The Mass of Christian burial for Charles H. Kouba, age 86, of Dickinson, formerly of Regent, will be held at 10:00 a.m. Friday, March 4, 2011 at St. Henry's Catholic Church in Regent. Father Patrick Schumacher, Father Charles Zins and Deacon Don Gion will officiate, with burial in the Regent Cemetery.


A Rosary Service will be held at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday evening at St. Henry's Catholic Church in Regent.


Special music will be provided by organist, Pat Schwartz and soloist, Michaela Greff.
Serving as Active Casketbearers are his grandsons, Shad Kouba, Greg Peters, Tyler Kouba, Beau Kouba, Willie Kouba, Jace Kouba, Joel Kouba and Matt Dobitz. Serving as Honorary Casketbearers are his granddaughters, Jennifer Wiederholt, Denae Eckelberg, Kimberly Larson, Lindsay Magelky, Katie Dobitz, Kori Dobitz, Kari Dobitz, Michaela Greff, Kelli Schmidt, Molly Kouba and all of his great grandchildren.


Charles H. Kouba Jr. was born September 16, 1924 in the family home in Black Butte Township near Regent, ND. He was the sixth of ten children born to Charles and Mary (Tupa) Kouba. He attended grade school in Horswill country schools in Black Butte Township.


On September 13, 1948 he was united in marriage to Helen Jesch in Regent, ND. They lived on the family farm for 40 years, moving into Regent in 1989. He enjoyed music and played in a band with his uncles and cousins for several years. He loved trees and planted thousands of evergreens on the farm. He was a member of St. Henry's Catholic Church in Regent all his life. He helped start Knights of Columbus at Regent, was the first Grand Knight in 1989 and was president of the Men's Club at St. Henry's. He served on the Regent School Board for many years in the 1950s and also was county committee member for ASCS many years. He really loved working in his shop and invented many helpful things.


The above words were written by Charlie himself, as he believed strongly that he needed to be prepared for his death. Because of that, countless discussions were held over the last twenty years with family members regarding his last wishes. He granted permission to add to his obituary any good things we could think of, such as Charlie was a good dad. He was a man of strong faith and had a deep love for his wife and family. He was especially proud to be a Bohemian and his face lit up if he was ever able to locate another Bohemian. He was a man who was not afraid to speak what was on his mind and no one could predict what would come out when he opened his mouth to speak. Charlie was recently described as the highlight of any gathering. He loved being the center of attention and had a gift for making people laugh. He had a passion for the old time polka and waltz music. The majority of his life was spent on the land he loved by Black Butte as a steward of the land and the trees. Charlie and Helen moved to the Park Avenue Villa in Dickinson in 2008 where he has since enjoyed his time with their new extended family. Without a doubt, he lived as long as he did, because of the way his wife Helen cared for him and took care of his every wish. She was assisted in this by his family and friends and neighbors and an army of caretakers in his community of Regent and at Park Avenue Villa and St. Luke's Nursing Home in Dickinson. Charlie Kouba will be greatly missed by those who knew him and loved him.


Charlie passed from this world on February 28, 2011 surrounded by his family at St. Luke's Nursing Home.


He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Helen, of Dickinson, ND; five sons and two daughters; Chuck and Debbie Kouba, Rapid City, SD; Brother Llewellyn Kouba, Assumption Abbey, Richardton, ND; Bruce Kouba and Janice Wandler, Dickinson, ND; Ken and Linda Kouba, Regent, ND; Brian Kouba, Regent, ND, Paulette (Gary) Peters, Dickinson, ND; Lunette (Reed) Dobitz, Regent, ND; eighteen grandchildren; sixteen great-grandchildren; three sisters, Mary Osowski, Minto, ND; Agnes Osowski, Drayton, ND; and Mildred Jesch, Dickinson, ND; sister-in- law, Marlene Kouba, Regent, ND and brother-in-law, John Krug, Mott, ND.


Charles was preceded in death by his parents, Charles and Mary (Tupa) Kouba; two brothers, Willie Kouba and Richard Kouba; four sisters; Rose Murphy, Nora Honeyman, Florence Krug, Clara Jesch, and one great-grandson, Jaxon Wiederholt.


Visitation will be held from 2:00 to 5:30 p.m. at the Evanson Jensen Funeral Home in Mott.


A memorial has been established.