Lois Schell

Lois Helen Schell from Minot North Dakota died on June 17, 2025, at 91.

Funeral Service will be Saturday June 28, 2025, at 1:30pm, at Immanuel Baptist Church, 1615 2nd St SE, Minot North Dakota. Visitation will be held one hour prior to the Funeral Service.

Burial will be at Rosehill Cemetery, Minot, North Dakota.

Lois Helen Keller was born to Fred and Martha Keller in Goodrich, North Dakota on February 2, 1934. During her childhood they moved between various locations in North Dakota eventually settling in Goodrich. She gained an early appreciation for music and she and her brother John enjoyed entertaining the customers at Fred’s gas station with music routines while they waited for their gas to be pumped.

After graduating from high school, she went to work at the bank in Goodrich where she excelled at working with money.

She married Paul Schell on September 3, 1956, in Goodrich. They moved to Minot where she found a job at American National Bank (eventually Bremer Bank) as a bank teller while Paul completed a degree at Minot State College.

After moving to their new home in south Minot, she became a full-time housewife and mother to daughters Kari and Carmen and son John.

She went back to work at Bremer Bank in 1975 and worked in various Bremer locations in Minot as a bank teller. When she was in the drive through, her lines were often the “longest” as customers enjoyed being served by Lois. She felt fortunate to have found a job that she very much enjoyed and never desired doing anything else.

When Paul died in 1981, she learned how to manage all aspects of running a home as a single mom while continuing to enjoy her job at the bank.

In 2011 she moved to Bismarck living at Edgewood Vistas locations in Bismarck and Mandan, and Benedictine Living Community in Bismarck.

Martha Keller made sure Lois went to a Baptist church starting at a young age. She loved Jesus and was a member at Immanuel Baptist Church from 1959. She could always be found in a back pew on Sunday morning. The back pew allowed her to better see who else was there.

She enjoyed clothes shopping and had an extensive wardrobe from Seifferts – her favorite clothing store. She read all the latest fashion magazines and was always stylish.

She loved to sing, read, play piano and clean. Her house (even with three active kids) was always spotless with nothing out of place. Her prized purchases included a Kawai piano and a Kirby vacuum cleaner. Her favorite TV show was Lawrence Welk. She enjoyed baking and had some fabulous cookie recipes (always using real butter) that were extra special.

She also enjoyed traveling and enjoyed trips to Miami, Las Vegas, Hawaii, an Alaskan cruise and Disney World along with trips to spend time with family.

She was preceded in death by parents, husband and brother. She is survived by Kari Schell (Minneapolis), Carmen (Brian) McElroy (Kansas City), John (Tania) Schell (Bismarck) along with grandchildren Sara, Davis and Dan (Kimberley) McElroy (Kansas City) and Lucas and Josie (Bismarck) and great-grandson (Dawson).

In lieu of flowers, memorials can be made to Immanuel Baptist Church.