Julius E. Zimmerman, age 88 of Elgin, passed away on Wednesday, July 18, 2012 at the Jacobson Memorial Hospital in Elgin.


The Memorial Service will be held at 10:00am MT on Monday, July 23, 2012 at the Evanson-Jensen Funeral Home in Elgin with Pastor John Amundson, officiating. Burial will be at 2:00pm CT on Monday afternoon at the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery south of Mandan with full military honors afforded by the Mandan Vets Club.


JULIUS E. ZIMMERMAN was born April 17, 1924 at New Leipzig, ND to Christ and Julia (Ganthner) Zimmerman. He attended school at New Leipzig. Julius attended basic training at Camp Roberts, TX when he joined the U.S. Army in November of 1944. He was sent to Leyte to a Replacement Depot and joined the American Division. They were assigned to bridge and airport guard duty. Later he attended amphibious training for the invasion of Japan. Once the war was over, he was sent to Japan and joined the 211th Military Police Company, 8th Army in Yokohama. One of their jobs was to neutralize weapons. Julius recalled that they would line up Japanese guns and drive tanks over them to destroy them. Julius spent 18 months overseas and was discharged in November of 1946. He received the Army of Occupation (Japan) Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Asiatic Pacific Service Medal, and Philippine Liberation Medal with one Bronze Service Star.


Julius joined the U.S. Navy and was aboard the USS Manchester, and was on the gun fire control system. He left the Navy in April of 1951 and then joined the U.S. Air Force and was a gun turret mechanic. He was discharged from the Air Force in 1953.


Julius drove Greyhound bus for several years and then joined the Iron Workers Union in Kansas. He spent 35 years as an iron worker, working all around the United States helping build large structures which included the Garrison Dam and the Sears Tower in Chicago.


Julius was married to Patsy McCain and later on to Donna Gramm. Julius then married Betty Lou (Haselwood) Weller on April 17, 1990.


After retirement, Betty Lou and Julius moved to Apache Junction, Arizona where they lived as "snow-birds" sharing their time between the sun and the plains. Their North Dakota roots brought them back home to Elgin full-time in 2004.


His favorite pastime was working with wood and building things for himself and for his friends and family. He was active in the Elgin Lions Club and contributed in any way he could. He loved country music and had a passion for playing pedal steel guitar. He was also a member of the American Legion.


Surviving family members include his children, Barbara (Dean) Kelsch, Mott, ND; Lyle (Jackie) Zimmerman, Gillette, WY; and Chris (Elena) Zimmerman, Redmond, WA; Steve McCain, Springfield, MO; and numerous grand and great grandchildren. His marriage to Betty Lou expanded his family to include stepchildren; Bonnie (Dave) Kilzer, Danville, CA, Arta Gale (Russell) Pahl, Pierre, SD; and Randy (Kara Huyler) Weller, Grandby, CO; and numerous grand and great grandchildren, and special friends Lawrence and Sally Ackerman.


He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, Betty Lou on December 20, 2009; a daughter, Debra Weidler, 5 brothers, Oscar, Reinhold, Emil, Victor, and Waldemer Zimmerman; and 2 sisters, Anna Ricketts and Adeline Travis.


A memorial has been established.


Visitation will be on Monday morning prior to the memorial service.