Jonathan W.A. Liebelt

Jonathan W.A. Liebelt, 56, Aberdeen, S.D., formerly of Beulah, died June 25, 1999, near Mandan of injuries sustained in a plane crash. Services will be held at 10 a.m. MDT Thursday at Beulah Congregational Church, with the Rev. Rick Loewen officiating. Burial will be in Beulah Cemetery.

There will be no visitation.

Jonathan W.A. Liebelt was born Aug. 16, 1942, in Bismarck, to Emanuel and Anna Maye (Van Vleet) Liebelt. He grew up and attended school in Beulah, graduating with the Class of 1960. He attended Jamestown College, majoring in business and economics. He worked for Lockheed Missile and Space in Sunnyvale, Calif., as a member of the Polaris Team for the Department of the Navy.

Jonathan and Charlotte Affolter were married Sept. 9, 1961. They moved to Aberdeen and opened a manufactured housing sales center, later expanding into the recreational vehicle field, a heating and air conditioning distributorship called Liebelt Special Products Group and various other enterprises in North and South Dakota. His family owned Liebelt Chevrolet and Implement Co. in Beulah until the mid-1980s, his father having been a Chevrolet dealer for more than 50 years. He recently opened a sales center in Mandan, and was flying there when his plane went down during extreme weather conditions.

Jonathan was a member of the Congregational Church, the Elks, AOPA, EEA, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana and Minnesota Manufactured Housing Associations and various Manufactured Housing Organizations. He belonged to Masonic Lodge, Scottish Rite and Yelduz Shrine. He was also a member of Brown County Historical Society.

He truly enjoyed people and delighted in making new acquaintances, visiting with his friends, customers and former classmates. He was a car buff, collecting vintage automobiles and in turn joking about collecting warehouses to put those cars in. His family looked forward to trips to the speed races in Indianapolis and Daytona. As a family unit, they enjoyed travel throughout the United States and around the world. He loved to fly and did so from the time he was 16 years old. Jonathan owned the land occupied by the Beulah Airport and kept a hangar there. It gave him great pleasure to pursue this passion for aviation. He spent many hours in the air with fellow pilots Bruce Rutschke and Tim Pippert. His father-in-law, Mark Nelsen, and brother-in-law, Dean Affolter, shared this joy with him. Jonathan enjoyed auction sales and spending free time at the family's lake home at Mina Lake, near Aberdeen, and he was happiest when it was filled with family and friends.

He is survived by his wife, Charlotte; one daughter, Charmayne; one son and daughter-in-law, Jonathan and Kimberly; three granddaughters, Courtney, Katherine and Abbigale Liebelt, all of Aberdeen; his mother and father-in-law, Geneva and Mark Nelsen, Bismarck; and a sister-in-law, Merilynn Liebelt, Beulah.

He was preceded in death by his parents and two brothers, Emanuel and Beuhl.

Jonathan's relatively short time on Earth was filled with many blessings, love, laughter and wonderful adventures. He worked long and hard hours, loved life, and was a good and faithful husband, father and grandfather, and a loyal and protective friend to those who shared his life. (Seibel Funeral Home, Beulah)