Mildred Beatrice Duncklee Flach, age 94, a resident of Bowesmont/Drayton, North Dakota, and a 31-year missionary to Liberia, West Africa, passed away on May 8, 2017 at Valley Elder Care, Grand Forks, North Dakota.  Mildred was born to the late Ernest and Vera Duncklee on the family farm at Fleece, near Bowesmont, North Dakota on August 26, 1922.  She was the fourth child of eight.  Walking, horseback riding or by sled, she attended Fleece Country School, two miles from home, for grades 1-8.  Favorite pastimes were church and school programs, berry picking with neighbors, games of baseball, croquet, picnics and marshmallow roasts.  Hot dogs were a rare treat.  She attended high school at State Agricultural & Training School in Park River, ND. Post-secondary school attendance was at North Central Business College, Minneapolis, MN, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, and Western Bible College in Winnipeg, Canada, graduating with BTH and BA degrees.  After graduation Mildred pastored a church at Antler, ND then went on to teach ten years at a new Bible School near Devils Lake, ND (Lakewood Park Bible School, which is now Trinity Bible College in Ellendale, ND).  Mildred said "What a thrill to have had a part in training young men and women for the ministry!  Little did I know that what I was doing then was what I would be doing on the mission field.  Now how wonderful to see men and women from LPBS as presbyters, pastors and gospel workers across the nation."  In November 1957 approval came for Mildred to serve as a missionary with the Assemblies of God (AG) in West Africa.  Her support was raised completely at North Dakota District Counsel that spring.  Mildred began visiting the churches in April 1958 and sailed for Liberia, West Africa in August that same year.  She served there until July 1988.  Mildred said "The Liberians welcomed me with open arms.  It was a mutual love that never grew dim and still burns in my heart."  First she taught in a girls jr high school.  Most of her years she was principal and teacher in Owensgrove Bible School.  She loved visiting the villages even if it meant walking 13 hours in the jungle when there was no road.  She began AG Sunday Schools, youth camps and minister's institutes all over the country.  By the time Mildred retired, the Bible School was nationalized so it could be carried on without missionaries.  Upon retiring in July 1988, Mildred prepared for an August 6 wedding to Reverend Charles Flach, an AG minister from New York.  They were Missionaries in Residence at Trinity Bible College in Ellendale, ND from 1988-89.  They then moved to Charles' home in Hannacroix, New York.  When asked about her children, Mildred said "The first 66 years of my life I was single. Then on August 6, 1988 I became mother of three sons and one daughter, 15 grandchildren and 14 great-grandchildren.  What a beautiful family. In Liberia, I was called 'Ma' all over the nation.  My Barrobo name given to me by the Liberians was 'mother of many.'"  Mildred returned to Drayton after Charles' death.  Her final years were spent at memory care homes in Grand Forks, ND.  Until the end she enjoyed Bible reading, hymn singing and praying.

She is survived by her brother Romanzo (Evelyn) Duncklee, Emerado, ND, and sister Reta Ingersoll, Greenville, NC, sister-in-law Ellen Duncklee; step children, John Flach, David (Henriette) Flach, James (Mary) Flach, Esther (Flach) Florez; and many nieces and nephews.  She was preceded in death by her husband Charles Flach, parents Ernest & Vera Duncklee, sister Telitha Bradseth and brothers and their wives, Sherman (Ruth), Delbert (Elsie), Allen Dale (Rosanna) and Vernon Ray Duncklee, brother-in-law Ralph Ingersoll.

Funeral services are scheduled for Friday, May 19, 2017 at 2:00 p.m. in New Life Assembly of God Church in Drayton. Interment will be in Bowesmont Cemetery. Visitation will be at Austin Funeral Chapel in Drayton on Thursday evening from 6 to 8 p.m. with a prayer service at 7:00. Rev. Leroy Aufenkamp, presiding; Phyllis Holter, organist; Linda Werven and Jenny DeMell, duet. Casket bearers will be Andrew Duncklee, Romanzo Duncklee, Virgil Duncklee, Joe Bradseth, Craig Holter and Randy Grueneich. In lieu of flowers memorials are preferred to Lakewood Park Bible Camp or the Gideons.