Crystal Dolbeare, age 92 of Bottineau, passed away on Wednesday, November 8, 2023 at a Bottineau hospital.  Her funeral will be held on Tuesday, November 14, 2023 at 2:00 pm at the First Lutheran Church in Willow City.  Visitation will be on Monday from 4:00 pm until 7:00 pm at the Nero Funeral Home in Bottineau.

Crystal Marie Dolbeare, a daughter of Percy and Carrie Gibbs, was born on December 6, 1930 in Willow City.  On July 22, 1945, she was baptized at the First Lutheran Church in Willow City and she later graduated from Willow City High School.  On September 10, 1949, she married Raymond LeRoy Dolbeare at Salem, AR.  They moved to Upham where Lee worked as a mechanic.  They later moved to Willow City and made it their permanent home.

Crystal was a stay at home mom raising 4 boys and 2 girls.  Times were tough back then while Lee was away working to support the family.  She was a care-giver, where she took care of nieces, nephews, half the neighborhood kids, her mom and sister, Jean.

She protected her children and cared for them.  Sometimes they were a handful but she showed them what hardwork, discipline and love was, to bring out the best in them.  She loved planting flowers and having a huge garden, from which she did a lot of canning.  She loved to have family get togethers especially on the holidays.  She always made sure everyone got enough to eat and enjoyed themselves.  When the grandchildren started popping up, it made her smile from ear to ear.  Crystal loved to dance especially to country music and she loved Willow City Days street dances.

She is survived by her daughter, Tammy Diebold of Willow City; sons, Jim (Carmen) Dolbeare  of Willow City, Craig (Penny) Dolbeare of Bottineau and Scott (Kelly) Dolbeare of Bottineau; 15 grandchildren, Kai (Sam Sveeggen) Baird, Clint Baird, Brent (Dani) Dolbeare, Curtis Dolbeare, Alissa (Allen) Moldenhauer, Rebekah Dolbeare, Chris Dolbeare, Raymond (DesiRae) Dolbeare, Brandon (Alissia) Dolbeare, Stephanie Dolbeare, Kaylee (Preston) Worrall, Braden Diebold, Jake Dolbeare, Jarek (Kylee) Dolbeare and John (Jasmine) Rosecrans; 23 great-grandchildren; son-in-law, Floyd Baird and numerous nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her husband, Lee; parents; 4 brothers; 3 sisters; daughter, Karen Baird; son, Richard Dolbeare; son-in-law, Jeff Diebold and a grandchild.