Anton Kuntz
June 8, 1931 – Apr. 1, 2021
Anton Kuntz, age 89 of
Rugby, North Dakota, en-
tered eternal life on
Thursday, April 1, 2021 at
the Heart of America Care
Center, Rugby. Anton
was born on June 8, 1931
in the rural farm home of
his parents, Julius and
Mary (Haman) Kuntz,
northwest of Orrin, North
Dakota. Anton was reared
on the family farm of his
parents and received his
education through the 8th
grade in a country school
near his home. He then
started farming with his
father. He would later
complete his GED diplo-
ma. Anton married a
wonderfully beautiful
young lady, Johanna
“Jane” Wentz on June 10,
1952. He took one look at
her and said, “she’s going
to make me a better
person”. Following their
marriage, the couple took
over the Kuntz family
farm in September of
1952, and together they
farmed and started raising
their large family. Even-
tually they purchased the
farm and expanded it by
purchasing the Haman
family farm the following
year. In addition to
managing the farm, Anton
was immensely proud of
his time selling the
“Farmer” magazine and
monuments for which he
was awarded numerous
trips and vacations.
Anton loved to travel
and even obtained his
private pilot’s license in
the mid 1950’s. He was
not without adversity, as
he suffered a farming ac-
cident sustaining an inju-
ry to his lower back
which required surgery to
repair, however it left him
with left leg issues. While
he was no longer able to
continue farming, he con-
tinued his sales career un-
til the winter of 1973,
when health no longer al-
lowed him to continue
covering his sales territo-
ry.
After considering mul-
tiple towns, the couple
decided on Bottineau due
to their love of the area,
good schools for their
children, and they found
a house that was perfect
to continue raising their
family together and remo-
deled it with the help of
his father. Anton keeping
his mind busy and active,
embarked on a lifelong
journey and developed a
passion for collecting an-
tiques. He loved getting
out of the house and start-
ed out buying items that
would interest him at auc-
tions. Eventually, this led
him to finding his greatest
collecting passion . . .
North Dakota license
plates. Anton and Jane
traveled all over the Unit-
ed States, making a great
number of lifelong friends
along the way, in search
of elusive and rare North
Dakota plates. They at-
tended many license plate
conventions, visiting
every State except for
Hawaii, only because be-
ing a pilot he did not want
to fly that long. When he
was no-longer able to con-
tinue traveling and col-
lecting, he had amassed a
complete set of North
Dakota license plates,
which not even the ar-
chives of the State of
North Dakota could
match. This was his most
prized collection.
During one of their trav-
el adventures in 1988, An-
ton and Jane stopped to
visit his sister Eva in Ar-
izona. They loved the
area so much that they
purchased a winter home
there spending 5 to 6
months a year for the next
17 years. The couple
started a Labor Day tradi-
tion in the early 1980’s –
picking a unique holiday
for an annual family reun-
ion, so it was easier for all
to attend, opening up
their Bottineau home to
all of his children and
their families. In 1997,
they held a reunion that
was attended by everyone
in the family . . . WOW!
Family was always im-
portant to Anton and he
will be dearly missed by
family and friends.
He is survived by his
wife, Jane of 68 years,
Rugby; his 12 children,
Richard, Patrick (Lisa), all
of Rugby; Julius, Mandan;
Ann (Anthony) Jorde,
Towner; Susanna (Ken-
neth) Jorde, Sioux Falls,
SD; Dorothy (Alvin)
Kuntz, Dickinson; Linda
(Randy) Gimbel, Russell;
Hiedi (Gary) Gutowski,
Wausau, WI; Mark (Cin-
dy), Rugby; Donavan
(Gail), Denver, CO; Brad-
ley (Misty), Savage, MN &
James of Bowling Green,
KY; 22 grandchildren; 33
great-grandchildren; his 5
siblings, Eva Wylie, Mag-
gie Degenstein, Cecilia
Heil, Theresa Wangler,
and Raymond (Lois)
Kuntz; sister-in-law, Mar-
lene Wentz; many nieces,
nephews, other relatives
and friends. Anton will
now be reunited with his
parents, grandparents,
brothers-in-law, James
Wylie, Leo Degenstein,
Marvin Heil, Leonard
Wangler, Anton Wentz,
Valentine Wentz, and
Steve Mosser; and
sister-in-law, Loretta
Mosser.
Mass of Christian Buri-
al: 2:00 p.m. Wednesday,
April 7th at the Little
Flower Catholic Church,
Rugby with burial in the
church cemetery. Father
Frank Miller, Celebrant.
Organist: Glenda Mack
Vocalist/Cantor: Robert
Graber
Liturgy of the Word:
Amanda Matehs & Tara
Mosley
The Casket Bearers:
Derrick Kuntz, Jesse
Kuntz, Eric Kuntz, Micha-
el Gimbel, Nathan Jorde,
Jason Kuntz, Robert Kuntz
& Jason Jorde
Arrangements with the
Anderson Funeral Home
of Rugby.
Online Condolences:
www.funeralsbyanders
on.com