Roy Hartman

A Funeral Mass for Roy Hartman, 89, of Dickinson will be 10:00 am Wednesday, August 7, 2024 at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Dickinson. Burial will follow at 3:00 pm Central Time at the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery in Mandan.

Visitation for Roy will be 5:00 - 7:00 pm Tuesday, August 6, 2024 at Stevenson Funeral Home with a Rosary and Vigil beginning at 6:00 pm.

Roy passed away on Saturday, August 3, 2024 at St. Luke's Home in Dickinson.

Roy Anton Hartman was born September 22, 1934, on a farm near Manning, North Dakota. He grew up on a farm west of Killdeer, and being a farmer was his life’s goal until the day he died. Life intervened, though, and he instead owned a series of small businesses and worked for different oilfield and mining companies in North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana for nearly 50 years.

He attended schools in Killdeer through 8th grade, then quit to work the family farm with his father. In 1957, he enlisted in the army, but received a Hardship Discharge several months later when his father had a heart attack. Roy married Annaclete (Cleta) Bernhardt on August 28, 1957, and they lived on the farm for about three years. Roy went to work driving semis for local companies before moving to New Salem and opening Hartman Feed Service, which he owned and operated until 1975. He moved his family to Montana and sold service trucks across a 17-state area.

Roy started Hartman Hotshot in Glendive in 1977, which delivered just-in-time parts to oil rigs within a 300-mile radius during the oil boom. After the boom died down, he worked for a local company, running heavy equipment. His skill with using large cranes set him up for his next business, Hartman Crane Service, where his skill with a 50-ton crane kept him in demand, including with several gold mines in South Dakota. A few years later, he started working again in Montana, finally retiring in 2004. He and Cleta moved to Richardton, North Dakota in 2005, where she soon went to the local nursing home to receive care for Parkinson’s disease. He rarely left Richardton for nearly 7 years and was a daily fixture at the nursing home with his wife until her death in 2013.

Roy was very extroverted, and loved interacting with friends and family, as well as meeting new people. Within a few minutes of meeting anyone in the Dickinson area, he knew their family history for generations, and how they might have been related to him. He was a proud member of the Knights of Columbus, as a 4th Degree Knight. He was a member of the JayCees, Lions Club, and the Moose, and was a volunteer fire fighter and ambulance driver for years in New Salem. He loved fishing, playing cards, and dancing, especially polkas. A highlight of his days in Richardton was meeting friends each morning to drink coffee and solve the world’s problems.

After Roy’s wife passed away, he started attending dances at St.Anthony's Club. His deep friendship with Janet Schobinger blossomed at those dances, and they were best friends for the rest of his life. Even after dementia took away much of his joy in life with others, phone calls with Janet were the highlight of his days.

Roy was preceded in death by his wife, Cleta, his son, John, grandson Chance Scales, daughter-in-law Terri Hartman and son-in-law Robert Garcia, Sr. 

He is survived by daughters Cleta (Ray) Raymond, Margaret Dykstra (Tim Bergquist), Caroline May, and Veronica (Mike) Scales; by his sons Tom (Allison), Tim, and Jim (La Don) Hartman, and by his daughter-in-law Sandie Hartman. He is also survived by nine grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, and his brother, Paul.