Robert Elmer Stickland, 87, Dickinson, died Wednesday, February 25, 2009 at the St. Luke’s Home, Dickinson. Robert’s funeral service will be at 10 a.m., Saturday, February 28, 2009 at Ladbury Funeral Service, Dickinson with Mr. Martin Wilson and Mr. John Simons officiating. Spring interment will take place at the Dickinson Cemetery, with a military flag presentation to follow the service and will be provided by the Dickinson Honor Guard. Visitation will be from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m., Friday and 8 a.m. to service time on Saturday at Ladbury Funeral Service.

Robert was born to Edward Lee Stickland and May (Striker) Stickland on July 6, 1921 near Dunseith.

Following two years of high school, Robert joined the Civil Conservation Corps and served in North Dakota, Arizona and Utah. During WWII he served in the United States Navy as an aviation metal smith in the US and Panama. After the war, he worked as a Rural Letter Carrier for the US Postal Service for 30 plus years.

In 1944, he met Irene Adams. They were married in Ayer, Mass. on May 3, 1945 while he was stationed at a Naval Air Base in Quonset Point, R.I. They later made their home in Dunseith where they lived for 31 years. In 1976 they retired to Bozeman, Mont., then transitioned to Dickinson in 1992 and have remained there until the present time. Irene preceded Robert in death on April 17, 2002.

They have three sons, Lee of Dickinson, Darrel of Blaine, Minn., and Dean of Olympia, Wash.; four grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; one brother, Leonard; and three sisters, Doris, Joy and Marian.

Robert and Irene met God’s servants in the fall of 1949 and made their decision to follow Christ’s teachings in the spring of 1951. Their lives have been enriched with the love and care of family and many friends.