James Keith Bjerke

James "Jim" K. Bjerke, age 68, Clark died at his home early Saturday, December 30, 2006 of an apparent heart attack. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, January 6, 2007 at 11AM in the Clark High School gym with the Reverend Bill Hamak officiating. Burial will follow in the St. Boniface Catholic Cemetery at Clark. Music will be presented by Luanne Warren & Eileen Heilman as pianists. Dustin Flatten will be the soloist. He will sing "Here I Am Lord" & "One Bread, One Body". The congregation will sing "The Star Spangled Banner" and "Take Me Out to the Ballgame". Honorary casketbearers will be his granddaughters, Alyson and Bailey Bjerke, Jamie Dekker, Breanne, Becca, Tori, Jessica and Madisen Bjerke, Skylar Welk, Amanda, Lindsey and Karlie Bjerke and Caitlin Worth, all former baseball players and all Clark County workers. Active Casketbearers will be Ryan Peckham, Cameron Johnson, Taylor and Brady Welk, Jayson and Jake Dekker, Jeffrey Worth, Jordan Bjerke and Kaleb Hoover. Ushers will be Darwin and Janie DesLauriers, Don and Lonna DesLauriers, Fred Obermeier and Larry Warren. Servers will be Blake Schlagel and Trent & Tara DesLauriers. The Eucharistic Ministers will be Wayne and Jackie Schlagel, Mary Helms, The Rev. John Lantsberger, Uncle Bill Schaefbauer and Terri Bjerke. Serving as Lectors will be Rena Bjerke and Bonnie Kloster. Visitation will be held on Friday from 2-7 PM with the family present from 4-6 PM at the Furness Funeral Home at Clark. There will be a 'sharing of Jim' stories beginning at 6PM with musical selections provided by David and Carol Finstad who will sing 'Daddy's Hands' and 'One Day At a Time'. He was born at Bradley, SD on May 7, 1938 at high noon (that's why his Mother said he was a big eater!) to Carl and Olga (Warwick) Bjerke. He attended school near Bradley and graduated from Thorp Consolidated School in 1956. While in high school he played basketball and even played baseball, when he was 14, for the Wallace town team. On September 8, 1958 he was united in marriage to Sharon Flatten at the Catholic Church in Lily. From 1959-1960 he worked near Pierre on the Oahe Dam. In 1961 they moved to Aberdeen where he worked for Terrace Park until transferring to the Clark office in 1962 where he worked until 1966. The family then moved to the farm, the 'home place', northwest of Clark in 1966 where they lived, farming and milking, until 1983. It was at that time that he began his employment with Clark County serving as the County Highway Superintendent until the time of his death. He was set to retire this coming May. He was a member of St. Michael's Catholic Church in Clark. The love for his wife and family will long be remembered in the many family outings they would adventure on, from the trips to Dead Lake near Perham, MN where they would fish, do water sport activities and other family fun things to the opening weekend of pheasant hunting. Jim loved spending family time together, making it possible for all to enjoy. He was a huge fan of 'The Duke' ' John Wayne ' collecting memorabilia and watching movies. Jim was mighty proud of the tomatoes, roses and peonies he would grow ' all with the help of miracle grow ' he believed in it firmly. Another special time for him was the decorating of the house and yard for Christmas, 'Save the milk jugs for Bjerke!' was the motto many had around Clark. He will long be remembered for his 'one-liners', most of which could not be repeated here without a bit of changes. Many of his grandchildren can remember the pop tabs for school project; they usually collected the most because of Grandpa Jim. Jim was also very active in many community events, mainly centered on sports. He re-established amateur baseball in Clark in 1962, managed the Imperial softball team for many years and played on the 5 x 5 softball team sponsored by the Clark Farm Store. He thoroughly loved the game of baseball, coaching the Clark American Legion Team from 1976-1978 and again from 1980-1988. During that