After 82 years of a life well lived, Zeno Anton Erdle passed away on June 2, 2014, at St. Alexis Medical Center, Bismarck. Zeno’s Mass of Christian Burial will at 10 a.m., Thursday, June 5, 2014 at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Richardton, with Abbot Brian Wangler, OSB as the celebrant. Interment will follow at the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery, Mandan. Military honors will be provided by the Richardton American Legion Theo R. Zech Post 180. Visitation will be Wednesday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Ladbury Funeral Service, Dickinson and will continue at the church from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. with a rosary and vigil at 8 p.m. Visitation will continue one hour prior to service time at the church on Thursday.
Zeno was born in 1932, the eighth out of nine children in Richardton, to hard working German homesteaders, Lucia (Messmer) and Johann Erdle. Working hard and playing hard came natural to Zeno. Throughout his life he was an entrepreneur starting four businesses, a part-time farmer (just couldn’t get it out of his blood), a volunteer and board member for numerous organizations, a fisherman with some tall tales, a golfer that sunk a hole in one on the Dickinson golf course, an accomplished cook and taste tester, and of course, the patriarch of his own family.
In his early life, Zeno graduated from Assumption Abbey High School and joined the US Navy shortly after. Joining the US Navy would prove to be a life changing decision. He traveled the world, had a short interlude in the Korean Conflict, and met lifelong friends, including the brother of a certain Florence Plourde. During leave, Zeno would often stay with his good friend, Robert Plourde, in New Hampshire since it was such a distance and an expense to go back to North Dakota. In 1955, Zeno and Florence were married in Suncook, N.H. After a year in New Hampshire, Zeno took his new bride back to his beloved western North Dakota, much to the dismay of his mother-in-law. Zeno and Florence set up their household in Richardton where Zeno quickly went to work at Peavy Lumber and started his own business, Richardton Drayline. Later, he added Erdle Oil Co., which was an independent oil and gas dealership. A good part of his professional career, though, was as part owner and President of Richardton Manufacturing Co. Additionally, he owned and managed Erdle Housing.
Although a keen businessman, Zeno most cherished his friends and family. Zeno and Florence raised three daughters: Nancy, Debbie, and Andrea. If you ask his daughters about their dad, they will say that he was fiercely protective, constantly espousing the importance of hard work and doing things right, loving and loyal, and slightly embarrassing when he would wear his bib overalls with no shirt and a red bandanna around his head. Either way, he was a sure and steady father and husband they could count on, rain or shine.
Zeno is survived by his beloved wife, Florence, daughters Nancy (David) Shea, Debbie (Tom) Hayden, and Andrea (Dan) Boe, as well as grandchildren Stephanie Shea, Allison (Isaac) Rickert, Aaron (Stephanie) Hayden, Zachary (Morgan) Hayden, Emma Boe, and Abby Boe; and great-granddaughter, Hope Hayden. He is also survived by his sister Bertha Kubishta.
Zeno was preceded in death by his parents, Johann and Lucia, brothers Frank, John, Rudy, Otto, Joseph, Gerald, and sister, Ann Bernhardt, as well as granddaughter Kate Boe.
In lieu of flowers, Zeno would most certainly suggest that you consider giving gifts of money or your time to the Assumption Abby, St. Mary’s Catholic Church, or the Elks Foundation.
Whenever we are enjoying a big delicious meal, walking through a beautiful garden, or playing cards in Vegas, we will think of you. We love you and miss you.
