Arthur Lautt

Arthur "Art" Lautt, 95, Minot ND passed away peacefully at Trinity Hospital with his loving family at his side and went home to be with the Lord on December 10, 2024.
Art was born April 24, 1929 in Velva, ND to Albert E Lautt and Katherina (Beck) Lautt. He was the oldest of nine children.
He moved with his parents to Harvey, ND where he worked with his parents on the family dairy farm. The work was hard and it was there that he developed his great work ethic. He went through 6th grade in Harvey and then had to stop to work. Art completed his GED while in the Army.
He met Opal C Vannett at a cousin's wedding in rural Sawyer and they were married on June 3rd, 1951. They lived together for 72 years and 4 months, until Opal passed away on October 1, 2023. They had lived in their same home for 67 years. Dad continued to maintain his own household for 14 months after Mom's passing, doing his own laundry and some of his own cooking. A special thanks to Taneil who came every Tuesday to clean his house and provide some much needed visiting and care.
They moved to Harvey where they farmed with his parents until Dad enlisted in the US Army on March 20, 1952. Soon after their daughter Pat was born, they moved to San Antonio, Texas where Dad was stationed at Fort Sam Houston. After his honorable discharge they moved back to Harvey and continued to work on the dairy with his parents. Their son Art, Jr. was born in Harvey.
It was there that he went to work for the Harvey Creamery. The owner of the creamery said the worst thing he did "was give Art a good recommendation when he applied for a job at Bridgeman Creamery. He was the best man I had."
In May of 1954, they moved to Minot where Dad went to work for Bridgeman Creamery until retiring in 1991. While there he became the foreman of the bottling department. He was known for his ability to keep the bottling machines running. He could repair the machines and, in many instances, made parts that he couldn't get. He said, "the kids need milk." He was a self-taught mechanic, electrician and plumber. He could and would repair anything because he "had to." He once changed the water pump on his outboard motor in the cold Canadian water using only a screwdriver and a plier.
While living in Minot they were blessed with another daughter, Dorothy.
Dad's faith was very important to him. He and Mom were charter members of the Minot Mennonite Brethren Church (now Bible Fellowship Church). He served on numerous boards and committees. They were very proud of their 3 children, 9 grandchildren, 18 great grandchildren and prayed for each of them daily.
In 1965, dad's parents moved to Tempe, Arizona. Dad fell in love with the warm weather and we camped our way to Arizona every summer thereafter. Soon most of dad's family started moving to Arizona although dad remained faithful to North Dakota. When dad retired, he and Mom would travel with their motor home and car to Arizona for the winter. Many months were spent with family and most years they stayed with his sister Alice and her husband Ed. These were precious years for dad. He spent many days with his brother Wes hunting for rocks, going to flee markets, fishing and sightseeing along the way. Dad was an amateur photographer and did many wedding, graduation and family pictures. He was an avid collector of razors, shaving mugs and all things shaving. Dad and Art Jr had a hobby beekeeping business for a number of years. He was also a "rockhound" and cut and polished petrified wood and agates. He was a coin collector and served on the local board of the coin club.
Dad loved hunting and fishing and was especially proud of his four-generation deer sausage recipe. He made us promise to never give it to anyone, but he gave it to others himself. If you could stuff it in a casing, we called it sausage.
Dad was a huge fan of the Minnesota Vikings. In his later days, children, grandchildren and great grandchildren would gather at his house for Vikings games and snacks which he really loved, wondering "would this be the year?"
He will be remembered by his children Pat (Willie) Froese, Art (Judy) Lautt Jr, Dorothy (Walter) Doerksen; grandchildren Jae-lynne (Simon) Wormenor, Stephanie (Don) Reimer, Heather (Peter) Bastian, Heidi (Tim ) Penner, James (Elenore) Doerksen, Aaron (Loni) Froese, Charles (Aubrey) Doerksen, Andrea (Kevin) Berg, Steven (Diane) Lautt; great-grandchildren Justice, Jubilee and Journey Wormenor, Beckett and Payton Froese, Dylan, Caden and Jagger Bastian, Ava, Bella, Austin and Sawyer Penner, Mason and Colton Berg, June and Andrew Lautt, Keziah and Abigail Doerksen; sisters Evelyn Lautt, Elayne Brown; sisters-in-law Pat Lautt, Arlette Lautt, Arla Mae Vannett and brother-in-law Henry Vannett along with many nieces and nephews.
Art was preceded in death by his parents, wife, great-grandson Christian Emerson Bastian, brothers Wes Lautt and Dale Lautt, sisters Alice Skorick, Betty Vinarskai, Carol Lautt, and Kathryn Kimbrough, in-laws Ed Skorick, Eugene Vinarskai, Howard Brown, Tom Kimbrough, Bob and Gertrude Vannett, Carl and Iva Vannett, Loretta Vannett, Lillian Vannett and Wayne Vannett.
Private Graveside Service: Mennonite Brethren Cemetery, rural Sawyer, ND.
Celebration of Life Service for Arthur Lautt: 1:00 p.m. Friday, January 3, 2024 at Bible Fellowship Church, Minot, ND. To view a recording of the service or share memories and condolences access his obituary at www.thomasfamilyfuneralhome.com
Visitation: Thursday, January 2, 2024, from 4:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. at Bible Fellowship Church, Minot.
Memorials are preferred to Child Evangelism Fellowship.