Verna Dunbar

Verna Brandt Dunbar, age 100, passed away at St. Catherine’s Living Center, Wahpeton, ND, Tuesday, July 28, 2020. A graveside Celebration of Life will be held Tuesday, August 11, 2020, at Elk Creek Cemetery, Wyndmere, ND, at 11 a.m., with Pastor Rick Pittenger officiating.

Verna Jenks was born to Vern and Rose (Fales) Jenks on November 21, 1919 in Barney, ND.  She attended and graduated from Antelope School in Richland County.  On September 7, 1940, she married Oliver Brandt.  The couple had two sons, Byron and Roger.  They resided in Gwinner, where she raised her sons on the farm until Oliver died in 1983. Verna worked as a bookkeeper at a fertilizer plant in Gwinner and Elliot for many years.

On July 4, 1990, Verna married Ralph “Snooky” Dunbar of Barney. Following his death in 1999, Verna moved to Wahpeton. Recently, she spent two years in the Leach Home and then two years at St. Catherine’s Living Center.  Verna was an avid reader, reading as many as 100 books in a year, mainly mysteries. She was a longtime member of Wyndmere United Methodist Church.

She was preceded in death by parents, her husbands, Oliver Brandt and Ralph “Snooky” Dunbar, her brother, Emery Jenks, and sisters, Grace Dierke and Eileen Larson.

Verna is survived by her sons, Byron (Polly) Brandt of Apache Junction, AZ and Roger Brandt of Springtown, TX and “special daughter” Catherine (Gary) Paulson, of Edinburgh, ND.  She is survived by granddaughters, Lorrie Ann, Randelene “Randy,” Jeanette and Julie and great-granddaughters, Amber and Chloe, as well as many nieces and nephews.

The family is especially thankful to the staff and management of Leach Home and St. Catherine’s Living Center for the amazing care they provided during Verna’s stay and Pastor Pittenger for his many visits with her.