James “Jim” Manstrom, 78, of Valley City, ND, passed away on Monday, July 28, after a brief battle with stage 4 lung cancer, at The Legacy Place in Valley City, ND.

Jim was born in Valley City, ND on May 17, 1947, to Clifford and Louise Manstrom.  He was baptized and confirmed in the Nebo Lutheran Church.  He graduated from College High in Valley City and attended ND State College of Science in Wahpeton.  He served six years in the ND National Guard in Valley City.

Jim was united in marriage to Georgia Bemis in 1968 and together they were blessed with two daughters.  He dearly loved farming, spending 26 years raising crops and tending to his cattle. At the end of his farming career, he worked for FedEx Freight, Inc. for 11 years and made many friends along the way.  After retirement, he was happy to be working on a farm south of Valley City for 9 more years until his health started to decline in November 2024.  No matter what he did, he always gave 100% and had a strong work ethic.

In his spare time, Jim enjoyed restoring tractors and having coffee with his friends at Petro.  He also had a love for hot rod cars and NASCAR races.

He is survived by his wife, Georgia, and his two daughters: Andrea (Mark) Winter, of Valley City and Melissa (Lyle) Mee, of Jamestown; 5 grandchildren: Brenna (Collin) Schroeder, Ellie (Alex) Fodness, Trevor Winter, Dawson Mee and Avery Mee; 2 great-grandchildren: Campbell Fodness and Romy Schroeder: a brother, Bruce Manstrom, of Colorado Springs, CO, and sister, Cindy (Kevin) Roorda, Marion, ND.

He was preceded in death by his parents and Georgia’s parents: a brother and sister-in-law, Leslie and Elaine and brother, Dale.

A special thank you to the staff at Sanford Health, City-County Health District, Roger Maris Cancer Center, CHI Mercy Health, The Legacy Place and HIA Hospice for the wonderful care they all provided over the last 8 months.

As per Jim’s wishes, a private family service will be held to honor his memory.  Arrangements have been made with Lerud Mathias Funeral Home.  An online guestbook for Jim is available at www.lerudmathias.com