Funeral services for David Sokolofsky, age 92 of Carson, will be held at 10:00 am MT, Wednesday, December 22, 2010 at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Elgin with Pastor John Amundson, officiating. Burial will be at 3:00pm CT on Wednesday afternoon at the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery south of Mandan with full military honors afforded by the Walter J. Thome American Legion Post #45 of Carson, and the Mandan VFW.


Special music will be provided by Annette Roth and Marcy Haase.


Serving as Honorary Casketbearers are his granddaughters, Stacey Scheresky, Heather Brinkman, Cheryl Sick, Shana Sokolofsky, Olivia Gross, and Adrianna Sokolofsky.


Serving as Active Casketbearers are his grandsons, Brent, Brian, Andrew, David M., and Jacob Sokolofsky, David Gross, and Wayde Sick.


David Sokolofsky Jr. was born on May 24, 1918 in Mountain Lake, MN, the second eldest of eight children born to David and Marie (Heinitz) Sokolofsky. At the age of five, his father, older brother and he traveled by Model T to North Dakota where his family would homestead in Carson, ND where he called home for 85 years. David lived and helped on the family farm until age 13 when he sought employment away from home to help support his family during the Great Depression. At the age of 16, he entered in to the Civil Conservation Corp where he learned forestry and many other skills. He was with the CCC in South Dakota, Montana and Medora, North Dakota where he helped plant many trees and did many improvement projects. After leaving the CCC, he traveled around the upper Midwest doing numerous jobs including picking sugar beets in Montana, to husking corn in Minnesota to earn money. Dave and some friends were on their way to pick apples in Washington when they got off course, and ended up in Las Vegas. While sitting on a sidewalk eating a sandwich he was offered a job cleaning ashtrays for $20 per week. He said it was the highest paying job and easiest he had throughout the whole depression. Dave came home, put in his father's crop and on May 7, 1941, he was drafted into the U.S. Army, right around his twenty-third birthday, he became an American GI. Dave soon found out that peeling potatoes wasn't his favorite activity where he got put on KP duty for giving lip to a superior. At that point Dave decided to make the best of his Army service and entered Cadery training to be a Drill Sergeant. He often laughed that they were made to yell at trees for 10 hours a day. By the end of the day the trees were obeying them. Upon completion of this training, he traveled to different military bases in the states training different divisions for combat. With Dave wanting to see combat himself, he requested that he be allowed to ship out with the last division he trained, which was the TO (Texas Oklahoma) 90th Division of Patton's 3rd Army. They were being trained for desert fighting. But when Patton defeated the Germans in Africa, he and his men were sent to England for final training on what was to be the largest single beach invasion in history, the Normandy Invasion or D-Day. When the time came on June 6, 1944, 1st Sergeant Dave Sokolofsky distinguished himself as a soldier. After being wounded on June 13, 1944, he was put on a hospital ship to England which was sunk by the Germans, wounding him again. After finally making it to a British hospital, Dave spent many months recuperating from severe wounds. The Army decided that he had done his part and should return home to his family. Somehow his orders got messed up and he was sent back to the front with the 6th Replacement Regiment, where he saw some of his worst memories.


He was honorably discharged on December 13, 1945 earning a Purple Heart. Upon returning home from the service Dave bought the family farm and married his sweetheart, Anne Trautman, on April 7, 1946 in Elgin, North Dakota. They had 6 children together, one which died at birth. They worked alongside each other enjoying their children and grandchildren for 43 years until Anne passed away. His love and respect for her was known by the way he treated her in life, cared for her in sickness and spoke about her after her death. After Anne's death Dave never remarried, but he also never stopped living, going on many vacations with his children's families, the allure of Vegas never left him, visiting there often.


Everyone loved his company because of his fun loving sense of humor. He made friends fast that lasted a lifetime. What was hardest on Dave was seeing his friends die before him and worse yet, his brothers and sisters. Dave lived to see 13 grandchildren and 13 great-grandchildren. Never did they leave his home without a kiss and a hug. They were his pride and joy watching them grow into men and women. He talked about the many special memories he shared with them. Dave, in this lifetime, saw most of the states of America and many foreign countries. He was a hard worker but loved to have fun. You could fill a book about his adventures.


David passed from this life on Friday, December 17, 2010 at the Marion Manor HealthCare Center in Glen Ullin, ND at the age of 92 years, 6 months, 17 days.


He was a member of Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church in Elgin. Dave served as Grant County Veterans Service Officer from 1971 to 2001.


Dave loved fishing, especially with his kids and grandkids. He loved camping and reading Louis Lamour books. He read every one of them.


He is survived by 3 sons, Douglas (Karen) Sokolofsky, Bismarck,ND, Randall (Wendy) Sokolofsky, Dickinson, ND, David (Samantha) Sokolofsky, Mandan, ND; 2 daughters, Patricia (Wesley) Sick, Washburn, ND, and Vickay Gross, Bismarck, ND; 13 grandchildren, Brent, Brian, Heather, Stacey, Wayde, Cheryl, Shana, Andrew, David P., Olivia, David M, Adrianna and Jacob; 13 great-grandchildren, Logan, Maddox, Jack, Elly, Ray, Ryan, Emily, Caitlin, Justin, Payton, Avary, Kira and Keaton; 1 sister, Stella Curry, Marshall, MN; 1 sister-in-law, Garnet Sokolofsky, Carson, ND; and numerous nieces and nephews.


Dave will be terribly missed, but leaves a long lineage of loved ones behind, so he will not be forgotten.


Dave was preceded in death by parents, his wife; a son, Mitchel; son-in-law, Pat Gross; 3 brothers, Walter, Donald, and Victor; 2 sisters, Lydia, Rosella.


A memorial has been established to the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery.


Visitation will be on Tuesday from 1:00 to 7:00pm at the Evanson-Jensen Funeral Home in Elgin and on Wednesday one hour prior to services at the church in Elgin.