John (Jack) Johnson Family:

From Albert Johnson (70): Rolla, ND.

Gary,

Shirley Johnson Haagenson is the youngest of the John (Jack) Johnson family of Dunseith. Her brothers were Walt, Joe aka Warren, Roger, Chuck (married to Mona), Bob & Bud. Her father was the manager of the laundry at San Haven and his son Chuck later became the laundry manager at San Haven. Jack Johnson was a direct emigrant from Sweden and was not related to any other Johnsons in the area. I think the only remaining descendants remaining in this area are me and my sister Linda Juntunen of Rolla. Gary please sign me up for the upcoming reunion also.

Albert Johnson (70)

Follow up reply from Albert:

Hello Gary,

After giving it more thought, I remembered that Mona and Chuck Johnson still have two sons in the Bottineau area that are also grandsons of Jack Johnson of Dunseith. Brian is a manager at one of the banks in Bottineau and I think his brother Ross is still in the Bottineau area.

Albert Johnson

Luella Halvorson Dion (47):

Reply from Floyd Dion (45):Dunseith, ND.

Hi Gary

You mentioned that Ruth Peterson, Lloyd Larshus, Rena Roland, Dorothy Clark, were first cousins. My wife Luella is also a first cousin of all of them, as Luella’s mother was a sister to Ruths mother and also a sister to Lloyd, Rena & Dorothy’s mother. Luella is not related to Art Rude.

Floyd

Floyd,

Lloyd Larshus, Rena Roland and Dorothy Clark are siblings. All the years I have known them I did not realize they were cousins to Luella and her bothers Clifford, Albert, Lester & Harvey. I have known Ruth Peterson since my childhood days too and did not realize she was a cousin to all of them either. Their mothers were all Larson sisters, daughters of Nels and Jorgina or Regina Larson. The Bottineau book lists Mrs. Nels Larson as Jorgina and the Dunseith Book as Regina. The Nels Larson family is not listed in either of the Bottineau or Dunseith books.

Lloyd and Orlene Flaata Larshus often celebrated their wedding anniversary with my folks. Lloyd/Orlene & my folks were married on June 18th, but in different years. Lloyd and Orlene were married in 1950 and my folks were married in 1941. Whenever we are in the Dunseith/Bottineau area, Dorothy Clark always invites us to her house for coffee, lunch and some good conversation. Reuben, her husband, was a brother to Dave Clark the third. I worked for and lived with Dave & Vivian Clark, following high school, for about a year and a half, before going west. They were great folks and treated me as one of their own. We have remained good friends over the years.

Gary

John Andreoff Family:

Reply from LeaRae Parrill Espe (67): Bottineau, ND.

Thank you to Ron Peltier for posting the obituary of John Andreoff.

A couple of days ago I saw Carlyle Nelson at the Bowling Alley coffee shop in Bottineau. He handed me a copy of the Turtle Mt Times (dated 1/4/10) which had an article on his daughter Melissa Nelson. Melissa is a nationally renowned author, ecologist, & educator who teaches at University of San Francisco and specializes in cross cultural studies. Her mother is Theresa Davis Nelson formerly of Dunseith and her dad is an old family friend of ours. Carlyle is the son of Abe Nelson and had five sisters Evelyn, Loretta, Romona, EdnaMae, and Lavonne. He grew up on a farm on the Willow Lake Road. His two oldest sisters Loretta and Evelyn roomed in town with mom and my aunt Marie Parrill who were also Nelsons but no relation. Carlyle’s daughter was visiting her dad in ND and spoke at the Turtle Mt Community College fairly recently.

Anyway, after I read the article in the Times on Melissa, I was saddened to read John Andreoff’s obituary. He was married to Janie Martin. Just a couple of months ago I wrote about Gerald Martin and had Neola post his obituary. These two were brother- in -laws and I knew John was very sick at the time of Gerald’s funeral as neither he nor Janie made it out to Williston for the services. As I mentioned before, Gerald and Janie’s mother, Josephine (Lazotte) Martin, babysat me and our families were good friends. Josephine grew up on a farm near Belcourt and I never pass by on Hwy 5 without thinking of her. I was with her when she visited her parents who lived in a big white house on the north side of the road and at that time there was a convent south of there. Now I think there the new Ojibway School is down there somewhere. The convent had other uses later and I am not sure what it is used for now. Lazotte’s donated their land to build the convent (at least that was my understanding). The manufacturing plant sits right below the hill on the South side. The convent was pretty much out of site from the highway.

I was showing the obit to mom the other night and she related the story of when John and Janie got married and they swung by the farm to inform the folks of the event. Mom taught Gerald and Janie (Mary Jane) at the Butte School.

Cliff Johnson, Dick’s Uncle:

Reply from Dick Johnson (68): Dunseith, ND

Gary and Friends,

In answer to Gary’s question about my uncle Cliff Johnson. He went
to his early grades in Towner, ND and middle grades in Dunseith. Because
of the road conditions here in the hills he went back to Towner to
finish high school. There he stayed with his aunt and uncle and
graduated in 1951. He worked for the soil conservation service as a cat
operator and then had the Standard Oil bulk service in Rolette. He went
to work building the Minot Air base and then went back to college and
became a superintendent of schools. He was in several locations in ND
and MT and retired while at Hamilton, MT. They spend their summers at
Flathead Lake, MT and winters in AZ and Mexico. They come ‘home’ to ND
just about every summer and spend a few days with us and other relatives
and friends. Thanks Gary!

Dick

Freida Schneider Ferrguson Obituary:

Posted by Neola Kofoid Garbe: Bottineau & Minot, ND.

July 10, 2010

Plans are underway to hold a Turtle Mountain Country School Reunion on July 10, 2010, at the Twin Oaks Resort & Convention Center at Lake Metigoshe.Anyone who attended a country school in the Turtle Mountains or is interested in celebrating an educational life style of the past is welcome to attend.The cost is $42.00 per person.Reservations and advance payment are required.Please fill out the form below and mail to:

Linda Gardner

3059 Sugar Lane

Vienna, VA22181