Verna K. Scott

Verna Kaye Scott was born to Leander and Catherine (Burckhard) Boechler on October 23, 1950. She was raised in Towner, ND with her eight siblings, graduating from Towner High School in 1968. She moved to Minot, ND where she met Greg Scott. They married in September of 1973 and had two children, Jason and Jeri, who were the source of great pride, laughter, and perhaps a little frustration from time to time.

Verna attended and worked at Minot State University until the family moved to Fargo, ND. While in Fargo, she worked at North Dakota State University in the Psychology department; Verna loved working at NDSU with her amazing coworkers, but a great opportunity arose at Metropolitan Federal where she eventually became the Executive Assistant. After the bank was sold, she worked at Integrated Research Group as the Office Manager, and when IRG was bought by Community First Bank, she went with. In her 20+ years working at Community First (which became Bank of the West Insurance) and finally Hub International, Verna was well-known for her kindness, positivity, and infectious smile. She created lasting relationships with her coworkers throughout her career so that even in her retirement she would get together with her former coworkers for their Friday lunches at Blackbird, concerts at Bluestem, or just get together for a visit.

Verna loved her little family deeply. Jason and Jeri were her priority, and she did everything she could to make sure they were supported and loved. Somehow Verna made it to every hockey game, every dance recital, every ice show and competition, and every awards banquet. She was always the smile of encouragement, thoughtful words of wisdom, and a hug when you needed it. Verna mastered the art of giving her kids the space they needed to grow, learn and make mistakes while being in the background when they needed to be picked up and dusted off.

When her granddaughter, Emma, was born in 2003, Verna embraced her new role as Grandma and loved every minute of it. Verna and Emma created huge murals every Christmas, searched for fun recipes and made their own cooking shows, created a circus act with Emma’s often unwilling, but quite accommodating pup, Sadie, and attended the FM Symphony concerts together. She was the center of Verna’s world, and she loved just spending time with her. When Jeri got married to Jeremy, she was over the moon. Verna and Jeremy became very close and would talk for hours about anything and everything; she loved him like he was her own.

She had an incredible friendship with her grown children. She shared the love of birding with Jason; they’d get together often to go birdwatching, grab breakfast and just talk. Verna loved her visits from Jeri (and eventually Jeremy, too), which were often filled with puzzles, games, and movies. She was Jason and Jeri’s best friend and is dearly missed.

Verna is survived by her two children, Jason & Jeri, son-in-law Jeremy, granddaughter Emma, sisters Linda Boechler and Julie (Dave) Steen, brothers Wayne (Jenelle) Boechler, Larry (Cindy) Boechler, Todd (Darci) Boechler, Sheldon (Dawn) Boechler, and Kurt Boechler, and several nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her parents, Catherine & Leander, her sister Karen (Kent) Engle, and nephew Christopher (Elizabeth) Boechler.

Verna’s family wants to extend a special thank you to Dr. Vegunta at the Roger Maris Cancer Center who fought her cancer just as hard as our Mom, to Hospice of the Red River Valley for your compassionate care of our beloved Mom, and to our friends and family for your love and support as we navigate this world without her.

Verna requested no services; quite fitting for the woman who never wanted to be the focus of attention. A friends and family gathering will be held on Friday, October 4th at Verna’s home. The family requests no gifts, but tributes can be made to the FM Symphony, St Jude’s, or the Plains Art Museum.