ROBERT STOKES’ HISTORY

By Gary W Stokes

July 16, 1995

READ AT DAD’S 80^TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

Bottineau Senior Citizen Hall

Dad was born Sept. 2, 1915 to Carl and Bertha Petterson on a farm in the foot hills of the turtle mountains, in BottineauCounty.His mother died shortly after his and his twin sister’s birth.His twin, Margaret, was a little stronger than he and was sent to Canada to live with relatives.Dad was then adopted by the stokes family, who lived in the Ackworth community, in Willow lake township in the TurtleMountains, in RoletteCounty.It is in this community that Dad has spent the majority of his life..

In 1937, Dad ventured to Texas.I’m not sure why he chose Texas, but that is where he went.It was there that he learned the bakery trade.From there he went to Pembina, North Dakota.There, He answered an add in the paper for a job as a baker and he got the job.His new Boss’ were his future father and mother-in-law’s.He met their daughter, my mother Elaine, and in June of 1941 they got married.

After their there marriage, my folks moved back to the Ackworth community, in the turtle mountains.

One year later, 1942, Dad was called by his country, into the United States Army and served more that 30 month overseas fighting for his county.During this time, he saw a lot of combat and saw a lot of his fellow soldiers and friends killed in battle.Those were some very stressful times for all of the fighting soldiers.Dad can tell many different stories about his service years, both good and bad.From all of this, he has developed great respect for his county and the flag that he fought his life for.He is a very proud and devout American Veteran.In parades; in the past, in the present, and I know in the future, Dad, has, does, and will properly carry; straight and tall, “Old Glory”, the American Flag.He also makes sure, first and foremost, that the American Flag is displayed, and displayed properly in its appropriate place.For him that is number one priority.He will fight, tooth and nail, for the American Flag to be displayed and be displayed properly.

After the War, Dad and Mom went back to their farm in the TurtleMountains. The Farm, being only one Quarter section, wasn’t enough to provide for the family, so Dad; part of the time would work at other jobs.Both in the spring and in the fall, for many years, He worked for Ed Melbroth on his farm in Gardena.For many springs, He worked for the Bottineau county soil conservation district, planting trees and then in 1959 He worked at the Minot Are Force Base when they were building it.When Dad was working out, Mom and we boys would milk the cows and do all the chores.

One job that Dad did have, when I was in my teens, was hauling cream, from the farmers in the hills, to the Bottineau Creamery.Dad picked up his cream route from Leonard Lund in the early 60’s and kept it for probably about eight years or so.That is one job that I think he really enjoyed.He likes people and this job gave him the opportunity to work and do some socializing together.His customers liked for him to come in for a cup of coffee, and for him, turning down a cup of coffee is hard to do.By the time he got to Bottineau, after about 15 to 20 cups of coffee, he was pretty well coffee logged, but he really enjoyed it.

Following his Cream Route job, He got a job at San Haven in 1970.He worked there for almost 10 years, retiring at age 65, in 1980.This is the job that has helped him enjoy his golden years a little more fruitfully.With this job he was able to build up his SS and he gets a very small state retirement.When he first started working there, he still had the milk cows.He was milking cows, putting up hay, and farming while working at San Haven.This lasted about a year or so.Then he sold the cattle and rented the farm to Elwood Fauske.Elwood is still farming it today.With his big equipment, He covers a lot more acres in a halfhour than Dad did in one day with his little ford tractor. Elwood’s equipment is so large, that some of Dad’s fields must not allow him to make a complete round without overlapping.

Looking back, I can still remember that old log barn.The folks couldn’t afford anything else.This barn had a poplar tree roof covered with straw that was not at all water proof.When the snow melted in the spring and when it rained in the summer it leaked like a sieve.What a joy (not) it was to milk cows, in this barn, with water running down your back.The floor in this log barn, as you probably can guess, was poplar logs.They got kind of slippery to walk on in the spring of the year and when it rained.At times it was a little tricky to balance the milk stool and milk bucket on these logs, milking a Holstein cow that had gone through a barb wire fence cutting up her utter pretty bad; kicking and slapping you in the face with a dirty wet tail. To top everything off, in the spring of the year after the snow melted or when it rained hard, the mud would be over a foot deep in front of the barn.At times the mud would be deeper than the knee high boots that I had to wear to get into the barn.After chores each day, we would hose our selves off with very cold water, from the well.

In 1960, Dad got an FHA loan and was able to build a bran new barn with a roof that didn’t leak and a cement floor.That I can remember very well. I was just going into high school.It was such a pleasure to use this new barn.I still remember that the cows kept their same order in the stanchions from the old log barn to the new barn.They knew exactly what order to be in.

Dad went to the Ackworth country school and in the 7th grade, he had to, like many other kids of those times, quit school to work at home.This is the same school that all three of us boys attended.I was the last person to graduate from Ackworth, going though all eight grades, before it was redistricted, in 1961 and everybody went to Dunseith.Bud was going into the 4th grade and Allen into the 7th grade, when it was redistricted.When I was in first grade, there were 6 kids in the whole school.When Dad went there, there were more than 40 kids.As the years pasted, after Dads younger days to our days and to the present, there are fewer families with less children living in the Turtle Mountains.

Dad was the only Stokes child; however, when he became an adult he discovered his biological family.They only lived about 20 miles apart, but in that day, that was a long ways.In his biological family, there were 12 children.He and his twin sister were numbers 11 and 12.I think Dad must have been number 12, because his middle name is Decenious, and I believe that means 12 in Norwegian.He did not meet his twin sister, Margaret, until he was 34 years old, because she lived in Canada.As Dad has always said, “when they first met, they realized that they were not identical twins”.

Of the 12 Petterson children, in Dad’s family, there are still five living today and one sister-in-law.There are three boys and 2 girls.They are Nels, who lives with his wife, Helga, of almost 64 years of marriage, in Everett, WA;Emil and his wife, Lillian, of 58 years of marriage, living here in Bottineau;Elvina, living in Rugby ND; Dad’sTwin, Margaret, of 80 years, living in Weyburn, SK., Canada; and of course, Dad, Living here in Bottineau. Gerda, Dad’s brother, Han’s wife, lives here in Bottineau.For that family, she is the oldest of the living today.Gerda is almost 92 years old, very capably lives alone and her main mode of transportation is walking.She looks and functions like someone 30 years junior to her.Nels is almost 91 and he still functions pretty well.He still has a very sharp mind.His back has been bothering him for a few years, but other than that, He’s still going pretty strong.He still drives his car around Everett.Emil, as you can see, is looking and doing pretty good, after he got his new hip.

My Folks have always been very active in the Lutheran church.When I was a kid we went to Salem.There were 4 churches in the district; Salem, Vinje, Nordland, and Manger.We used to go to Salem and Vinje Churches during the summer and then Nordland in the winter months.Those four churches have all merged into one with their church and chapel at LakeMetigoshe.I will never forget the people from those congregations.They were very nice people with a special bond.

Dad, like all of his brothers and sisters, has been know for his ability to work very hard, very fast and very swift.His normal working day, when I was a kid, during the summer, was about 15 hours.He very seldom worked Sundays, though.To this day, Bud has to constantly tell him to slow down.In the winter months he is constantly blowing snow and in the summer he’s mowing grass everywhere.He still helps bud with his farming, hauling grain and doing miscellaneous jobs.He just loves to work and to this day, he still works hard, fast and swift.

Dad has one trait that I envy, and that is his social skills.He knows no strangers.Everybody is his friend.He gets acquainted, very fast, everywhere he goes.When ever he comes out to visit us, in Washington, he has to visit all of my neighbors, they are all his friends.Whereever he goes, he will strike up a good conversation and more than likely throw in a few jokes her and there.He has a terrific memory for faces and names.Dad has a gift and I mean a great gift, not shared by many, for his ability to tell stories.It’s a real art to always get that punch line in his stores to come out perfect every time and be funny.You may here the same story more than once, but that’s OK, because he’s just telling the next guy that hasn’t heard it yet.If he’s in a store, in a new area, like Washington, He’ll strike up a conversation with a store clerk, usually by showing her his North Dakota time, followed by a few stories and then if she gets busy, he’ll wait until she’s not busy and go back and shoot the breeze some more, usually with a few more stories, if she liked the ones he had already told her, and most of the time she has liked them.His next time back in that store, he is remembered, even years later.I’m telling you, it’s a real gift and art not shared by many.

The golden years have been good for the folks.They both enjoy good health and stay very active.They spend a lot of time right here, in the senior citizen building, almost everyday.They eat there dinners here every week day, getting here about 11 o’clock everyday and staying until 3 or 4 in the afternoon socializing, playing cards and pool.It’s kind of funny, because they watch the price is right show from 10 to 11 and then they come up here, but Mom doesn’t wait for the show to get over.She leaves about 10 minutes to 11, so that she can get here usual table to play cards before dinner.She takes their pickup truck and then Dad walks up after the TV show is over.Dad is still very active in the American legion and Mom in the legion auxiliary.They are still active in the metogoshe church and they are very active with their grand kids and all of their many activities.