Eugene Keller, 86 of Bismarck, Formerly of Strasburg, ND, died August 19, 2009 at the Baptist Home, Bismarck.

Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10:00am Friday, August 28, 2009 at St. Peter & Paul Catholic Church, Strasburg. Burial will be at 2:00pm in the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery, Mandan.

Eugene Keller was born April 29, 1923 in Strasburg, ND, the son of Karl and Katherine (Baumgartner) Keller. He was the 7th of 18 children. He attended school in the Strasburg area and graduated from Strasburg High School in 1941.

He attended North Dakota State to attain a teaching certificate and taught rural elementary school in the Strasburg and Hague area for several years.

He enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served in the Pacific Front, receiving an honorable discharge, as well as a certificate of merit from his commanding officer in 1946.

Gene married Evelyn Bohrer on November 18, 1946. In 1949, he and his brother Alois built the Strasburg Lounge. Gene moved to Milwaukee in the early 1950s and after some time there, managed the Black Angus Steak House. In the mid 1960s, he moved back to the Strasburg and Bismarck area, and in 1967, opened the Yum Yum Lounge in Strasburg. He moved to Portland, OR in 1969 where he worked for Eddie Mays Restaurants, doing various jobs including remodeling projects. He moved back to Strasburg in the early 1970s and worked as a mason/carpenter in the Strasburg and Bismarck area, where he applied brick and rock facings to many area homes, foundations and fireplaces. He also did building and remodeling. In the late 1990s, he moved to Bismarck, where he lived until 2005, when he moved back to Strasburg, where he operated Gene’s Sharpening and Repair Shop. He moved to the Bismarck Baptist Nursing Home in November 2005, where he lived until his death.

Gene was a lifetime member of both the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He enjoyed bowling, card playing, woodworking and masonry projects and most recently, redoing church pews into decorative home benches.

Those grateful to have shared his life are his include his sisters, brother, and in-laws.

He was preceded in death by his parents, his wife Evelyn; three brothers: Alois, Anthony and Charles; and seven sisters: Marie, Helen, Barbara, Katie, Agatha, Cecilia, and Bernadette; and a special friend Betty Ingham.

Source: Myers Funeral Home