Robert Miedema, age 91, passed away July 8 th at the St. Rose Benedictine Living Community in LaMoure, ND. Robert was a lifelong resident of Litchville, ND and resided in Valley City the last eight years. A memorial service will be held at 11:00 AM Thursday, July 14 th at the Litchville Public School in Litchville. Visitation will be held on Wednesday, July 13 th from 5:00 PM until 7:00 PM at the Lerud Mathias Funeral Home in Valley City. A prayer service will be held at 7:00 PM Wednesday evening at the Funeral Home. Inurnment will be in the Litchville Cemetery, Litchville, ND. A livestream of Robert’s services and an online guestbook are available at www.lerudmathias.com.
Robert Andrew Miedema, the son of Andrew and Ruth (Rohrbeck) Miedema, was born October 8, 1930 at his parent’s farm home in Greenland Township of Barnes County. He attended Greenland Consolidated School. He farmed his entire life, he started by helping his father, when as a child, he was big enough to drive a tractor. Robert married Norma Berg on October 18, 1951. They lived on the family farmstead until 1956 when they moved to their farm just outside of Litchville. Robert and Norma owned the Litchville Bulletin for 19 years with Norma being the Editor and Publisher. Robert always joked he was the janitor. Robert was a member of the First Reformed Church in Litchville where he served at Deacon and Treasurer for
many years. He was active in the Litchville Commercial and Community Clubs, the Litchville Development Corporation and the Barnes County Council of Alcohol and Drug Abuse. He served as the Litchville Fall Fair Chairman for several years and the President of the school PTA.
In later years, he served many terms on the Litchville City Park Board. Robert enjoyed fishing, camping and traveling. He and Norma traveled to Kuwait when their first grandson was born. He loved little kids, especially his grandchildren and great-grandchildren, who loved him dearly. He always had lollipops in his pocket for any children he’d meet.
Robert is survived by his three daughters, Diane Peterson, Santa Fe, NM, Sheila (Hal) Peterson, Bismarck, ND and LaRae (Steven Mangrum) Miedema, Round Rock, TX; his grandchildren, Darya (Matt) Glass, Santa Fe, NM, Lisa (Sean) Lund, Bismarck, ND, Rachel (Bill) Mount, Bismarck, ND, Wayne (Beth) Smith, Litchville, ND, Lauren Roth, Litchville, ND
and Stefanie Mangrum, Chico, CA; his great-grandchildren, Teddy and Emilia Glass, Dylan Lund, Andrew and Emma Mount, Addison, Jada, Kate and Kali Smith and Dalton Roth; 3 sisters-in-law, Elaine Miedema, Valley City, ND, Joan Trapp, Marion, ND and Laura Berg, Kindred, ND; two brothers-in-law, Ken Berg, Lodi, CA and Ron Berg, Mesa, AZ.
Robert was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Norma, son Bryce, son-in-law Brad Peterson, grandsons Sean Peterson and Clinton Mangrum and a sister and brother-in-law Maxine (Herman) Muske, brothers and sister-in-law Ernest (Darlene) Miedema and Stanley Miedema.
The family would like to thank the wonderful staff of Viking Room restaurant in Valley City where he loved to have coffee and French Toast every morning. They would also like to thank the staff at St. Rose Benedictine Living Community and Hospice of the Red River Valley.
The family prefers memorials directed to the Litchville Cemetery, 504 3 rd Street, Litchville, ND 58461, the Litchville City Park District, PO Box 105 Litchville or the Charity of your choice.