Raymond Henry Bot

Services for Raymond Bot, 93, of Marshall, will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, June 22, 2020, at St. Eloi Catholic Church in Ghent. A visitation will be one hour prior from 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. at the church. Interment with military honors will follow the service at St. Eloi Catholic Cemetery Charles and Elizabeth (Brewers) Bot welcomed their third son, Raymond Henry Bot, on Tuesday, December 7, 1926. He was born on the home farm which had been purchased by his grandfather, Bernard, in 1892. He and his brother, Arnie, lived on the farm together until Ray moved to Boulder Estates in 2018. Ray passed away on Thursday, June 18, 2020, while residing at Morningside Heights in Marshall, Minnesota. Ray was a lifelong member of St. Eloi Catholic Church. He was baptized, had his First Communion, and was confirmed there. Ray attended the St. Agnes School in Ghent through 8th grade. Ray also was an altar server in his younger days. He put this to use when assisting the Army chaplain while in the service. When thinking of Ray, it is his deep faith, love of his family, and his patriotism that is most remembered. Ray never married but he was a loving and gentle giant of an uncle to his 32 nieces and nephews. He remembered everyone’s birthday and always took time to visit and joke with all of the family. He would always ask about his nephew’s and niece’s children, and their children. Any detail regarding his family was important to Ray. If anyone had a question about the family tree, it was Ray that was called upon. He made the ancestry of his family come alive. He made several trips to Europe looking up old family members and making new family connections. Raymond lived on the family farm throughout his life with the exception of his time spent in the US Army from 1950 – 1952. He served in the Korean Conflict in 1951, spending the next year in Japan. He arrived back in Ghent in August of 1952. Being in the service changed Ray – it was tough to forget the atrocities that he had seen in Korea. He would say, “No one should have to see what I saw.” Once he was back home, he began farming with his parents and assisted with the purebred Brown Swiss dairy cows. Raymond knew the bloodlines of each and every cow that passed through their dairy barn. In 1986 the Bot Brothers (Raymond, Arnie, and Fran) decided to be done with milking. They had an option to move the cows out of the country and most of their Brown Swiss were sold to farmers in Canada, Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico. The bloodlines were valued by other Brown Swiss herdsmen. After leaving the military in 1952 Ray joined Ghent’s Engels-Wilson Legion Post. He was a proud member of the Legion up to his death. It was important to Ray to honor every veteran by being in the honor guard at their funerals. When it became difficult to find someone to play “Taps” at the funerals, Ray took it upon himself to give respect by finding and ‘playing’ “Taps” via a battery-operated bugle. The first time the family was aware of this was at his brother Barney’s funeral, when he stood off to the side playing “Taps.” Though Ray took some kidding about his new-found musical ability, that didn’t dampen his patriotic spirit in continuing this as long as he was able. Anyone who knew Raymond was aware of his love of cards. He liked nothing better than sitting down and playing cribbage, bein, 500, pinochle, pepper, buck euchre, or any other card game. He also spent many summer evenings playing rolle bolle with his long-time teammates, George DeSutter and Pete Janssen. Raymond was always willing to offer advice and help a younger player learn the ropes of the games being played. All of those 32 nieces and nephews have Uncle Ray stories! He was a great storyteller and it was hard to decide if he was pulling your leg or telling the truth. He loved every minute of being with his extended family. He was deeply saddened by the deaths of his nephew Jordan Bot and niece Pam (Bot) Haukom. Raymond died peacefully Thursday, June 18, 2020, at Avera Morningside Heights Care Center in Marshall. He did not feel well when he woke that morning. He had his lunch, asked to lay down, and passed away in his sleep shortly after laying down. Surviving Raymond are: Richard Bot, Arnie Bot, Francis and Joan Bot, Alice (Barney) Bot, and Judy (Vincent) Bot, and his nieces and nephews. Preceding Ray in death were Charles and Elizabeth (parents), Norbert Bot (infant brother), Bernard (Barney) Bot, Florence (Bot) Determan, Emerence (Bot) Derynck, and Vincent Bot as well as in-laws, Phyllis (Rich) Bot, Robert Determan, and Roland (Mike) Derynck.