Irene Monke, 93, Regent, died Sunday, June 17, 2018, in the presence of family at the St. Luke’s Home, Dickinson. Funeral Services for Irene will be 11 a.m., Friday, June 22, 2018 at Ladbury Funeral Service with Rev. Lisa Lewton officiating. Interment will take place at the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery, Mandan. Visitation will be Thursday, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. and will continue on Friday from 8 a.m. to service time.
Irene was born to Jacob and Magdalena (Stevahn) Lutz, on Sept. 18, 1924, on the family farm near Elgin. The exact day and year of Irene’s birth has long been the subject of debate and speculation in her family, as her original birth certificate was lost in a courthouse fire. The lone known records of her birthday were entries in two separate family Bibles. However, each of those stated a different day and year of her birth, 1923 and 1924. When given the option by the government to choose what year her official birthdate would be known as, Irene naturally choose the one that made her a year younger.
She grew up on her parents’ farm near the Tepee Buttes west of Regent, and attended a nearby country school.
Irene met Clarence Monke as she was saying goodbye to her brother, Ralph, as the two were waiting to board the bus on their way to join the U.S. Army. After corresponding via letters throughout World War II, she and Clarence were married on Oct. 3, 1946, in New England.
Prior to their marriage, she worked in Bismarck and Dickinson at department stores and restaurants, including the now historic Patterson Hotel. After marriage, she moved to Clarence’s family farm in north central Hettinger County’s Rifle Township, where she kept an immaculate home and yard for several years. In 1968, they built a second home in Phoenix at the base of what was then known as Squaw Peak (Piestewa Peak). They wintered there for the next 30 years, and enjoyed spending time with their daughter Marlene, and many friends.
Irene loved to travel and would take bus tours when Clarence was busy on the farm, and other trips with him when he wasn’t. She and Marlene even enjoyed a trip to Europe. She also enjoyed dancing, music, and spending time with her friends from the Homemakers Club and Sewing Club, as well as those at Our Redeemer’s Lutheran Church in New England.
After moving back from Phoenix, she and Clarence lived on the farm until his passing shortly before Christmas 2013. She lived out her remaining years at the Hawks Point and Evergreen retirement communities in Dickinson before moving to St. Luke’s Home in March.
She is survived by her son, Leon (Kitty) Monke, Regent; grandsons, Scott (Laurie) Monke, New England; Jason (Jesse) Monke, Delano, Minn.; and Dustin (Sarah) Monke, Dickinson; great-grandchildren Aiden, Megan, McKenna, Halyn and Grant; brother, Marvin Lutz, of Mesa, Ariz.; and numerous nieces and nephews.
In death, Irene is now gratefully reunited with her husband of 67 years, Clarence, and her loving daughter, Marlene Mazzeo, both of whom she missed greatly, along with her parents, three brothers, Bill, Albert and Ralph Lutz, and a sister, Ruth Lutz.
