Gertrude Violet Learn, 88, went to her heavenly home on November 13, 2023. A memorial service will be held at 11:00 AM on Saturday, November 18, 2023, at Bethel Lutheran Church, 615 E. Turnpike Avenue, Bismarck with the Reverend Jonathan Walla and Reverend Justin Woodside officiating. Cremation has taken place. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service at the church.
Gertie was born April 25, 1935, at the home of her parents near Tappen, ND, the daughter of Fred and Rosina (Roesch) Lang. She was baptized at Glueckstal Lutheran Church which was named after the Russian village where her ancestors lived. She was from a family of eleven children. In 1953 she graduated from Napoleon High School. She attended Valley City State Teacher’s College and taught in rural schools for two years. She then moved to Bismarck and worked as a waitress at Finck’s Café where she met the love of her life, Bert Learn, and they were married on June 20, 1955, at First Lutheran Church in Bismarck. They were blessed with two sons and a daughter and in later years a daughter-in- law and two grandsons. She stayed at home with her children until they all were in school and then worked at Montgomery Ward for 28 years — 12 years in Catalog Sales and 16 years as a Business Office Clerk.
Bert and Gertie joined Bethel Lutheran Church in 1968. Gertie’s life revolved around her faith and her church. She was very active in LWML, attending seven National Conventions in many locations in the United States. She held the position of treasurer to Bethel’s LWML for twenty years. She was also active in Christian Women in the Bismarck- Mandan community.
Gertie loved her children and her two grandsons, Jeremy and Justin. She supported her children and grandsons by attending all their activities.
She also loved her extended family which included numerous nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews and enjoyed attending their gatherings.
Gertie is survived by her three children, Mark, Bismarck; Cheryl, Bismarck; and Dean (Kris), Bismarck; two grandsons, Jeremy, West Fargo and Justin, Bismarck; sister-in-law Lotte Lang, Seguin, Texas, and sister-in-law Gloria Learn, Dickinson, as well as many special nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her loving husband of 58 years, Bert; by her parents, Fred and Rosina Lang; by her brothers, Theodore (Louise), Leo (Sally), Edwin, Reverend R. Clarence, Gilbert (Mildred); by her sisters, Ellena (August), Adella (Ted), Rose (Hans), Laura (Jay), and Mary Martha.
A special thank you to Reverand Jonathan Walla and Reverend Justin Woodside for their many visits, comforting words and for giving our mother communion for the three years and two months that mother was at St. Vincent’s Care Center. Also, a special thank you to Sean Johnson and the staff at St. Vincent’s Care Center for the excellent care that they provided to our mother.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to the Bethel LWML and/or the Bethel Lutheran Church Building Fund.