Jeffery P. Batton

Jeffery P. Batton, 60 of Devils Lake, died on Monday, July 30, 2007 at Mercy Hospital, Devils Lake, ND. Funeral Services for Jeffery will be held on Saturday, August 4, 2007 at 2:00 p.m. at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church, Devils Lake with Rev. Timothy Stout officiating. Burial will be in the Devils Lake Cemetery with Military Honors accorded by the Neathery-Simensen Post #756, Devils Lake Veterans of Foreign Wars and the Lake Region Honor Guard with Chaplain Justin Schmidt officiating. Visitation will be held on Friday at the Gilbertson Funeral Home, Devils Lake from 1:00 p.m. until 9:00 p.m. with a time of sharing of memories at 7:00 p.m. Visitation on Saturday will be at the church one hour prior to the funeral service. Serving as Casket Bearers for Jeffery will be Keith Batton, Mark Batton, Kelly Dargan, Daniel Dargan, Chris Dargan, Kevin Dargan, Shawn Dargan, Morgan Dargan and Ford Dargan, Jr. Music will be provided by Donovan Foughty, soloist and Elonda Nord, organist Memorials may be directed to the Devils Lake Park Board to use toward the development of the Community Dog Park. Jeffery was born in Fargo, North Dakota on October 18, 1946 to John and Charlotte (Draggee) Batton. He was reared and educated in Fargo, graduating from Fargo Central High School in 1964. He received his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from NDSU in 1969. As a member of ROTC, he entered Infantry Officer Training with the United States Army in August of 1970 at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was also stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado for 10 months. On September 15, 1970, Jeffery began his service in Vietnam, stationed at Quangtri with the Company C 1st Battalion, 61st Infantry, and 1st Brocade of the 5th Infantry Division. Jeffery was honorably discharged on June 12, 1971 with the rank of 1st Lieutenant. He continued in the US Army Reserve until May of 1975. Jeffery was united in marriage to Colleen Dargan on June 10, 1967 in Grand Forks, ND. They were blessed with the birth of a daughter, proudly named Joey, by her loving father. After returning from Vietnam they made their home in Fargo and Jeffery began his career with Gate City Federal Bank. They later moved to Bismarck and in 1975 moved to Devils Lake where he managed the Gate City Bank until retiring in April of 2005. Jeffery was a member of Rotary International, Lake Region Gun Club and served as an Ambassador for the Devils Lake Chamber of Commerce. Jeffery had many hobbies and special interests throughout his life. He was an avid gardener and always enjoyed fishing and trapping. In his retirement, he always looked forward to his fishing trips with his brother-in-law and had become more active in trapping and had written some articles about animals frequently trapped such as muskrats and minks. Jeffery also had a hobby which would evolve into connections world wide-fancy fantailed pigeons. He spent countless hours researching, writing articles, perfecting the breeding of his pigeons. He participated in many show events and made many life time friends who were part of the world of fantailed pigeons. His love of animals didn’t end there. He had a constant Basenji canine companion for many years, first Ben and now, Sam. A devoted husband, loving father, brother and uncle, he will be forever missed and forever in our hearts. Jeffery is survived by his wife of 40 years, Colleen Daughter: Joey Miller of Mandan, ND Brothers: Keith Batton, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Mark (Holly) Batton, Minneapolis, MN Jerry Batton, Rochert, Minnesota Sister: Lucy Batton, Boulder, Colorado Sisters-In-Law and Brothers-In-Law: Denise Dargan, Girdwood, Alaska Chris Dargan, Tipton, Missouri Morgan (Beth) Dargan, Crystal Lake, Illinois Shawn (Anne) Dargan, Crystal Lake Kevin (Terry) Dargan also Crystal Lake Kelly (Chris) Dargan, Huntley, Illinois Daniel Dargan, Marseilles, Illinois Dawn Dargan-Zahradka, Grand Forks, ND Special Canine Companion, Sam Many nieces, nephews and their families also survive. He was preceded in death by his parents; grandparents who raised him, George and Hattie Braa; brothers-in-law, Anthony Francis Dargan and Ford Dargan.