The funeral was recorded and the link is: https://youtu.be/Tgn6VpM1dSo

Edith Whitman, 93, of Robinson, ND died Monday, June 10, 2024, at the CHI St. Alexius Hospital of Bismarck, ND.  Funeral Services will be held 11:00 a.m., Friday, June 14, 2024 at Tuttle Community Church, Tuttle, ND. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the service at the church Burial will follow at Bethany Cemetery, Robinson, ND.

Edith Anne Mahin was born to early North Dakota settlers Staley and Lettie (Williams) Mahin on March 3, 1931, between the financial crash of 1929 and the devastating drought of the 1930s.  She had a happy childhood growing up on the family farm near Tappen, ND where her father and grandfather farmed.

Edith graduated co-valedictorian from Tappen High School at the age of sixteen. In the fall she attended Taylor University in Indiana graduating in 1949 with a teaching certificate. Edith then attended Valley City Teachers College for two summers to enhance her teaching certificate.  Following college, she became an elementary school teacher in Ashley, ND and was a piano instructor for a few years.

Edith declared that she would find a farmer to marry, but local farmer Ward Whitman ended up finding her.  She became Mrs. Ward Whitman on August 4, 1951, at the Crystal Springs Methodist Church where she had been baptized and was a member.  They settled on the Whitman farm near Robinson, ND, where Ward was farming with his father, and later purchased the farm which was home for more than 70 years.  Edith was an integral part of the farming operation as well as many other business and real estate ventures.

She was pleased to have descended from pioneers who built churches and schools, and always desired to continue serving her Lord through church and missions.  Soon after their marriage, Edith was put to work as a youth leader and pianist and organist in their local church, the Robinson Methodist Church.  Ward was supportive of the church work as she continued as Sunday school teacher, women's group president, choir member, committee member or wherever else she could help through the years as she much enjoyed the Christian fellowship there.

Five daughters were born to enrich Ward and Edith's lives, so school and 4-H were other places where Edith was called upon to help.  Edith and the girls loved the farm life and participated in all phases of it.  Then came college years and weddings followed by regular gatherings with their children's families at lakes and in their homes.

Besides being a busy farm wife and mother, Edith helped to organize the first county wide Special Education Board and classroom, served on the Governor's Manpower Services council for a number of years, chaired a ten-county committee to disperse federal funds for job training, and served on the Board of Directors of Bismarck State Bank.  She also took ground school and some flight training with her oldest daughter so she would be proficient in helping with navigation when Ward and she took cross country flights.

Edith and Ward established another home in Florida, where they spent some time for nearly 30 years making friends and doing many real estate transactions.  During summers in North Dakota, they enjoyed time on Lake Sakakawea with family and friends before transitioning to a lake closer to home.

Edith always felt that the Lord had richly blessed them especially through their daughters and their families.  Those surviving are daughters, Anne (William) Ongstad, Robinson; Kay (Kenneth) Jongsma, Bismarck; Sharon (Dr. Charles) Nyhus, Harvey; and Lynne (Gerald) Klindworth, Fessenden; son-in-law, Darwin (Leisa) Peterson, Antler, ND; also 15 grandchildren and 23 great-grandchildren.  Edith was preceded in death by her husband, parents, daughter Shelly Rae Peterson, grand-daughter, Miriam Ongstad, and brother Donn Mahin.

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