05/21/2009

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Tribute to Don & Bernice Johnson from Aggie Casavant (69) Fort Mill, SC
Aggie, this is a very touching well written letter that you have written. You most certainly have a good way with words.
 
Folks, With the dynamic impact Don & Bernice left on our community, I have been thinking it would be proper to send all these wonderful tributes to the local papers for publication. Dick Johnson, we would for sure pass all this through you before doing this. Your folks have been gone 29 years now. They are so well remembered and will never be forgotten.
 
Please keep the memories coming. Gary
 
I was so very happy when I saw this website do a tribute to Don & Bernice Johnson,that is now giving me the opportunity to share my thoughts and memories of two beautiful people…two people who left a far greater impact on peoples lives than I believe they ever realized. Don Johnson set the standard for me what every man,in what ever capacity of my life,should measure up to…So far I haven’t found one. The things I remember the most about him is his warm and friendly smile,and chuckle,and when he would meet me in the hall he would always give me that smile and say,”Hi Ag-ga-nus”, he would pronounce my name like that ;and chuckle. I remember his earth science class and he would make it so interesting.I remember for a semester test in earth science,he gave us 50 definitions and we had to give the word that defined it.I know he had to be aware of the fact that I overall in school did not do well in any of my classes,and for me to pass a test was unheard of(all jokes aside) however I always did reasonably well in his class.When I was taking that semester test of completions,not multiple choice, I got every last one of them,except I was stumped on one.He told me to go onto the other questions and come back to it,that the answer would come to me.I finished up the test and came back to that one…and just drew a blank. All the other kids completed the test and had left the room,and Mr. Johnson stood by my desk and said,”Come on Aga-ness tink, tink,you can do it.I remember he pulled a desk into the aisle and put his foot up on the seat leaning in trying to help me as much as he could,but not giving me the answer.I can still see those brown pants and brown wingtip shoes with that design on them propped up on that desk seat,and all I could do was stare at those shoes wanting so badly to remember the definition of…”washing away of the soil”. He said,”Aga-nus,remember in class when I gave the example when the road flooded by our farm and it washed part of the road away,it is called……………..”He wanted so badly for me to get 100%,but I just couldn’t do it.After about 20 minutes I put my head on my desk and said,”I just can’t remember it…what is it??? There was a long pause,and he said,Your sure you can’t remember it? And I said no,”No I’m Done”…He said,”Agganus,the washing away of the soil is called….erosion….it seemed like the whole world stood still for a minute,and I fell face down over my test…Oh nooooo I said…When I looked up at him,he kinda had tears in his eyes,and he hugged my head and sai,”You did good Agganus, you did really good”. Then he went on to say,”in the years ahead,everytime you see a washed out road,or washing away of the soil you will remember the word “erosion” and this moment…and you were right Mr. Johnson…I never have forgot.As for Bernice, my Mom shared with me something so special that Bernice had done for her,everytime I think of it I just say,Wow! Due to the personal sensitivity of the subject on my Mothers part, I don’t feel at liberty to share it over the website.But I can say with certainty Dick, something you’ve known for years….that you were blest with the two most awesome parents that anyone could of been blest with…it saddens me everytime I think of how your time with them, and the worlds time with them was so short…When I’ve tried to describe Don and Bernice to people in my travels over the years. I would say,”they kinda reminded me of the show Green Acres,cuz Don Johnson would have on a suit when I saw him,and Bernice would always have on a coat with a fur collar and drove a big gold Cadillac,but they lived on a farm,and were much more genuine,warm,sincere and common,than Eddie Albert and Za Za Gabore…They were just the nicest people ever…..Thank you still after all these years Don & Bernice Johnson. You are still loved,you are still missed..But never forgotten…Sincerely, Aggie Casavant
 
 
 
Reply/message/picture from Dick Johnson (67): Dunseith, ND
 
Gary and Friends,

Thanks to all for the respectful comments about my folks. They seem to
have impacted many lives over the years. It would have been nice to have
had them with us for many more years. It doesn’t seem possible that they
have been gone for 29 years, this May 22. Time waits for no man. Thank
you all.

A while ago Gary Metcalfe mentioned Raymond Kelly. He was called ‘Red’
and ‘Bum’ and ‘Hobo’. He actually traveled around by hopping freight
trains like the real hobos. I think Sybil Johnson said old Grant Kelly
sent Red to get some potatoes and he came back 10 years later with a bag
of spuds on his shoulder! I remember one time he was standing in front
of Sy’s Pool Hall and when I went by he stuck his cane out and stopped
me. He said, “You’re Don’s kid, ain’t you?” I was about 10 years old at
the time. I said I was and he said, “I made your dad his first bow and
arrow.” He then proceeded to spin yarns and tell me all about his
escapades. I went home and told Dad about this neat old guy I met up in
front of the pool hall. As I was telling him what the guy said, Dad was
just staring at me in disbelief. He asked me who the guy was? I told him
he said his name was Red Kelly. Dad shook his head and said, “Don’t
believe a word he tells you, he’s the biggest story teller in the
country!” Hey, I thought I had really discovered something! Oh well, Dad
knew him forever and I just met him. Red stayed in a small log cabin out
past our barn, on the shore of Horseshoe Lake, next to Axel Johnson and
his family. They moved out in about the late 30s and the place was left
abandoned except for an odd wild animal now and then. When I was a kid,
I played in the cabin. By the mid 60s the roof had fallen in and later
the whole cabin collapsed. I took this picture in 1971 for a class in
photography at UND. In the mid 70s, I pushed the remnants of both houses
into a pile with the Cat and burned what was left to clean up the place.
One amazing thing happened when I was scraping up the last of the stones
the house had sat on! I looked down at the black dirt and saw a very
small curved gold wire. I jumped off the Cat and gently dug around until
I unearthed my great grandmother’s reading glasses—-unharmed! Can you
imagine the chances of driving a 17 ton Cat and dozer over a tiny pair
of old glasses and only exposing one bow and then not smashing them to
bits! It was pretty amazing! We still have them and even use them once
in a while for removing slivers or other intricate stuff. Quite the
heirloom! Thanks Gary!

Picture of Raymond ‘Red’ Kelly’s cabin on Horseshoe Lake

 
 
Questions/Message from Blanche Wicks Schley (42): Grand Forks, ND
 
I was reading through some very old obituaries the other day and it was interesting to see flower girls listed. Do know anything about this idea at a funeral? I have no idea as to the origin of this idea.
Can you enlighten me?
 
In your daily e-mails, a Dunseith book is mention…is this something that would still be available?
 
And, last but not least, I really enjoy the delightful stories about the residents of Dunseith….many of them I remember the last name but never met the people. What great story you could print if all the information was put into one great history of the town and its residents. Good job, Gary.
Blanche, the Dunseith book mentioned is the 1982 “Prairie Past & Mountain Memories” Centennial Book. Copies are available for purchase on the Dunseith WEB site. I have pasted that link below. This is a wonderful book with the histories of the Dunseith and surrounding area people. I strongly recommend the hard cover copy of this book. The soft cover copy is just glued together and the glue in mine came apart. It’s great for taking pages out of for scanning though. I now have a hard copy of this book too.
 
Dunseith WEB link
 
Yes Blanche, All these stories/pictures and email messages could be compiled into wonderful book. We are not finished yet though. This would be a great project for anyone interested in doing this. This would be a pretty good sized book. Gary
 
Dunseith Seattle Reunion dinner July 24, 2009 – Posted by Bill Grimme
 
Folks, This is the current list of folks signed up for our Dunseith Seattle reunion being held at the Best Western in Seattle on July 24th. If you plan to attend, please make your dinner selection and mail your payment to Bill Grimme. I have pasted the info for doing this below. Those of us going on the cruise are looking forward to seeing you Seattle folks at this reunion. This will be a fun get together. Gary
 



Name
Chicken Breast
New York Steak
 

Chuck Munro
1
1
 Robert Hosmer
2
   Gary Stokes
2
   Nancy Baldwin
1
1
 Diane and Scott Sjol
1
1
 Randy Flynn
1
5
 Gary Metcalfe (child 1/2 price)
4
 Ardis Steggal
1
1
 Phyllis McKay
3
   Lee Stickland
2
   Lea Rae Espe
2
   Bill Grimme
2
 Bill Longie (TENTATIVE)
2
   Mark VanDyne (TENTATIVE)
2
   David Shelver
1
1
 Sharron Shen
2
1
 Evie Pilkington  

Shirley Larocque  

Laverne Rude
2
   Connie Fauske Monte (Tentative)
2
 Oliver/Marlene Reing
1
1
 Darrel/Deborah Stokes
2
   Sandra Vandal
1
1
 Cheryl Haagenson
1
   Marie Staub
2
  
 
Gary,
 
The list (above) are the folks that have paid and/or indicated they will attend the reunion dinner. The names in RED have indicated attendance, but, I have not received payment yet. Please check this list and verify your dinners are correct and if your payment info is correct , i.e. if you are in RED and have sent a payment please let me know and I will go back and check my hard copies. I plan to close out the dinner list and hold the raffle drawing on or about May 31, so if you are sending in a late payment, please let me know.
 
Bill
 

 

To attend this dinner, just fill in the following selections for you or your party, send me a check, and I will return a receipt.

Note: the dinner costs listed are inclusive of all taxes and grautuities.

 

NumberEntréePriceExtended price

 

______Pan Seared Chicken Breast$24.90___________

______Angus Beef New York Steak$34.10___________

 

 

TOTAL FOR YOU PARTY___________

 

 

 

Send Check to Bill Grimme,

3117 Memory Brook Circle,Birmingham,AL35242

.Phone 205-991-6512.

 

 

 

Hope to see you all there. Thank you.

 

 

Bill Grimme Class of ‘65

 
 
 

 
Pictures posted by Bev Morniville Azure (72): Dunseith, ND
 
Found this and thought alot of the kids that used to hung out at my house would enjoy this picture of my mom…….. Lyle I know u will love it
GOD BLESS YOU …………BEV
 
 
Francis Morinville

 

 

 

Herman Martinson

 

 

 

 

Folks,

 

Harvey Hiatt called me yesterday. He was actually returning my phone call. Harvey is currently living in Flagstaff, AZ. Harvey told me he had a tombstone made for his Dad, Willie E. Hiatt, inclusive of his mother’s (Maxine) and all of his siblings names engraved on it. Harvey will be placing this tombstone on their cemetery lot in Ackworth next month.

 

Speaking of Harvey, One of you folks sent me a picture of Harvey pictured with his Bottineau HS class of 61. I forgot who sent me that. This picture was taken in 2007. This is one of the photo’s that I lost with the reformatting of my hard drive. If any of you remember sending me that picture and still have it can you please forward it to me again?

 

Geraldine (Geri) LaFromboise Marcavage was our teacher at Ackworth in 1954/55. This would have been the first year of Winter school. Prior to this Ackworth was a summer school. I was in 2nd grade, Harvey Hiatt and Stan Salmonson were in 6th grade and Barbara Hiatt was in 8th grade. Geraldine lived with our family when she taught at Ackworth. I had not seen Miss LaFromboise since 2nd grade, 52 years prior to this photo being taken. Prior to our going back to Dunseith for the 2007 reunion, I decided to locate Geraldine. She was a hard one to track down, but I did find her. At the time she was living in SC, but was in the process of moving back to Belcourt. I arranged to meet her at Dale’s. When I told Harvey about this he said he and his sister Barbara would love to see her too. I then called Stan & Joan Salmonson and invited them too. We had a wonderful mini reunion with Miss LaFromboise. Geri sure has great recall of her year teaching at Ackworth. She is still the amazing wonderful beautiful lady that I remembered back in 2nd grade. As you can tell with her 1954 picture pasted below, the guys were all drawn to her beauty. She always had her pick of the litter with her dating. When I saw Geri in 2007 she did not have email. If any of you Belcourt folks know Geri, can you please pass this message on to her?

 

Gary

 

 

Picture taken at Dale’s in July 2007:

L to R: Stan & Joan Wurgler Salmonson, Harvey Hiatt, Geraldine LaFromboise Marcavage, Gary Stokes

& Barbara Hiatt Cote.

 

 

 

Geraldine LaFromboise – 1954