roberts Floral today. On November 17, 1978, Catherine married Estes Simmer. They did a lot of traveling and spent lots of time during summers at Estes' cottage on Ottertail Lake in Minnesota. Their biggest joy was bringing together their two families and creating one. Catherine continued to work part-time at Roberts Floral well into her 80's. She was an active member of the Bismarck Zonta Club and loved to play bridge with her bridge club. Her greatest joy was being with her family. Catherine is survived by her three children, Carolyn Ron Barks, Herb Mary Roberts of Bismarck, and Warren Leslie Roberts of Arvada, CO; Estes' three children, Mary Herb Roberts, Tom Jackie Simmer of Bismarck, and Betty Terry Anderson of Breckenridge, MN; eleven grandchildren; seventeen great-grandchildren; and one sister, Jeanette Ray Wirth of St. Paul, MN. She was preceded in death by her parents; her two husbands; two infant sons, Jerry and David; and six of her brothers and sisters. Memorials may be given to the First Baptist Church, Bismarck.

Catherine Simmer

November 19, 1916 - April 24, 2006