Richard John Kukowski

Richard John Kukowski, age 92, of Beach, North Dakota passed away on Wednesday, June 21, 2023 at Glendive Medical Center in Glendive, Montana. A Vigil Service will be at 7:00 PM on Wednesday, June 28, 2023 at St. John’s Catholic Church in Beach. Mass of Christian Burial will be at 11:00 AM on Thursday, June 29, 2023 at St. John’s Catholic Church with Father Dan Berg officiating. Rite of Committal with Military Honors will be held at 1:00 PM CST on Friday, June 30, 2023 at the North Dakota Veteran's Cemetery in Mandan, North Dakota. Silha Funeral Home of Beach has been entrusted with the arrangements. Richard was born to Dominic and Stella (Losinski) Kukowski in the Depression year of 1930. He grew to maturity on the family farm outside Beach, imbued with the virtues of reliability, dedication, and the psychological empowerment derived from hard physical work. Richard graduated from high school in 1948. His aspirations to higher education were interrupted by military service in Korea, and on the island of Guam. Following an honorable discharge, he married and resumed his college career at North Dakota Agricultural College (now North Dakota State University), graduating with a degree in pedology (one of the branches of soil science). He returned to Beach and was employed by the Soil Conservation Service within the United States Department of Agriculture as a soil scientist, mapping soils in counties in southwestern North Dakota. After 20 years of working for the government and farming part-time, he embarked on a full-time farming career until his declining years. Over the next several years, he gradually disengaged from farming, reluctantly retiring in 2010, when Father Time decreed that it be so. His love of family was embodied in his philosophy that children are the most important people in the world. The logical corollary he often stated is that parents and teachers have the most important jobs in the world. Similar to his mother before him, he took note of people in need - families having a hard time getting by, or children whose families could not afford to have them participate in a school event - and made anonymous gifts. He strove to see the positive qualities in others and to see things from their point of view. “You don’t necessarily have to agree with the other guy, but try to see where he’s coming from.” Richard was a prodigious reader of non-fiction, and he loved writing and vocabulary. The Army must have been pleasantly surprised, when his quickly raised hand in response to a request for someone who could type, elevated him from ditch digger to company clerk. Dinner was often an opportunity to inculcate a similar love of vocabulary and his children. The Bismarck Tribune was the recipient of many of his letters to the editor, most of which are printed. Select community residents received letters purporting to be from notable people, such as the pope. He may have known something about these. Richard is preceded in death by his parents; his siblings, Edmond, Peggy and Mary. Richard is survived by his wife of twenty-eight years, Pat; four children, Jennifer Siart (Jim) of Prescott, Arizona; Anne Kukowski (Steve) of Saint Paul, Minnesota; John Kukowski (Mary) of Salem, Oregon and Teresa Aberle (Gerry) of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; eight grandchildren, Jessica, Megan, Agnieszka, Alicia, Sylvia, Alex, Leslie, and Laiken; twelve great-grandchildren, Isaac, Gracelyn, Michaela, Levi, Noah, Sophie, Maximilian, Samantha, Eliza, and Eleanor. and six nieces and nephews. Remembrances and condolences may be shared with the family at: www.silhafuneralhomes.com.

Richard John Kukowski

July 5, 1930 - June 21, 2023

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Richard John Kukowski

July 5, 1930 - June 21, 2023

What We Do

Flowers & Gifts

Plan Ahead

About Us

Resources

Obituaries

Grief & Healing

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