Raymond A. Markel

Raymond A. Markel, 95, Bismarck, died December 31, 2016, at the Baptist Health Care Center, Bismarck. Services will be held at 2:00 pm Wednesday, January 4, 2017, at the Baptist Health Care Center, 3400 Nebraska Dr., Bismarck, with Deacon Terry Glatt officiating. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service at the Baptist Health Care Center. Burial will be held in the spring at Mandan Union Cemetery. Raymond A. Markel was born June 21, 1921, in Mandan, ND, the first son of Anton Joseph and Anna Mary (Brazda) Markel. Raymond was baptized at Church of Saint Joseph in Mandan, where he lived the first six years. The family then moved to Starkweather, ND, where his father was a blacksmith. Raymond attended school in Starkweather, graduating from high school in 1939. He worked in Starkweather until September 1940 when he enrolled at the State School of Science in Wahpeton, until October 1941, when he moved to Jamestown for employment with the NP Railroad as a machinist apprentice (1941 to March 1944). In March 1944, he entered service at Fort Snelling, MN, and was assigned to the 746th Railway Operation Battalion and spent the next two years in the European theater of war. He was honorably discharged May 25, 1946, as a T.Sgt.Returning to Jamestown, he resumed working for the NP Railway with later assignment as a machinist/supervisor to St. Paul, MN, to E. Grand Forks, MN, then to Billings, MT, to Spokane, WA, to Livingston, MT, and to Mandan, ND. Raymond was married to Edna Trangsrud in May 1947 in Jamestown. Edna died in June 1976. After retiring from the railroad, he worked as a substitute rural mail carrier. He also continued his interest in collecting, including coins and farm toys. He also raised many beautiful flowers, especially roses. Raymond became a pilot in 1946. He was a member of several organizations such as the International Assn. of Machinists, National Rural Letter Carriers Assn., and US Govt. Motor Vehicle Operators. He also enjoyed his membership in the Wednesday Morning Men’s Breakfast Club, the Westerners Club, the Railroad Museum, the Elks, American Legion, and the Knights of Columbus. Raymond is survived by one sister, Angeline Miller, Aloha, OR; good friends, Thomas and Magdalene Feser and Loretta Knight, Bismarck; and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his wife, Edna; his brothers, Gordon Markel and Jerome Markel; and his sister, Dorothy Brightbill.