Cleaice Sease

Cleaice Lawanda Sease, 85, Mandan, passed away peacefully in her sleep on April 11, 2011, after a long fight with congestive heart failure. She went to meet her many loved ones waiting for her in Heaven. Services will be held at 11:00 am Friday, April 15, at Parkway Funeral Service, 2330 Tyler Parkway, Bismarck, with Chaplain Burnie Kunz officiating. Burial will be in the North Dakota Veteran’s Cemetery, Mandan.

Visitation will be from 4:00 pm until 9:00 pm Wednesday, April 13, and from 9:00 am until 9:00 pm Thursday, April 14, at Parkway Funeral Service, 2330 Tyler Parkway, Bismarck.

Cleaice was born September 4, 1925, on a farm in Kensal, Wells County, ND, one of ten children born to Ralph and Eva (Flanders) Dwelle. Following the Depression, her family moved to Jamestown, ND, where she graduated from high school, and then took courses in typing, shorthand, and bookkeeping at Central Dakota Commercial College (CDCC). After graduating from CDCC, she was placed as a secretary at NW Bell Telephone in Jamestown. She married Lohman Bailey on June 2, 1946, in Jamestown, and they moved to Shenandoah, IA. Two children were born in Shenandoah, Wayne and Lynda. Cleaice worked at KMA Radio in Shenandoah, where she met the Everly Brothers, who performed there often. In 1956, Cleaice moved to Riverdale, ND, and worked as a secretary for the US Government Corps of Engineers. She married Lowell Sease on November 29, 1957, in McClusky, ND. The family moved to Bismarck and she worked for Selective Service System from 1958 until her retirement. She was secretary to Col. James Ulmer and General L.A. Melhouse, as well as Col. Raymond J. Bohn (to whom the National Guard Armory in Bismarck is dedicated). In Bismarck, three children were born, Bonnie, Cindy, and Susan.

Cleaice enjoyed ceramics and even owned a ceramics shop for four years and produced many beautiful pieces which are family treasures, and macramé. She was also very interested in genealogy and wrote a book of her life, which took over 20 years to write, called, “Prairie Gems.” She enjoyed cooking and was the family matriarch who gathered the family for many large meals. Cleaice enjoyed the times fishing with her mother and children in Riverdale, crossword puzzles, playing Pinochle with her family, watching her favorite TV shows, “Little House on the Prairie,” “The Waltons,” “Bonanza,” “Gunsmoke,” and “Golden Girls,” and she loved John Wayne.

She volunteered for the State Historical Society and produced a monthly newsletter, as well as a membership list for Buckstop Junction. Cleaice donated faithfully each month to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and would look forward to receiving a photo of a new child each month. She would tearfully and reverently paste each photo in a book that she kept.

Cleaice loved North Dakota and would always take exception to anybody speaking negatively about it.

Cleaice is survived by her husband, Lowell P. Sease, Mandan; her five children, Wayne (Mary) Sease, Bismarck, Lynda Bergo, Minneapolis, MN, Bonnie Jones, Mandan, Cindy (Shannon) Tomek, and Susan (Phillip) Lofthus, Wilton; her eight grandchildren, Nathan Sease, Eric Sease, Chad Bergo, Wendy College, Ryan Jones, Aja Jones, Ashley Tomek, and Devin Calheim; two step-grandchildren, Michaela and Sean Lofthus; and five great-grandchildren; her sisters, Lovera Kunz, Jamestown, ND, Elnora Riedy, St. Louis, MO, Sharon Kastner, Pierre, SD, and Jean Lang, CA; and her brother, Kenny Dwelle, Bismarck.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Ralph and Eva Dwelle; and her brothers, Marvin, Norman, Dale and Raymond.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Cleaice’s name.

Go to www.parkwayfuneral.com to share memories of Cleaice and sign the online guestbook.

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