John “JB” Ripplinger

John “JB” Ripplinger,

96, of Harvey, ND died

Monday, January 17, 2022

at the St. Aloisius Nursing

Home in Harvey. Funeral

services will be held at

the St. Cecilia Catholic

Church of Harvey on Sa-

turday January 22, 2022 at

10:30 a.m. Visitation will

be held at the St. Cecilia

Catholic Church on Fri-

day January 20, 2022 from

5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Prayer

services will be at 7:00

p.m. on Friday at the St.

Cecilia Catholic Church of

Harvey. Burial will be in

the church cemetery.

John Bernard Rip-

plinger, known by many

as JB, was born on a farm

in Esmond, ND, to John J

and Cecilia (Kunnanz)

Ripplinger on January 19,

1925. John, just shy of his

97th birthday, passed

from this life on January

17, 2022. Educated in Van

Hook and rural Balta, ND,

JB had a keen talent for

numbers and curiosity for

anything health or

medical-related. At the

age of six, John suffered a

ruptured appendix; he

nearly died of peritonitis

without the benefit of an-

tibiotics. As a young man,

the after effects of his ill-

ness prevented him from

serving in the Army dur-

ing WWII.

Meeting his future wife

at a dance in Selz, John

married Isabelle Hoffner

November 14, 1944. The

couple would go on to

make a life together for

over 55 years and raise

three sons, Claude, Leon

and Monte. John farmed

in the Esmond, Selz and

Harvey area, and in 1978,

he retired due to ill

health. He and Isabelle

traveled extensively in-

cluding a trip to the

world’s largest agricultur-

al show held in Paris in

1981. However, retire-

ment was not for him, so

in 1980, JB became the

owner and founder of Rip-

plinger Motors until 1997

when son Claude took on

the business.

Throughout his lifetime

John served this rural

community in many capa-

cities. As a farmer, he was

vital in bringing electrici-

ty to Truman township

and was the first farmer in

the area to use electric

milking machines. As one

of the Eagles Club charter

members, he served on

the board of trustees, as

well as working as its

manager for seven years.

John also served as

president of Farmers Un-

ion Oil Co, treasurer of

both the New German

School District and Tru-

man Township, and

president of the Farmers

Union Shipping Assn.

Hoping to bring more con-

veniences to Harvey, JB

helped establish Ware-

house Grocery serving as

its president for two

years. His other board

memberships included

West Dakota Chevy

Dealers, the FHA board,

St. Aloisius Hospital, and

Midwest Federal Bank.

After losing wife Isa-

belle to a battle with canc-

er in 2000, John met and

married his new partner

in life, Virginia Ziegler.

John and Virginia married

on August 9, 2002 and en-

joyed twenty years of mar-

riage together. The two

made the most of their

years together. They often

traveled to visit family

and friends with Hawaii,

California, Idaho, Seattle,

Wisconsin, and an

Alaskan cruise all part of

their destinations and

ventures. The couple

loved playing Texas Hol-

d’em, going to the casino

and taking Sunday drives

to check out the crops and

countryside.

JB is survived by wife,

Virginia of Harvey; two

sons, Leon (Carol) Rip-

plinger of Kelseyville, CA

and Monte (Diane) Rip-

plinger of Rogers, MN;

four grandchildren,

Nicole Armstrong, Chad

Ripplinger, Sarah Mason

and Travis Ripplinger;

five great-grandchildren;

Tyler, Isabella, Ava, Nora

and Georgia; brothers,

LeRoy (Mildred) Rip-

plinger of Rice Lake, MN

and Eugene (Marlene)

Ripplinger of McClusky,

ND; step children, Clau-

dette (Tony) Selzler of

Velva, ND, Calvin Ziegler

of St. Augusta, MN, Carey

Ziegler of Karlsruhe, ND,

Carlyn (John) Dakutak of

Minot, ND, Connie Ziegler

of Phoenix, AZ, Clarae

Ziegler of Bismarck, ND;

numerous step grandchil-

dren and step

great-grandchildren.

JB was preceded in

death by his wife, Isa-

belle; son and

daughter-in-law, Claude

and Vicki Ripplinger; sis-

ter, Leona Voyles; broth-

ers, Victor, Henry and

Bill.

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