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June (Stotlar) DeKrey passed away at Elim Care Center, Fargo, on October 11th, 2016. She was born in Fargo on June 25, 1925. Her parents were Henry Clay Stotlar, an Illinois native, and Martha Caroline Monson, whose Swedish immigrant family farmed near Argusville, ND. June, the name she preferred from an early age, grew up at 1305 10th Street South, the family residence from the 1920s through the 1970s. She was an only child who enjoyed the attention of grandparents, as well as her three Stotlar aunts and her cousin Lillian Stotlar (Ewing). The Stotlars were members of the First Methodist Church in Fargo, and June was a faithful Methodist Church member wherever she lived.
June graduated from Fargo Central High School and attended North Dakota Agricultural College, majoring in home economics and graduating in 1947. During her student years she enjoyed working at Fargo’s Knerr Dairy. After graduation, she worked briefly as a laboratory assistant at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. Returning to Fargo, she met Lester DeKrey, an army veteran who was completing his education at NDAC, in the young adults group of the Methodist Church. They were married December 28, 1948. Lester’s work took him into the county extension service and to jobs in McClusky, Bismarck, and Linton. The couple had three children: Gary, Allan, and Kathy, all of whom graduated from Linton High School. June’s pastimes included playing piano, reading, and participating in church circles and homemakers clubs. She was also a girls’ 4-H club leader in Linton.
In 1973 Lester and June moved to Valley City where Lester took up his last full time county agent job. June joined the staff of the Valley City Public Library and later became the librarian for Epworth United Methodist Church. Both of these positions brought her much personal gratification, and she also again became active in church circles and a homemakers club. Wherever she went, June spent time reading and passed on her love of books. The couple lived at 849 Hanna Avenue for most of their thirty-seven years in Valley City. After Lester and June’s retirement they enjoyed traveling the US and Canada in a succession of RVs. For many years they spent a week at Potato Lake near Park Rapids, MN, with their children and grandchildren.
Lester and June moved to a retirement community in Bismarck in 2011. June joined Lester in a Bismarck nursing home shortly before his death in June 2014. She then moved to Elim Care Center when her daughter moved to Fargo. She was also preceded in death by her parents and by her cousin Lillian Ewing. June is survived by her three children: Kathleen (Blake) Vander Vorst, Fargo, Gary (Catherine) DeKrey, Burnsville, MN, and Allan (Susan) DeKrey, Rhinebeck, NY; six grandchildren, Laura Clarey, Bethany Loney, Aaron Vander Vorst, Will DeKrey, Johanna DeKrey, and Jesse DeKrey; and seven great-grandchildren.
A celebration of her life will be held Tuesday, October 18, 10:00 am, at Epworth United Methodist Church, Valley City, with visitation at 9 am. Burial will be in the ND Veterans Cemetery, Mandan at 3 pm, Tuesday afternoon.
Memorials are preferred to Epworth United Methodist Church or to the Valley City Public Library.
Funeral arrangements have been entrusted to Lerud-Schuldt Funeral Home in Valley City, ND. An online guestbook is available at www.lerudschuldt.com.