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- [S927] Obituary.
Stella I. Ash, a native of Underwood, ND was born on January 29, 1923, to farmers John and Albina (Stoebner) Schell. After high school graduation in 1941, she graduated in 1942 from Interstate Business College in Fargo. Following her Civil Service test success she began working in Washington, D.C. for the War Department doing office work for the Judge Adjutant General’s (JAG) Office. From there she went to Alaska and worked war-time at the Supply Depot for the Naval Air Station on Kodiak Island on a contract from the Navy Department. Stella is listed on the World War II Memorial in our nation’s capital. In Alaska she married, then moved to Indiana and Michigan and had a son, James Lee Presuhn. The marriage was short-lived and after the divorce she moved to Minneapolis, working there for the Commodity Credit Corp. Department of Agriculture; then at the Gratiot County Grain Commissioner’s Office in Ithaca, Michigan. With a move back to Underwood, she worked in the Branch of Engineering and Branch of Construction for the Corps of Engineers at Riverdale, ND during the building of the Garrison Dam.
On November 7, 1952, Stella married Ralph Howard Ash of Underwood, at the McLean County Court House in Washburn. They had three children, Dale Ann, Janet, and Wayne. Ralph adopted Jim and his last name became Ash. When the children were older Stella worked in Bismarck for KFYR_TV assembling data and composing daily TV program schedules to be used by the Engineer at the Control Board Panel for recording the exact time of transmission over TV.
She took another Civil Service test and returned to work at Riverdale with the Minuteman Missile Program, where she supervised and taught the typing pool of five, distributing work for all sections of the Special Project. Successful, she worked her way up to a GS-5 Step 3 Clerk (typing) position. She typed 80 words per minute. Then came the Reduction in Force.
In July 1965, the family moved to New Town, ND where Stella worked in the Realty Branch of the Bureau of Indian Affairs at the Fort Berthold Agency as a legal clerk. There she divided lease rentals among owners in accordance with fractionated interests. She typed farm land leases; figured lease fees, tax and bond amounts. She maintained a cross-reference (lessee-lessor) file, current lease log and file interests. She wrote letters and typed forms relating to realty. She assembled pertinent inheritance data distribution of land interest on Allotment & Inherited interest card and other duties as assigned. She also met, at any time of the day, the public and answered inquiries regarding farm leases, etc. It was her job to "Maintain good relations between lessee & lessor factions."
She earned the following awards: Appraisal & Quality Step Increases as GS-5, Corps of Engineers; Superior Performance rating & cash award, May 1973 from the Bureau of Indian Affairs in New Town; and Sustained Superior Performance & Cash Award, November 1975 from the BIA.
Ralph died in June 1981, and Stella moved back to Underwood after her retirement in 1982 from the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Stella was an active member of the Underwood Senior Citizens, a member of the Mercer-McLean Counties Commission on Aging Meals Board, and very active in the New Town’s Study Club. Music held an important place in her life as she played her electric organ and sang in church, also entertaining at nursing homes and the Senior Center in Underwood. Her hobbies included embroidery and tending houseplants. She loved to read especially the National Geographic and the Smithsonian Magazine.
To be closer to her family, in 2007, Stella moved to Sidney, MT, living at the Crestwood Inn. In May of 2009, Stella moved into the Sidney Health Center Extended Care Facility.
Stella died on Monday, January 30, 2012, at the Sidney Health Center Extended Care Facility.
Surviving Stella are: her son, Wayne (Renae) Ash, Sidney, MT; her daughters, Dale Ann (Rev. Timothy J.) Swenson, Arnegard, ND and Janet (Tom) May, Richland, WA; her sister, Ruth Schell Overholser, Wyomissing, PA; eight grandchildren and six great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by: her parents; her husband, Ralph; her son, James; her sisters, Delia Henne, Emma Roe, Edna Swanson, Elma Stengel, Wanda Jam and Joan Schell; and her brother, Don Schell.
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1923 - 2012 (89 years)