Arthur Stokes

Arthur Warren Stokes died on September 5, 2015 at the age of 73 in his home in Surprise, AZ, of cancer. A memorial service will be held on Friday, September 18, 2015, 11:00 A.M. at the Bethel Lutheran Church, Wahpeton, ND. Visitation will also be at the church from 9:30-11:00 A.M. preceding the service. Interment will be at the Memorial Park Cemetery, 1003 North 23rd Street, Grand Forks, ND following the service and luncheon. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to Bethel Lutheran Church or a charity of the giver's choice. Vertin-Munson Wahpeton Funeral Home is in charge of local arrangements.
Warren was born on December 19th, 1941, in Grand Forks, ND. He was the son of Arthur W. Stokes and Hilda (Eid) Stokes. He graduated from Grand Forks Central and the University of North Dakota, earning his law degree in 1969. He married Karen L. Christianson in June of 1961. Together they had four children, Mark, Paul, Laura and Michelle. They divorced in 1991. In 1994, he married Patty Dahl Edland.
After graduation from Law School, Warren became a law partner with Alph Overby in Cooperstown, ND. In 1974, he moved to Wahpeton, ND, where he practiced with the law firm of Johnson, Johnson, and Milloy. In 1988 he established his own legal practice. He was elected to three terms as States Attorney for Richland County, resigning in 2012 due to his cancer diagnosis. During his career he served as President of the Trial Lawyers Association of North Dakota.
Warren loved a wide variety of activities in life. He was an avid hockey player in his youth and later coached hockey. He had a passion for flying and owned his own airplane. He golfed and loved his annual fishing trips with buddies to Canada. He hunted with his sons and brothers, and he relished special times with grandchildren. In his last years, he owned two motorcycles, in North Dakota and in Surprise, on which he enjoyed taking rides with family and friends. Even after a stroke in 2014, he continued to play ping pong three days a week and he was good at it! Warren was a man who loved to be with people and visit and will be missed by many friends and family.
He is survived by his wife Patty, his brother Steve (Susie) of Prior Lake, MN, and sister Margaret (Jim) Johnson of Rhinelander, WI; his children Mark (Janet) and Paul (Diana) of Bemidji, MN, Laura (Kris) Hoogland of Fargo, ND, and Michelle Fulp, of Gilbert, AZ; stepchildren Naomi Leslie, Virginia Beach, VA, Travis Edland, Lake Hendricks, SD, and Sonja Skadberg, Fargo, ND; thirteen grandchildren and step grandchildren as well as numerous nieces, nephew and cousins. He was preceded in death by his parents and two brothers, David and Robert.

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