Ella Gerbig, 91, Dickinson, died Sunday, December 11, 2011 at her home. Ella’s funeral service will be at 10 a.m., Friday, December 16, 2011 at Ladbury Funeral Service, with Rev. Galen Strand officiating. Interment will follow at the Dickinson Cemetery. Visitation will be from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Thursday and from 8 a.m. to service time on Friday at Ladbury Funeral Service.
Ella Duckwitz was born to Gustav and Lena (Oes) Duckwitz near Hebron, on September 29, 1920. She was baptized in St. John’s Church, Hebron, and when she was a young teenager she rode horseback to Hebron for Confirmation school. This was not bad as they met others at the section corners who were headed for the same destination. Perhaps the hardest part was coming out of the cool church basement at noon to head for home during the heat of the day. Her horse likely felt the same.
Ella attended grade school at Farmer’s Valley School #5 near her home. She attended high school in Hebron and at Model High at Dickinson State and later earned a teaching certificate at that college. She then taught for three years in Farmer’s Valley School District.
On May 4, 1942 she married Morris Gerbig whom she met in high school. They lived at his home ranch in Billings County, about half way between Amidon and Medora, for three years. In 1947, they bought their ranch from Laurence Lemire and moved there in the spring of 1948.
Their son James was born in 1943 and passed away from Leukemia in 1947. Gordon, Brian, Wayne and Kathleen “Kathy” made up the rest of their family. Their lives were filled with learning ranching skills, but they still had time for fun and imagination as they explored the hills via foot or horseback. Because there was no local school, Gordon stayed with friends to attend school. Later, they had a house built in Belfield which became the school year home for the rest of the children’s school years. Most of those years, Ella taught in Belfield in the intermediate grades. Their children participated in band, sports, and other appealing activities.
Summers at the ranch often seemed to resemble a Boys Ranch, as many boys spent time at the ranch where they were given responsibilities they did not have in town while also deterring them from the opportunity for mischief. As the grandchildren grew up, they also spent summers at the ranch to the enjoyment of their grandparents. The help which they provided was much appreciated.
After all the children had finished their high school education they moved to the ranch full time. Life continued with gardening, flower beds, outdoor chores, and helping with ranch activities. Indoor, there were the usual household chores of cleaning, lots of cooking, and canning. Ella enjoyed sewing, which was something she had learned from her mother. The old treadle machine stitched many garments. After she retired from teaching, she ventured into the field of quilting. She lent a hand on quilts for the Badlands Ministries Fall Event, and quilts for family members. Many quilts went to hospitals and various area organizations where they were a benefit to others.
Ella also enjoyed a bit of acrylic painting, crocheting, and doing some embroidery projects. She especially enjoyed the scenes she had stamped on linen fabric her mother had brought from Germany.
After Morris passed away on August 14, 2007, Ella remained at the ranch until she entered Hawks Point assisted care in Dickinson. A pastime there was crocheting prayer shawls for cancer patients.
Her survivors include her four children; Gordon (Sharon), Amidon, Brian (Carma), Dickinson, Wayne (Karen), Amidon, and Kathy Ann (Kevin) Boltz, Ennis, Mont. Also surviving her are her grandchildren and their families; Danette (Richard) Holtz and their children, Ashley (Robert) Berg, Ashley, Alexis, and Michael, Mandan, Aaron (Yelena) Gerbig, Medora, Miles (Iliia) Gerbig, and their children, Skyler and Kennedy, Williston, Kristin (Kyle) Kemmet and their children, Kylin, Preston, and Hunter, Harwood, Michael (Teresa) Gerbig and their children, Logan and Taylor, Mandan, Kari (Jeremy) Burgard, Dickinson, Neil (Kari) Gerbig and their children, Tucker, Adyson, Landyn, and Talon, Amidon, Jodi (Ryan) Brewer and their child Trey, Bowman, Kim (Levi) Paulson and their child Kyler, Bowman, and Jimee Sue (TJ) Camblin and their children Dalton and Wyatt, Dillon, Mont.
