Ethel Alice Bjorndahl, Mandan, formerly of Pharr, TX, died Monday, August 26, 2019 at Sanford Hospital in Bismarck, ND at the age of 84. A funeral service will be conducted on Tuesday, September 3 at 10:30 a.m. at Messiah Lutheran Church in Mandan, 1020 Boundary Street. Burial will be at the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery where she will be laid to rest with Roger, her husband of 64 years.
Ethel Alice Gottschalk was born on March 25, 1935 in Atwater, MN to Carl and Augusta Gottschalk. She graduated from Montevideo High School in 1953. She married Roger Bjorndahl on December 19, 1953 and followed him in his travels with the United States Air Force. When Roger retired from the military they moved back to Montevideo and then to Lobster Lake until their decision to travel the U.S. where they finally settled in in Pharr, TX. Ethel enjoyed playing the organ in church and participating in church activities. Roger and Ethel loved to dance and take part in the many events at the hall in Pharr.
They moved to Mandan in 2017 to be closer to their son and she recently moved to Sunset Prospera where she made many friends in a short amount of time.
Ethel is survived by her sons: David (Shayne) Bjorndahl, Mandan and Douglas (Terri) Bjorndahl, Kissimmee, FL; daughter: Melanie Sellars, Mandan; and many grandchildren, step grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her husband Roger; parents, Carl and Augusta Gottschalk; brothers: Alfred, Elmer and Eugene; sisters: Ruth Golden and Dorothy Boike; sister-in-law, Marjorie Hoiland; and her father and mother-in-law.