Albert ‘Chip’ J. Houle, 76, Wahpeton, ND, died Tuesday, September 30, 2008, at St. Francis Healthcare Campus-Home,
Breckenridge
,
MN
.
Funeral Mass will be held at 10:30 a.m., Friday, October 3 at
St. John’s
Catholic Church, Wahpeton with Rev. Dale Lagodinski as celebrant.
Visitation will be held on Thursday, October 2 from 5:00 p.m. until 8:00 p.m. with a 7:00 p.m. Prayer Service followed by a Knight’s of Columbus Council 2205 Rosary at Willow Creek Chapel (
920 3
rd
Avenue North
); also, visitation one hour prior to service on Friday at the church.
Interment will be held at
Calvary
Cemetery
, Wahpeton.
Military Honors will be conducted by the Hafner-Miller-Ross American Legion Post No. 20 and the Woody Keeble VFW Post No. 4324, both of Wahpeton.
Albert ‘Chip’ Joseph Houle was born June 7, 1932, at
Belcourt
,
ND
to Albert and Clemence (Azure) Houle.
He attended Elementary School at Belcourt and he attended St. Meinards Seminary School in
Indiana
from 1950 to 1951. He then graduated from Belcourt High in 1952.
He graduated from
Haskell
Indian
School
(Jr. College) at
Lawrence
,
Kansas
. In October of 1953 he married Eleanor Charley. He entered the US Army on December 28, 1954, and was honorably discharged on December 1, 1956.
The couple moved back to Wahpeton where they both worked for the
Wahpeton
Indian
School
.
Chip was a painter and instructor in the Industrial Art program.
He took classes from the University of North Dakota at
Grand Forks
and graduated from UND in 1972.
In 1974 he opened his own business – First American Advertising – where he did signs and subcontracting government buildings.
In 1983 he moved to
Devils Lake
,
ND
where he owned and operated First American Advertising. He continued there until he moved back to Wahpeton in 2004.
In 2006 he entered St. Catherine’s
Living
Center
, and in 2007 he entered St. Francis Healthcare Campus-Home.
Chip was a member of
St. John’s
Catholic Church, Hafner-Miller-Ross American Legion Post No. 20 and the Woody Keeble VFW Post No. 4324, Knight’s of Columbus, Charter member of the Buffalo Club, and a former member of the City Council.
He enjoyed hunting, fishing, painting and drawing, dancing, sketching people, spending time at Ottertail Lake, cooking (especially whole pigs), and especially his grandchildren.
He is survived by his 2 daughters and 2 sons, Kathryn (David) Langenwalter, rural Fairmount, ND, Christine Breckheimer, Wahpeton, Thomas and Michael, both of Wahpeton; 6 grandchildren, John, Jane, and Joseph Langenwalter, Kyle Houle, William (Billy) and Cheyenne Breckheimer; 1 brother, Earl (Lilly) Houle, Belcourt; 3 sisters, Sylvia Houle, Rolla, ND, Marymae Wilkie, Belcourt, Lois Lilley, Belcourt; and many nieces and nephews.
Chip was preceded by his parents; 2 brothers, Arthur Azure and Louis Houle; and his sister, Martha Corwin.
Arrangements are entrusted to the care of the Vertin-Munson Funeral Home, Wahpeton, ND.
Online Guestbook at
www.vertinmunson.com
.
