Don Weiler

On Feb. 3, 2005 Don Weiler, 77, Bismarck, passed away at a Bismarck hospital after a long bout with a series of illnesses, most recently throat cancer. Services will be held Monday at 12:30 p.m. at Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, Bismarck, with the Rev. Thomas E. Kramer officiating. Burial will be at St. Mary's Cemetery, Bismarck. Public visitation will be held on Sunday from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. at St. Vincent's Care Center and from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. at Boelter-Eastgate Funeral Service, 200 W. Turnpike Ave., where a rosary will also be said at 3:30 p.m. Visitation will continue on Monday one hour before the funeral mass at the church. Don was born August 11, 1927 in Fargo, N.D., the son of Anton and Tina Quam Weiler. He grew up in Moorhead, MN and attended public schools. He enjoyed sports and played football for Moorhead High School at a time when players only wore leather helmets. Don enlisted in the Sea Bees while a junior in high school, ultimately receiving his high school diploma in 1944, while in a foxhole in Okinawa. While at Okinawa, he served with the Sea Bees 82nd construction battalion which was affiliated with 58th Navy Construction Battalion and helped build and maintain the Yonabaru Air Field. After returning from the World War II, Don was employed by Northwestern Bell Telephone Company, where he worked on the line crew in Williston, ND. At the start of the Korean War, he once again joined the Sea Bees and went to Korea and built air bases. After the Korean War, Don returned to North Dakota and resumed work for the telephone company, this time in Jamestown, ND. While there he met Anna Mae Ebertz, a waitress the daughter of the owner at the Ebertz CafÚ, with whom he eventually fell in love and married on October 21, 1953. In 1954, Anna Mae and Don moved to Bismarck, where they have since made their home. While Anna Mae was a homemaker, Don continued to work for the telephone company and was an active member of the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit Catholic Church. He was an avid golfer and later, after retiring in 1983, became an expert wood-worker. He is survived by his two sons, Steve and Dave; his daughters-in-law, Ann and Heidi; grandsons, Kyle and Andrew; granddaughter, Elizabeth Furman; and sister, Mary Weiler Kack. Don was preceded in death by Anna Mae, his loving wife of 46 years, and his sisters Stella Hanson, Mila Hebert, Beulah Brown, and Delores Weiler. Memorials may be given to Saint Mary's Central High School.

Don Weiler

August 11, 1927 - February 3, 2005