Dawn Starr (Bateman) Bustos

Dawn Starr (Bateman) Bustos of Mandan died at 10:55 am on June 15, 2026, at the age of 66. Dawn was born in California on October 14, 1959 and was adopted when she was one year old, along with her older brother Dale, by Bob and Shorty Bateman of New Salem, ND.

Bouncing around in life from North Dakota to Colorado to Texas and finally settling back in North Dakota, Dawn was a wildly fierce and stubborn force, and she danced to the unique beat of a drum all her own. Dawn had a big, soft heart for the outcasts - the black sheep, if you will. She often offered what she could to help vulnerable people who just needed some support or a shoulder to cry on. Whether it was giving her paid-time-off to fellow co-workers, sheltering young mothers from domestic abuse situations, sending her son $1,000 while he was struggling to make ends meet in a new city, or just sparing a $20 bill to a friend in need, Dawn’s heart was always ready to help.

Dawn was an avid plant lover. She was always so proud of her efforts to make her yard look as beautiful as possible. It may only have been a small yard in a trailer court on the south side of Mandan, but damnit, it was her happy place and you really couldn’t tell her nothin’ as she watered that garden box in the front of the trailer! She really did have the best looking yard in the trailer court, though, and could often be found in it blasting her favorite albums on a boom box, typically with a cigarette in one hand and a drink in the other while the dogs napped under the picnic table.

Dawn loved animals and cherished her many pets, especially her dogs. Over the years, and sometimes much to her son Christopher’s annoyance, having owned several dogs, several cats, an iguana, a ball python, a rabbit, two parrots, and a white albino rat with red eyes, you probably could’ve said at one point that Dawn had more animals than the Dakota Zoo! She always made sure they were taken care of, though. They loved her and never judged her, only ever looking to her with adoring eyes and full bellies.

For the past 25+ years, Dawn gave back to her community working in healthcare and hospital sanitation at St. Alexius Medical Center, Sanford Medical Center, and was loved by many of the residents at Edgewood nursing home in Mandan, from which she retired in October of 2025. Helping provide the residents there with food was a daily ritual that bonded Dawn to them. They’d share stories with each other, they’d laugh, they’d cry, and they probably even gossiped - But only a little! The Edgewood residents felt like they could call Dawn family, and she could absolutely say the same of them a thousand times over.

In her later years, life for Dawn was often quiet, but it was anything but simple. Sometimes it’s those living the quietest lives which cause the most ruckus for the people around them - And for her whole life, Dawn was a storm. A fierce force dancing to that unique drum’s beat - thunderous and steadfast. And with her and through her, Dawn continues to water and nurture the flowers in the lives of those she knew and touched, even if some are only just now beginning to sprout.

Dawn was especially close with her dear sister Peggy, and her best friends Suzanne Wilkie and Laura Kautzman, both of whom she knew and loved for over 20 years.

Dawn is survived by her children: Marisa Martinez de Silva (47), Elizabeth Martinez (45), and Christopher Bustos (34). Three Grandchildren: Olivia Verdeja (25), Tomás Silva (25), and Mateo Silva (22). One sister: Peggy (Gerald) Sprenger (75). And two brothers: Dale Bateman (68) and Rocky (Nancy Jo) Bateman (71).

She is preceded in death by her father, Robert (Bob) Bateman and her mother, Jeanette (Shorty) Bateman. 

Funeral Services were held at Edgewood Mandan where friends and family gathered to mourn and celebrate, and she was buried by family at Bethel Church Cemetery in New Salem, ND.