Richard Dean Desjarlais

Richard D. Desjarlais, 56 of Devils Lake ND beloved husband, dad, grandpa, brother, uncle and cousin passed away on Saturday, October 16, 2021 at Sanford on Broadway Medical Center, Fargo ND.

Richard Dean was born on August 4, 1965 in Devils Lake ND to Violet Charboneau Fournier and was lovingly raised by Violet and Norbert Fournier.  He attended school in Fort Totten and was in the first graduating class of 1983 from the new Four Winds School.  He continued his education at Little Hoop Community College. In high school he participated in football and cross country.

Richard began working in the concrete business for Liska Concrete, learned the trade, was a dedicated employee for over 10 years then in 1999 he began his own business as owner and operator of Rick’s Concrete until the time of his death.  He was a hardworking, honest, skilled concrete finisher in the Lake Region area. 

Richard married his beloved Sonja Olson on March 29, 1985 and they made their home on the Olson family farm, where they lived, worked and raised their two children Richard Jr. born 1985 and Shannon born in 1987.   

Richard enjoyed camping with the kids and grandkids, boating on the lake with family and friends and just spending time on the farm.  You would frequently find him tinkering on cars and he always had some project going from building his own home, building a playhouse for his grandson, remodeling, fixing things.  Many of the projects were joint adventures between Rick and Sonja.   

Richard was always a kind, caring and loving man.  He was a devoted husband, loving father, grandpa, special brother, uncle and cousin.  He will be so very missed by all who knew and loved him.

Rick is survived by his wife Sonja; children Richard Desjarlais Jr. of Devils Lake and Shannon Desjarlais of Crary ND; grandchildren Ethan, Austin and Abel Desjarlais and Jazmyn Van Steenvoort and Easton Desjarlais; siblings Marie (Ole) Olson, Devils Lake, Doris Desjarlais, Fort Totten, Virgil Desjarlais, Priscilla Ironhawk, Minnesota, Bonnie (Peter) Bellile, Fort Totten, Wayne Kennedy (Amy Charboneau) also of Fort Totten; in-laws Sandra (Rodney Vickerman) Olson, Randy (Linda) Olson and Sharon Olson; many nieces, nephews and cousins also survive. 

He was preceded in death by his parents, granddaughter Kira, brother Gordon Fournier, brother-in-law Ricky Ray Olson and parents-in-law Adolph and Evelyn Olson. 

Visitation will be held at the Gilbertson Funeral Home, Devils Lake on Thursday, October 21, 2021 from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. with a time of prayer and remembrance at 7:00 p.m.  Funeral Services will be held on Friday, October 22^nd at 10:30 a.m. at the Fort Totten Recreation Center with Reverend Paul Schuster officiating.