Robert I Boettger

Robert Irwin Boettger, or "Little Bobby Boettger, the sweetest kid in town" as he was known, died peacefully at the age of 80. Bob died on June 18, 2016 at home in Chino Hills, CA and was surrounded by his family. An intimate funeral service was held at Bob's home on June 25, 2016 for family and close friends. Pastor Jon Castillo of the First Baptist Church of Corona officiated.

A funeral service will be held at the former Methodist Church in Bowesmont, North Dakota on July 18, 2016 at 10:00 AM with burial to follow at the Bowesmont Cemetery.

Bob and his parents, John and Maude, lived on the family farm in the rural Hamilton area, North Dakota until 1942 when they moved to Bowesmont, where they operated the Boettger Store and Bob attended the Bowesmont School through the ninth grade. The family then moved to Cavalier where Bob attended Cavalier High School and lettered in several sports and graduated in 1953. Upon completion of high school, Bob joined the Navy until 1958 when he was honorably discharged with the rank of EM2. After leaving the Navy, Bob attended the California College of Mortuary Science where he graduated in 1961 and completed his internship at Hilgenfeld Mortuary in Anaheim, California to become a licensed funeral director and embalmer for the states of California and North Dakota.
In 1964, Bob moved back to North Dakota and partnered with Bill Adams, and the Adams-Boettger funeral homes were established in Grafton and Grand Forks. During this time, Bob became a 32nd degree Freemason and a member of the Elks Lodge.
In 1965 Bob moved back to California where he continued in the mortuary field as a funeral service professional and then an educator. He taught at the California College of Mortuary Science and then Cypress College where he finished his career and retired in 1999. During his time at Cypress College, he served as the Program Director for many years. While teaching at the two colleges, he helped to expand the nationwide curriculum for the Mortuary Science field to include Psychology, Counseling, Restorative Art and Sociology along with other subject areas. Bob earned his Bachelor's degree in Psychology, which he started at Jamestown College, North Dakota and finished at California State University Northridge, and his Master's degree in Psychology from Pepperdine University.
Outside of his career, Bob was heavily involved with the North Anaheim Little League. He coached several teams to league championships with his son Rory as the top pitcher and his daughter Rhonda as the team scorekeeper. Even though Bob's summers were filled with baseball, he always found time to go back to North Dakota. He and his wife Kathy would spend time at the farm of Buster and Gayle McConnell. Bob loved helping out during the harvest and always looked forward to that time of year.
Bob is survived by his wife Kathy, two children, Rory (Colleen) and Rhonda (Matthew) and three
grandchildren, Nicole, Robert and Nora.

The mortuary handling the arrangements in California is the Mountain View Mortuary in Altadena and the mortuary handling the arrangements in North Dakota is the Jensen-Askew Funeral Home in Cavalier. For memorial suggestions, please choose either "The Bowesmont Cemetery" or "The Bowesmont Heritage, Inc." c/o Richard McConnell, 15563 88th St., NE, Drayton, ND 58225 or the memorial of your choice.

Funeral Service will be held at the Bowesmont Community Church