Howard Stout

Howard Ray Stout, 92, Bismarck, died Nov., 18, 2004, at his home. Services will be held at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 21, at Zion Lutheran Church, Bismarck, with Rev. Thomas R. Marcis officiating. Burial will be at Fairview Cemetery, Bismarck.

Visitation will be held from 2 to 9 p.m. Saturday at Eastgate Funeral Service, Bismarck, where a prayer service will be held at 8 p.m. Visitation will continue one hour prior to the service at the church.

Howard was born June 10, 1912, at Cavour, Beadle County, S.D. to Leonard Ray and Mary Ethel (Fuller) Stout. He was raised and educated in Cavour, graduating from high school in 1929. In 1938, Howard graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from South Dakota State University. He worked in five U.S. states for the Soil Conservation Service from 1938 until 1947, arriving in Bismarck in 1942. Howard married Edna Johansen of Woonsocket, S.D., in 1943. They made their home in Bismarck until 1947, when they moved to Miles City, Mont., where he worked for the Bureau of Reclamation. They returned to Bismarck in 1954, where he continued with the USBR. In 1955, he returned to employment with the Soil Conservation Service in charge of the Burleigh County Soil Survey. This project was completed in 1967, and later was published as the Soil Survey of Burleigh County, North Dakota. He retired from the SCS in 1968. Later that year, he was employed by the North Dakota Game and Fish Department until retirement in 1977.

Howard was a long time member of the Zion Lutheran Church in Bismarck, serving at one time as an Elder, and a member of Zion Lutheran's Men's Club and church choir. He also belonged to Wednesday Morning Breakfast Club. In his earlier years he enjoyed camping, hunting, and playing baseball, and always liked reading and playing cards.

Howard is survived by his son, David, Bismarck; his three daughters and two sons-in-law, Linda Raison, Hilliard, Ohio, Marcia Stout and Dale Housley, Death Valley, Calif., and Barbara Stout and William Bainbridge, Albuquerque, N.M.; his three grandchildren, Samantha, and her husband, Richard Shaw, David, Jr., and Tavis Stout; his great-grandson, Dylan Shaw; his sister, Marian Stout, Sioux Falls, S.D.; and nieces, nephews and many good friends.

He was preceded in death by his wife, Edna, in 1987; his parents; a brother, Laurence; a sister, Hazel Hubert; and a son-in-law, Gary Raison.