Betty J. Rohrich

Betty J. Rohrich, 88, slipped quietly through Heaven’s Gates into the arms of her beloved Val on September 20, 2017, at the Napoleon Care Center. Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:30 am Tuesday, September 26, at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church, Steele, with Rev. Jerome Hunkler officiating. Visitation will be held from 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm Monday, September 25, at St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church, where an evening prayer service will begin at 7:00 pm. Visitation will continue one hour prior to the service at the church. Burial will be held at Holy Cross Cemetery, Steele. Betty was born on May 19, 1929, the youngest of four children to Olaf and Bertha (Anderson) Quale. Her childhood was spent on a farm north of Driscoll where she attended school and played basketball. She remained an avid basketball fan throughout her life. In senior high, she traveled to Seattle, WA, to be a nanny for a family and graduated high school there in 1947. She then returned to North Dakota and started work as a telephone operator in Bismarck, where she met the love of her life, Valentine Rohrich. The couple married on October 8, 1951, in Bismarck, and made their home on a farm north of Steele. Betty and Val raised small grains, cattle, sheep, chickens, a large garden, and seven children. Although a busy farmwife and mother, she always remembered a neighbor’s birthday with an angel food cake covered in seven minute frosting. She was extremely proud of her Norwegian heritage and was a longtime visitor, along with her sister, to the Norsk Host Fest in Minot. She has passed on her love of potato dumplings, lefsa, and other Norsk delicacies to her children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Betty was a woman of profound faith in her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and an active member of St. Francis de Sales Altar Society and Homemakers Club. Having retired to Steele in 1993, she became a city girl, enjoying many social activities and attending school sporting events. Having never driven a car, she walked most everywhere and was delighted when her kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids would race with her. She cherished time spent with family, loved to bake and dance, play bingo, visit casinos, and travel. Betty is survived by three sons, Robert and Mary, Brian and Glenda, Steele, and Val Jr., Melcher, IA; two daughters, Judy and Derrick Black, New York City, NY, and Delilah “Toots” and Jerry Smith, Indiantown, FL; one daughter-in-law, Char Rau, Steele; 19 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren; three sisters-in-law, Mary Ann Quale, Mary Ann Hiddleson, and Katherine Bauer; along with many much loved nieces and nephews; and two very special friends, Clarilyn Riedinger and Carol Rau. She was preceded in death by her husband; two sons, Jerry and Bradley; her parents; sister and brother-in-law, Delores and Stub Maas; brother, Lloyd Quale; and brother and sister-in-law, Russel and Leona Quale.