Remembering a loved one with birthday cake and ice cream - INFORUM

“My daughter, Sheryl Ann (Schlicht) Tobar, passed away Jan. 24, 2019, at Dallas,” Angie wrote Neighbors.

“She died of cancer. She was 54.

“She was born July 28, 1964.

“On her birthday last year, 19 of us, including one of her friends from Dallas and her uncle from Devils Lake, N.D., went to the cemetery and prayed and sang happy birthday to her.

“Then we came to my home and had birthday cake and ice cream.”

That was a nice thing to do in memory of your loved one, Angie.

On another matter, a column last fall told of Trevor and Bradley Ritland, the brothers from Moorhead who have had fine military careers; Trevor in the Navy, Brad in the Army.

The information sent Neighbors mentioned that Trevor served aboard a ship in Bahrain as first lieutenant, administrative officer and assistant navigation officer.

That brought an email from retired Navy commander Ted Storck, who lives six months in Morris, Minn., and six months in Surprise, Ariz.

“I was confused that you called Trevor a ‘first lieutenant,’” Ted wrote. “The Navy has no such rank.”

Neighbors emailed Trevor about this, and received this reply:

“That’s correct. I was not a first lieutenant by rank.

“I was an ensign at basic dive school and at my first ship, the USS Ardent, in Bahrain. While on the ship, I had a couple of jobs that I rotated through. I was the administrative officer, the assistant navigator and the first lieutenant. So I was a first lieutenant by position on the ship, not by rank.

“I was promoted (by rank) to lieutenant junior grade while on the ship.”

The information sent to Neighbors about Trevor also indicated he was in charge of two Army detachments, even though he was in the Navy. That, too, was incorrect, Trevor said.

“I led two Navy explosive ordnance disposal detachments in support of Army Special Forces,” he said, adding, “I can understand there was some confusion in my biography. We were a Navy unit who, because of our capabilities, went ashore (so to speak) to Iraq to support Army Special Forces.”

Now, here’s one more thing about the original column about the Ritland brothers.

The information sent Neighbors listed only their mother, Valerie Ritland.

Concerning that, Evelyn Brendemuhl, Hope, N.D., wrote “I was disappointed there was no mention of a father. There is a proud father, Tim Ritland, in the picture, also.”

Hopefully this clears up the information about Moorhead’s Ritland family.

Now let’s go back to Ted Storck, mentioned above.

“After graduating from the University of Minneapolis in the Twin Cities,” he writes, “I worked as a reporter for The Forum from 1963 until the end of 1965, when I went back into the Navy.

“Then I was on duty in the Pentagon, a student at Syracuse University to get my master’s degree, spent a year in Vietnam as photo officer for the in-country Navy, then back to the Pentagon and San Diego.

“I then got out, became a Los Angeles police officer for four years, and then owned and managed radio stations in Nebraska, California and Thief River Falls, Minn.

“Then I mostly retired,” he says, adding, “I often read The Forum online.”

Glad you do, Ted!

If you have an item of interest for this column, mail it to Neighbors, The Forum, Box 2020, Fargo, ND 58107, fax it to 701-241-5487 or email blind@forumcomm.com.

Let's block ads! (Why?)