As we welcome in a new year, The Forum remembers some notable members of our community who left us in 2009:
John Niemi, Fargo, was given up at birth and raised at the state school in Grafton, N.D. He later moved to his own apartment above Billiards on Broadway in downtown Fargo, where he became a regular. Billiards owner Marc Oelslager said, “He felt normal here. Nobody looked at him with a handicap.” Niemi died Jan. 15 at age 70, and a shadow box now hangs at Billiards, displaying Niemi’s leather jacket, biker boots and a photo of the man who acted as the establishment’s greeter. Sidney James Drouilhet II, 59, Moorhead, died on Jan. 23. He was a professor of mathematics at Minnesota State University Moorhead and performed consulting and research for the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. He wrote several reports on space debris and developed computer software that helps detect and avoid debris in space. Drouilhet was an outspoken advocate of high academic standards and a critical evaluator of administration in general, whether in higher education or government. In his more than 38 years of government service, Claude Schmidt, Fargo, served in the military, and after receiving a Ph.D. in entomology, worked on insect repellents for the Agricultural Research Service, the International Atomic Energy Agency as chief entomologist and was project leader of the insect physiology section at the Metabolism and Radiation Research Lab in Fargo. He later served as program project manager for the construction of the Northern Crop Science Lab. He died on Feb. 4 at age 84. James William Crowe, 87, Fargo, died on Feb. 6. After graduating from college, he returned to join the family business in Fargo – Bergstrom & Crowe Furniture Co., which had been founded by his father in 1908. Crowe was active for many years in the North Dakota Retail Association. To his customers, Duane Johnson’s used bookstore in downtown Fargo was a treasure trove of books and magazines stacked precariously on shelves and boxes. Because of the store’s potential for disaster, Johnson often received unwanted visits from the Fargo Fire Department. But often the iconoclast, he would turn those frequent visits and citations into advertisements for his store, citing “pre-fire” sales. He sold the store in 2001, but memories of that voluminous maze remain for those who remember the “bookseller emeritus” who died on March 1 at age 76. Wayne S. Tonsfeldt farmed for many years in Clay County and was a successful inventor with many U.S. patents, including the dual disc, the hydraulic beet topper, the row guide system and the guide master cultivator, all manufactured at Alloway Manufacturing in Fargo. He was honored at the North Dakota State University Harvest Bowl in 1980 as “an inventor who contributed to the agriculture and economy of the region.” He died on March 3 at age 88. “Since grade school, I have written poetry … my subject, whatever comes along, especially anything that seems odd or out of sync.” A unique voice, Mary A. Pryor died on March 13 at age 83. She retired in 1992 from MSUM, where she served as an English professor and chairwoman of the English department. Her poetry, published in several magazines and poetry books, was meticulously crafted and displayed her concern for birds, plants, weather and people, often when they behaved foolishly. Louis Costello, Dilworth historian and entrepreneur, died on April 7 at age 95. Costello worked for the Northern Pacific Railroad, owned a trucking company with his brother, and operated a sanitation business in Dilworth. He and his wife, Laura, were often asked to speak at local high schools and colleges about the history of Dilworth, the railroad and cultural diversity. He also was very active in the community with his church, the Knights of Columbus and the Lions, where he helped with the Italian dinners until just a few years ago. Irene Grace Humphrey, 97, Fargo, died on April 13. She worked as head nurse at St. John’s and St. Luke’s hospitals in Fargo. After retiring, she logged thousands of hours as a volunteer at MeritCare, Meals on Wheels, F-M Community Theatre and Riverview Place, among others. According to her obituary, service to others and her family was central in her life. Fargo businessman, philanthropist and civic leader Edward R. Stern was a calm, intelligent, witty man and was of a fast-disappearing generation that adhered to standards of personal and professional conduct that required discipline and manners. His long and distinguished commitment to community service was as natural to him as the daily operations of his Straus Clothing store. To Stern, giving back to his community was an obvious responsibility of citizenship. He set a high standard for himself, and he lived up to it. Stern died on April 18 at age 94. Irene Diederich and her husband, Warren, were a team, including when it came to Industrial Builders, the construction company in Fargo they founded. Irene served on various boards and was president of the Fargo Parent-Teacher Council, where she became known as “Mrs. Bond Issue” for pushing for new school buildings. Always a community volunteer, she served as the first business director of the Junior Service League’s Volunteer Bureau and was the first female director on the Dakota Bank board of directors. She and Warren, who died on Dec. 6, 2008, at the age of 84, started the Bison Bidders Bowl to raise money for NDSU and served as co-chairmen for 15 years. She died on April 21 in Fargo at the age of 84. Best known for his college classes and seminars on Shakespeare, Gordon Lell, Moorhead, died on April 25 at age 74. Lell taught for almost 40 years at Concordia College and was praised for making Shakespeare approachable for students. He also taught the love of theater by organizing off-campus trips, study seminars abroad and summer tours to Shakespeare festivals. His obituary said that Lell “lived what he taught to the end, reciting sonnets from memory as he faced the difficult times with physical illnesses during the last months of his life.” Donald R. Little was living in the Madison area of Fargo when the 1957 tornado hit and his home was lost. At that time, he was appointed disaster co-chairman for the city of Fargo and he organized the first citizens’ improvement association of the Madison area. He continued to be actively engaged in city and state politics, including serving as executive secretary and commissioner of Fargo’s Urban Renewal Agency. He was part of the team that made Fargo an All American City, served as chairman of the Model Cities Program and was commissioner of the Fargo Housing and Redevelopment Authority. He died on April 26 in Fargo at age 88. Fargo native and international performer Matthew Aaron Thibedeau, 35, died on May 20 in Fargo. He was an alumnus of the Trollwood Performing Arts School in Fargo and went on to perform in scores of musicals in New York, Los Angeles, Canada, Brazil and Argentina, as well as in television and film. After he was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, he returned to the Fargo area, where he was an early member of Music Theatre Fargo-Moorhead and also taught at Trollwood. Businessman Robert Charles Rust, 84, Fargo, died on May 20. He started Rust Insurance and had many other business interests, including Rust Realty and Four Season Travel Agency. He was active in community service and was a member of many service clubs in Fargo, where he did everything from selling Christmas trees for the Y Men’s Club to going door to door selling nuts, bulbs and brooms for the Lions. He also served as an adviser to North Dakota Sen. Mark Andrews for many years and was the first mayor of Briarwood, N.D. Howard E. Sgutt’s family purchased Moody’s Department store in Fargo, which became Sgutt-Moody’s. In the 1960s the store moved to a new location in downtown Fargo and became Sgutt’s Women’s Ready to Wear. Howard retired from the business in 1992. The El Zagal Shrine in Fargo was a large part of Sgutt’s life, where over the years he served in many positions, including potentate, circus chairman and director. He died on May 28 in Fargo at age 80. John Schulz, 47, Fargo, was killed during the second lap of the feature race on May 30 at Buffalo River Race Park near Glyndon, Minn. Known to race fans as “Johnny 1-5,” Schulz was a part of a racing family for more than 20 years. In his obituary, friends and family said Schulz “… was a racer, it’s what he lived for and always looked forward to.” A big man with a booming voice and an imposing manner, David Habiger was always stubborn and sometimes intimidating and had more than a few run-ins with the law, often over a cause he would not retreat from. In recent years, Habiger was embroiled in controversies involving his salvage yard. But perhaps he was best known for his long involvement in the pro-life movement, where he was uncompromising and wasn’t persuaded by public opinion. He had a principle, and he didn’t back down. Habiger, 49, died on June 9 at his home near Casselton, N.D. When 8-year-old Morgan Kolling of Davenport, N.D., returned from her Make-A-Wish trip to Disney World, she was determined to give another child the same chance. Even as she continued treatment for brain cancer, she drew pictures that were made into notecards, and through word of mouth in the schools and in the community, the cards began selling by the hundreds. She had raised $10,000 for Make-A-Wish to grant wishes to two North Dakota children when she died on June 22. William Prieb began farming in the Wolverton, Minn., area as a young man and also worked at resorts, restaurants, a dude ranch and hospitals and sold cars and financial investments. He and his wife, Tennie, were major benefactors of the Christian schools in Fargo and Moorhead, giving significant gifts to Concordia College, Oak Grove and Park Christian. He died on June 29 in Fargo at the age of 103. During the 1957 tornado, Forum photographer Cal Olson captured an iconic image many still associate with the disaster. Olson went out to cover the June 20 tornado that ripped through north Fargo, killing 12, including six children from the Munson family. The photo depicts Dick Shaw cradling the lifeless body of Jeanette Munson. Olson was city editor of the Moorhead Daily News until 1950, when he joined The Forum as a reporter and photographer. He later served as editor of the Sioux City (Iowa) Journal and retired in 1989. He died on July 16 at age 84. MaryLou Rosenfeldt, 82, Dilworth, died on July 19. She played with dance bands in the area and was an organist at various churches throughout her life. She played the piano, accordion and organ at many programs, weddings and funerals and also played piano for the sing-along groups every week at the Hjemkomst Center and Park View Terrace in Moorhead. She believed strongly in taking care of the veterans, who she said “took good care of us,” and was a life member of and very active in the Albert E. Johnson VFW 1223 Auxiliary, where she also served as district and national musician. Rodney Webb was a judge who liked lawyers, liked the intellectual tug of war of the law and especially liked presiding over the swearing-in of new citizens. The U.S. District judge died on Aug. 9 at age 74 but will be remembered for the warmth and compassion he displayed during his 21 years on the bench. Webb had a lifetime of service to the people of North Dakota and the United States and is best known for overseeing the prosecution of defendants convicted in the shooting of a U.S. marshal and deputy in 1983. Musician Bob Anderson, Moorhead, died on Aug. 29 at the age of 80. He toured the U.S. with Territory Orchestras until 1949, when he joined the WDAY Orchestra in Fargo. In 1979, he and Paul Severson formed Tuxedo Junction, The Red River Dixieland Band and The Great American Ballroom Band. Anderson later formed Crescendo Music Productions and founded the Jazz Arts Group, Jazz Arts Big Band and the Jazz Arts Education Program. He served as president of the FM Music Association and was the executive producer of the first Jazz Arts CD in 1999. Mercedes Erickson, 88, Detroit Lakes, Minn., was 36-year-old Mercedes Munson on June 20, 1957, when a tornado swept through north Fargo, killing six of her children. She was a guest of honor at a 2007 memorial service in Fargo to remember those killed by the tornado. “It’s something you don’t forget,” Erickson said at the time. She died on Sept. 4. Warner McNair worked 14 hours a day, six days a week at the family’s U-Save grocery store on Eighth Street South in Fargo, and when he wasn’t working, he was pursuing one of two passions: tennis and singing. McNair won several state tennis titles and was a member of the Great Plains Harmony barbershop chorus for 50 years, and was named the group’s Man of the Year in 2000. After retiring and selling the grocery store in 1975, he joined Courts Plus in Fargo, where he worked and played tennis until he retired a second time at age 90. In 1997, the tennis courts at Island Park in Fargo were dedicated in his name. A lifelong resident of Fargo, he died on Oct. 7 at the age of 100. Fargo’s grand lady of golf, Marilyn Barge, died on Oct. 11 at age 77. Barge started the golf program at NDSU, coached the Fargo South girls golf team from 1975 to 1985 and won four state championships. She won the Women’s All City in 1975 and the North Dakota State Women’s Senior Golf tournament three times. She was inducted into the North Dakota Golf Hall of Fame in 1986. Marilyn and her husband, Derald, started a golf endowment fund at NDSU and every summer helped with the junior boys and girls golf program at the Fargo Country Club. Ardis “Art” Bunker, Fargo, was a standout college athlete, a public servant and respected Fargo businessman. He died on Oct. 31 at age 82. Bunker was best known for his namesake Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse at NDSU. He and his wife, Norene, were generous supporters of NDSU, where he graduated in 1952 and was an all-conference basketball player. He started in the life insurance business in 1954 and in 1962 co-founded Security International Insurance in Fargo. Moorhead developer and businessman Sam Skaff’s life wasn’t about making money or garnering success in business. His mission was to encourage others to follow the Lord, a goal he pursued by passing out thousands of small, white Bibles to anyone he met. The founder of Skaff Apartments died Nov. 21 at the age of 94. He began building homes and apartments in Moorhead in the 1950s and today the business manages more than 600 apartment units. Verna Newell co-hosted the afternoon talk show “Party Line” on WDAY TV in Fargo for 22 years and became one of local television’s first personalities. She died at age 89 in Fargo on Nov. 29. Newell was an unassuming homebody when she was enlisted as the co-host after she performed with a quartet on the show, which featured an in-house organist, makeovers, crafty gift ideas and tips on how to stretch the family budget. The show also had high-profile guests over the years that included Richard Nixon, Johnny Cash and Gregory Peck. Even after the show wrapped, the frequent encounters with strangers and former guests eager to chat continued because Verna and “Party Line” were like members of the family from 3 to 4 p.m. each day for many faithful viewers. Legendary sportscaster Boyd Christenson was known by many in the Fargo-Moorhead area for his rapid-fire wit and wide, dimpled grin. Those who knew him best say the friendly man audiences heard on radio and saw on TV was the same person off the air: someone who was quick to help a friend – or a stranger – or to play a prank on a co-worker. Christenson died on Dec. 22 at the age of 73. He began his broadcast career in the early 1950s at radio stations in Minot and in the late 1950s worked for KNOX radio and TV in Grand Forks, N.D. In 1964, he joined WDAY radio and TV in Fargo as sports director until the late 1970s. He worked at Prairie Public Television for about eight years and in 1986 returned to WDAY radio as host of “Viewpoint.” From 1993 to 1999, he was at KFGO radio in Fargo as host of “KFGO Live.”
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duane and i were friends for many years. i miss his bookstore, and i miss duane! i think that my late wife bought enough books from him to pay his rent! :-) i also miss the visiting and conversations. it was a lot of fun to do supper with him and janet, and one time downtown with another pal. rest in peace duane. see you on the other side!Fargo, ND 01/02/2010 9:31 PM
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