Virginia J. Eichele, 81, Bowdon, passed away Tuesday, July 28, 2015 at the Golden Acres Manor in Carrington. Her funeral will be held Friday, July 31, at 10:30 a.m. at the Bowdon Country Seventh-day Adventist Church of rural Bowdon with burial in the church cemetery. Visitation will be held Thursday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Nelson Funeral Home in Fessenden.

Virginia Seibel, daughter of Jake and Amelia (Beck) Seibel, was born August 19, 1933 at rural Medina where she grew up and attended school through the eighth grade. She then attended the Sheyenne River Academy in Harvey. Following her graduation from the Academy in 1951, she taught at a country school for one year.

On December 28, 1952 she was married to Lanerd Eichele in Jamestown. They made their home and farmed in the Robinson area for five years and in the Cleveland area for four years before moving to Bismarck. They owned and operated a construction company , building houses in the Bismarck area until their retirement in 1996. Virginia also worked for a number of years for the Seventh-day Adventist Health Food Store in Bismarck. Following their retirement they moved to Bowdon where they resided since.

Through the years, Virginia and Lanerd worked as volunteers on twenty five Maranatha Mission trips, building churches, schools and day-care facilities in various countries including Mexico, Scotland, Peru, Baha and the Bahamas. She was a member of the Bismarck Seventh-day Adventist Church until moving to Bowdon where she became a member of the Bowdon Country Seventh-day Adventist Church.

She is survived by her husband of 62 years, Lanerd; 3 sons, Dallas (Karla) of Lincoln, NE, Melvin (Jeanne) of Fargo and Kenneth of Bismarck; 3 grandchildren; 3 great-grandchildren; and 2 sisters, her twin, Vivian (James) Lehr of Mesa, AZ and Linda (Bill) Blount of Albuquerque, NM.

Virginia was preceded in death by her parents.