Delbert King

Delbert King was born on December 14, 1934 in Amenia, ND to Frank and Helen King. December 7, 2016 he went to be with his Lord and Savior. He graduated from Amenia High. His parents were farmers and young Delbert soon decided that he loved farm life and wanted to become a farmer himself. As a young man, he went with friends to a dance in Page, ND where he met the love of his life Marlene Reichert. They married on November 14, 1953 and settled in Arthur, ND where they raised 4 daughters and a son. Delbert was very supportive of his children and attended every game and school event. He taught his kids to work hard and play hard. He was active in his community and in his early years was a volunteer fireman, an active member of his church and President of the church board. He also liked to deer hunt and taught his kids and many of his grandkids how to hunt and process deer. Delbert also enjoyed his time at the casino and poker table. Deer hunting was eventually given up for a love of warmer weather. He and Marlene semi-retired in 1986 and headed south to Mesa, AZ for the winters. Eventually they retired and moved from the farm to an apartment in Arthur, ND and as their love of Arizona grew they started heading south earlier and earlier. They made their winter home at Valle Del Oro Retirement resort. Delbert loved all the activities they had to offer. He played cards with the other retirees several times a day. He eventually became known as the Cookie Man because he always carried a tin of his fresh made cookies in the basket of the scooter. He would give them out to anyone willing to visit with him. At home, he would hand out his cookies at his grand children's sporting events and he was convinced that was why they won! When he was home in Arthur he was a frequent flyer at the Good Samaritan Home. He liked to visit with the residents and put a smile on their faces. When the Good Samaritan home had bingo, Delbert would provide $2 bills to give to the winners for bingo night. Delbert was the "life of the party" kind of guy and anyone who knew Delbert knew three things. He loved to play cards, he loved to make people laugh and he wanted to make people feel better. Delbert was always pulling pranks on people, telling jokes or trying to make people laugh with his many props. It wasn't unusual to see the totally bald Delbert wearing his hair hat, or driving his golf cart with red flames painted on the sides and a life size gorilla mounted on the back, beeping the horn on his scooter at his friends, playing with his remote control cars or showing off his trick billfold. As he got older he was convinced that laughter was good for you so he was always up for fun and games. In addition, he was never without his Zapper that he was convinced healed many things and was always willing to provide family and friends with a little "zap" to take care of an alignment. Delbert is survived by his wife Marlene, 4 daughters, Sharon Ray (Steve Smith) of Iron Mountain Michigan, Colleen (Randy) Moen of Hunter, ND, Sandy (Doug) Cremers of Breckenridge, MN, Melanie Ringstad (Ron) of Savage MN, and 1 son Jeff King (Rhonda) of Medora, ND, brother Larry King of Amenia, ND and sister Arline Thompson of St. Charles, MN and sister-in-law Betty King of West Fargo, ND. He is also survived by 10 grandchildren and 9 great grandchildren. Delbert was preceded in death by his parents, brother Donald King, sister Betty Vickers, sister-in-law Cathy King, brother-in-law Juel Thompson and grandson Michael Cremers. A service was held in Mesa, AZ on Sunday, December 11, 2016 and another service will be held in Arthur in the Spring. West Funeral Home & Life Tribute Center westfuneralhome.com