Edward M. Danks

New Town

Edward Maurice Danks, 77, of Minot, ND, began his next journey on February 24, 2025, at 4:49 am before sunrise. Ed was born December 27, 1947, at Trinity Hospital in Minot, ND, to James W. and Elsie Schueffle Danks. He was the eldest of 5 brothers, raised in the Missouri River bottoms community of Elbowoods, ND. Ed told the story that when he was 5 years old, he lost a red rubber ball that rolled downhill to the flooding dam waters as his family was packing to move. His auntie, Caroline Chase, snatched him up to keep him safe. After Elbowoods flooded, Jim and Elsie moved their family to Mandaree to find dry ground and settled in the country, east near Skunk Creek, to build their Bench Cross Ranch.

Eddie Maurice was well tended to by his aunties and grandmas. Many said he was the apple of their eye as the firstborn of the grandchildren. Like all Danks boys of his time and generations before, he took to cowboying at an early age. He and his brothers Ted, Ken, Lyle, and Curt broke horses, built fences, and ran cattle. The ranch and the community of Mandaree provided the bedrock of his values and the home to where he would always return.

Ed attended Mandaree Public School and transferred to St. Mary’s Catholic Boarding School in New England, ND, like many FT Berthold teens. There, he continued his education, pursuing football and wrestling. He made many life-long friends there, graduating in 1965. A football scholarship took him to NDSU and DSU playing football. Ed became a father in 1968 with the birth of his oldest son, Christopher John.

In 1970, Ed joined the Marine Corps. He was stationed at Iwakuni, Japan, and Camp Pendelton, CA. While in Japan, he served in the legal corps and also taught English at a local school. His students often invited him into their homes, where he learned Japanese culture and customs that he in return, shared with his family back home.

Before being discharged from the Marine Corps, he returned to Amidon, ND, and married Barbara Luella Jacobs. They were married for 38 years, during which Ed and Barb raised five children: Anna, Ramona, Joan, Jacob, and Matthew.

Ed and Barb raised their kids in Bismarck, spending summers at Skunk Bay with family and friends fishing, storytelling, and working together on all the projects. This was a special time for so many, and the memories will last forever.

Ed built his professional career in the construction industry. He started his first company, Eagles Nest, with his brothers Ted and Ken. Over the years there were a variety of businesses, partnerships, and employment. Team building, attention to detail, and a strong work ethic brought success throughout his career. He valued not only building communities but also building relationships with the people he worked with. The well-being of those he surrounded himself with was always at the forefront.

Ed’s perspective evolved as he grew older. The wisdom and conversations held in quiet moments with his children, grandchildren, and friends were now the priority. Ed continued to travel in his later years, visiting all 50 states and several countries. He knocked out several bucket lists, including a trip he had planned as a boy with his grandfather, which had never happened. He cherished the transcontinental trip from ND to Alaska with Donny Hall and his grandson Lucas.

Ed was a humble, well-respected, articulate man who led his life by a set of core values: hard work, integrity, compassion, humor, and generosity.

Ed was preceded in death by his parents, Jim & Elsie Danks; his brother, Lyle; his son, Christopher; and his grandson, Garrett. He is survived by his daughters, Anna (Dean) Anderson, Ramona Danks, Joan (Ben) Hecht, Jacob (Heidi) Danks, Matthew (Amber) Danks, and several grandchildren and a great-grandchild.

Ed’s wake was held Thursday, February 27, 2025, beginning at 5 pm with his funeral on Friday, February 28, 2025, at 10 am; both at Northern Lights Wellness Center, New Town. Burial at St. Anthony Catholic Cemetery, rural Mandaree.

(Langhans Funeral Home, Parshall www.langhansfuneralhome.com)

Published by The Minot Daily News, February 28, 2025.