Della Mae Danroth

Della Mae Danroth Della M. Danroth died at Heartland Care Center in Devils Lake ND on Sunday, December 4, 2005. She was 92. Della Mae Cotton Danroth was born to Fay and Lucy (Bistram) Cotton on the family farm at Richville, Minnesota, June 18, 1913, in the house her father built with the wood he cleared from the farmstead. She was a decendant of the Reverend John Cotton, a renowned Puritan minister who came to America in 1633, and proud of her English/American heritage. DellaR17;s family moved to Mandan ND, in 1923. She attended school in Mandan, skipping one year of grade school and completing high school in three years. She was active in the Methodist Youth Group. She graduated from Mandan High School and also graduated from Capitol City Business College in Bismarck. Her first job was teaching there. During the Depression, she worked for the WPA, Federal Writer’s Project, during the writing of the book North Dakota, the American Guide Series, which was published in 1938. In the 40’s she was the secretary of Governor Moses and to the Legislature. During the Pick-Sloan Project (Garrison Dam) she was a secretary for the Army Corps of Engineers, headquartered at what was then Fort Lincoln in Bismarck (now United Tribes). She also worked briefly for the Presbyterian Church and the Social Security Administration. She finished her career as the secretary for the Postal Inspectors and Postmaster in Bismarck. She married John Danroth in 1938. Except for a brief time in Virgina, when John worked at Fort Belvoir, Virgina, they resided in Bismarck their entire lives, building a home near the ND Capitol. He died in 1975. She was proud of her family and helped her grandchildren get their educations. She was very loyal to North Dakota, and enjoyed the beauty of the Missouri River Valley and the Badlands. She liked animals, especially cats, having picnics at Fort McKeen, and traveling to Minnesota to visit her cousins as well as traveling to Medora and the Black Hills. Her survivors include her daughter Delcie Light, and her son-in-law, Bill Light. She leaves three grandchildren: Christiane of Glendale California and her husband, Jim Hill; William JD Light and his wife Glenda of Manhattan Beach, California; and Jim Light and wife Erin of Devils Lake. She also leaves eight great grandchildren: Kayla Babinski, Brantley Light, and Olivia Light of Devils Lake; Sarah and Thomas Hill of Glendale CA, and Wyatt, Josephine, and Ethan Light of Manhattan Beach California. She also leaves several nieces and nephews: Howard Cotton of Bismarck, Jack Goyeneche and Jill Echevarria of Oxnard, California; Sharron Cotton of Fresno, California; and Jim Cotton of Denver, Colorado as well as a sister-in-law, Laura Cotton of Fresno, California. She was preceded in death by her husband John, her parents, Fay and Lucy Cotton, brothers and sisters-in-law, Irvin and Julia Cotton and Leo and Lillie Cotton, and brother Arthur, sister Violet (Cotton) and Frank Goyeneche, and two nephews, LeRoy and DuWayne Cotton. She has donated her body to the UND medical school. Burial will be later in the family plot in Mandan with graveside services for family and friends. Friends may sign the on-line register at www.gilbertsonfuneralhome.com. Memorials may be sent to Mercy Hospice, Heartland Care Center’s Aviary Fund, or to the North Dakota Historical Society, P.O. Box 1976 in Bismarck.