Verna Fettig

Verna Fettig

NAPOLEON - Verna A. (Roth) Fettig, 80, Napoleon, died Nov. 4, 2006, at SCCI Hospital, Mandan. Funeral Mass will be held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Nov. 8, at St. Philip Neri Catholic Church, Napoleon. Burial will be in St. Philip Neri Catholic Cemetery, Napoleon.

Visitation will be held from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. today at Dahlstrom Funeral Home, Napoleon, where a prayer service begins at 8 p.m.

Verna was born Dec. 1, 1925, on a farm near Zeeland, to Christ and Nellie (Brooks) Roth. She moved with them in 1927 to a farm northeast of Kintyre. In 1930, they moved four and a half miles south of Napoleon where she attended rural schools. In 1934, they moved five miles northeast of Napoleon where she attended the Napoleon City Schools. In 1941, they moved to Napoleon where she graduated in 1943. She was employed as a store clerk for the H. Mitzman, Kuhn Red Owl and Wentz & Grenz grocery stores. On June 14, 1946, she married Anton M. "Tony" Fettig at St. Philip Neri Catholic Church in Napoleon. They made their home on the farm 12 and a half miles southeast of Napoleon, until November 1980 when they moved to Napoleon. Verna moved into the assisted living apartments when they opened in Napoleon in December 2004.

She taught one year in their rural school and served one term on the township board. She was a member of St. Clare's Catholic Church, where she helped organize the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine Religion Classes, served as the superintendent and taught classes for 13 years. She was also active in the church choir and Alter Society. In 1975, she began serving as the secretary-treasurer for the Napoleon-Kintyre-Burnstad all school Alumni Association, which she held through 1990. She was the secretary for the 1984 Centennial Celebration Committee. She also served as secretary for the Churches Alter Society and the Catholic Daughters of America for which she also served as regent for two years. She maintained the flowers in church many years and was a choir member until 1997. She was a life member of the Napoleon Historical Society.

Shortly after Tony and Verna moved to Napoleon, Verna started writing the Napoleon/Burnstad local news for the Napoleon Homestead. She retired from that position in April 2006. In the 25 years of her reporting, she had a great memory for names and places and enjoyed conversations with many, even if they had no news to share.

She is survived by two daughters, Marjorie (Vincent M.) Bitz, Bismarck, and Marilou (Gerald) Mitzel, Scottsdale, Ariz.; three sons, James (Shirley) Fettig, Bismarck, and Charles Fettig and Steve (Sherry) Fettig, both of Burnstad; 14 grandchildren; 11 great-grandchildren; one sister, Evelyn (Donald) Carlsten, Bismarck; and one brother, James J. (Ruth) Roth, Bismarck.

Her husband, Tony; her parents; one brother, Orvin Roth; one sister-in-law, Edna Roth; and an infant sister, Marjorie, preceded her in death.