Richard Otto

Richard Lawrence Otto, 78, passed away on Tuesday, June 12, 2012 at Maple View Memory Care in Grand Forks, ND. He was beloved by his family and friends for his devotion to them shown in his generosity of self sacrifice for their benefit, in matters large and small, individual and community. He enjoyed involvement in areas of business, agriculture, service and innovation, creativity, and social connections, never avoiding hard work, appreciating life as it came, with all its ups and downs.

Richard was born June 16, 1933 to Bill and Kathleen (Wild) Otto at their farm home in Osnabrock Township, Cavalier County. He was educated at the Osnabrock Township Consolidated School. He worked on the family farm until he was drafted into the army on February 5, 1953. He trained at Camp Roberts in California. On July 17, he left for overseas duty in Japan and from there shipped to Korea in August, serving 15 months along the demilitarized zone. He was assigned to a motor pool with the 27th regiment as a truck driver with 25th infantry division delivering mail. He arrived back to the US in November and was honorably discharged to inactive duty in December of 1954 as Private first class.

Upon returning home, he began to farm. He was married to Sally Ann Chaput, daughter of Alcid and Georgianna Chaput, at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church in Langdon on June 8, 1957, to begin a spousal union of 55 years. In addition to farming, for many winters, Richard operated his own snow removal business which involved the making of two of his own rotary truck snowplows. He spent the winters removing snow for many private farms, small towns such as Milton, Osnabrock, Olga and Nekoma, and several township roads. During the missile era he also cleaned missile sites. His snow removal services were particularly helpful after the blizzard of 1966. He was a self taught welder and began early on to use his skill to run his own small welding and repair shop. After selling his rotary plows, he concentrated on his welding business that grew to become Richard’s Welding and Manufacturing, Inc. still in operation today by his son, Mitchell. Along with repair work, he designed and manufactured his Richard’s Rock Picker and other smaller machinery. The new larger welding shop was placed on the present site along Highway 66, which included a new family home, in June of 1974, when the family moved from the old farm on which he had been born. He continued to farm for a time as well.

In 1964, he and his brother, Robert, were awarded the Cavalier County Soil Conservation Achievement Award for the home farm. Richard’s love of trees was life-long. He established the grove that surrounds his current farm and spent hours grooming them, getting his children and later on his grandchildren in on some of the work. Even a single tree was appreciated in his sight. He loved tending to the upkeep and improvement of his yard.

Richard was the family photographer and took many pictures of his children dressed up to go to Sunday Mass and other pictures of his manufacturing activities and yard year round. His appreciation of photography led him to capture an amazing series of tornado pictures as it neared to shimmy past their farm in July of 1978. He also loved sight-seeing and made sure his family made many camping trips to Canada and around the area.

After retiring from farming in the 1980s, he continued to work in the shop, gradually turning the business over to the capable hands of his son, Mitch. Ever ingenious, in his “retirement”, he started two sideline pastimes. One was a used oil route, picking up old oil to use for heating the welding shop. He also kept busy collecting scrap iron in which he cut up and sold many truckloads of profitable abandoned iron. He enjoyed collecting and recycling for the people who depended on his services and was in time with the recycling generation.

He belonged to St. Clothildes Catholic Church of Milton and recently St. Alphonsus Parish of Langdon. He was loyal to his Catholic faith all the years of his life. He was a dedicated caretaker of St. Clothildes Cemetery for many years, right up to the time of his recent diagnosis of likely Alzheimer’s disease.

Richard belonged to the Milton American Legion, Eagles, Knights of Columbus, and was a director for the ND State Barley Show. He was on the United Telephone Communications Board as a director for 19 years.

In July of 2011, Richard entered the Good Samaritan Home of Osnabrock. In January of 2012, he moved to Maple View Memory Care Center of Grand Forks and especially thrived there, managing to enjoy many remaining good times with his family and friends. He continued to act with typical courage and strength in the eyes of his new caretakers there, his friends and his family until his death.

Richard is survived by his wife, Sally, of Osnabrock; daughter, Cindy (Terry) Johnston of Langdon; sons: Mitchell (Denise) of Langdon, Roger (Kim) of Langdon, and Jeff of Modesto, CA; grandchildren: Aaron (Ann) Johnston of Center Point, IA, Emily (Bill) Kieffer of Fargo, Gabriel (Kristi) Johnston of Grand Forks, Adam Johnston of Grand Forks, Julian Johnston of Langdon, Brady Otto of Langdon, Jenna Lee Otto and fiancé, Kody Christianson of Langdon, Taryn Otto of Fargo, Brenyn Otto and fiancé Ruby Girodat of Langdon, and Cole Otto of Modesto, CA; great-grandchildren: Oren, Alice, Egan, Ezra and Estelle Johnston, Tallia and Gracie Johnston, Lilee Otto and Paightyn Downs; brothers: Robert (Edi Ann) Otto, Duane (Beverly) Otto of Langdon, James (Lois) Otto of Edinburg, ND; and sister, Mary Louise Shankar of Langdon.

He was preceded in death by his parents, Bill and Kathleen Otto, an infant son, and a brother-in-law, Richard Shankar.

Visitation will be held on Monday, June 18, 2012 from 4:00 to 7:30 p.m. with a prayer service starting at 7:30 p.m. at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church of Langdon, ND. Visitation will also be one hour prior to service time on Tuesday.

Mass of Christian burial will be on Tuesday, June 19, 2012 at 11:00 a.m. at St. Alphonsus Catholic Church.

Interment - Calvary Cemetery ~ Langdon, ND