As I was reading about the garages in Dunseith, thought I would add, that after the war was over, we (the Joe Richard family) returned to Dunseith, dad had rented the farm in the hills, next to Art Rude, so he and mom decided to buy the Mobile Station, next to Hassen’s store, with my two brothers, Norm and Vern..Seems not that long ago, but all of them have died, I attended high school in Dunseith, would have really enjoyed the reunion and the marriage of my cousin Nancy and Keith.. When we lived in Dunseith there were 5 Richard brothers there. My dad Joe, Albert, Pete, and Fred. Keep up the great news..Lorraine Richard Nelson
William Stiker
Reply from Lee Stickland (64): Dickinson, ND
Gary:
Wm Striker was the father of my grandmother, May Alice Striker Stickland Hughes.
She went by the name of Mae/May or whatever. I do not recognize the names of any of the daughters ? Lee Stickland
Reply from LeaRae Parrill Espe (67): Bottineau, ND
We drove through Main Street in Dunseith last week and Hassen’s store has been torn down. Also, the house where Hassen’s lived behind the store is gone. Sure does leave a blank spot on Main Street! In 1949 the folks lived in a little house which was across the street to the North of Reid’s place. Mom used to shop around the corner at Hassen’s for most of her supplies.
I also wanted to mention that they had a benefit for Darwin Thompson, son of Bob Thompson who owned Lamoureux Garage, last weekend at Tommy Turtle Park. He is paralyzed from the neck down. Something happened after his neck surgery and he is in a facility in Mandan at this time. His prognosis sounds bleak. Both Bob and his wife passed away within months of each other it seems like between one and two years ago now.
Ray Lake, who owned the Stone Garage, had a son named Archie who was in my first grade class (55-56). I think they moved away after his first grade year. I believe Archie’s mom worked at the Corner Liquor, owned by Woodford and Stadium.
The Ackworth Ladies Aid picture was so interesting. I was not aware that Lasher’s lived in that community. Sometime in the late 20s or early 30s they must have moved to a farm near Bottineau. My dad, Dean Parrill , born 1919 , was a childhood friend of Willard and the other Lashers. In fact he stayed at their place at least one winter. As the story goes he and Thurman were suppose to stay in this little cabin somewhere up in the hills. These two teenagers were given and sack of potatoes and who knows how much else. Apparently, they were visiting some place and fire went out, the potatoes froze, and they had ended up moving in with the neighbors. Dad stayed at Lashers and Thurman at Sathers. There were six step brothers and sisters and however many of the nine half brothers and sisters who were born by that time living at home. Their step dad ran a Dairy north of Bottineau on the golf course hill and they delivered milk around town before school. I am not sure of the sequences of events leading to their move.
Thanks to Mary Eurich Knutson for clearing up how the Pritchards are related to Lashers. Lashers would visit Eurichs and us quite often. I remember Ben Lasher coming and he was usually accompanied by one of his kids and a few family members. Dad was always happy to see them. They treated him great when he was a kid and over the years. I believe Willard Lasher is now at Good Samaritan in Bottineau. Some of his poetry was recently published in the Bottineau Courant. He wrote some of it while in a fox hole during WWII. It is awesome.
I didn’t know there was a church at Ackworth as well as a school. It makes sense as there is a cemetery. I only knew of Little Prairie and a parish called St John that merged with Little Prairie. (It was not in the town of St John.) My grandparents-Cecil Day Parrill and Laura Melhus were married at St John.
To Cheryl Larson Dakin-I enjoyed visiting with you at Nancy and Keith’s reception. Three books were written in Sweden by Stieg Larson and the manuscripts found after he passed away. The first one The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo has been on the best seller list now for several weeks. It is a murder mystery with a little romance.
LeaRae Parrill Espe ’67
LeaRae, There never was a church at Ackworth. They used the School for their services. They were a Methodist group. My Great Grandfather, William Stokes, being a member, donated one acre of land for the Cemetery that we have today. Until not too many years ago there were two Ackworth organization. The Cemetery organization and the Alumni organization. The Alumni organization has pretty much fizzled out.
Willard Lasher worked At Soland’s Standard for many years. Virgil & Roberta Soland were the owners. Roberta is a sister to my brother Darrel’s wife Debby. Many years ago the Solands moved to Dickinson and had a large service station/truck stop there of which they may still have yet today. I think Virgil is retired, but the station may still be in the family. When I worked for Clark’s I spent many of my off hours hanging around Soland’s Standard, often times helping out with the pumping of gas. It was there that I learned to know Willard Lasher quite well. Dwight Olson worked there at the time too. Bud & Debby were not married at the time, but I knew Virgil & Roberta Soland from the Metigoshe Lutheran churches. They were members of Nordland. Before going into the service station business, Virgil & Roberta lived on and had a dairy on the Roger Bond farm located on the lake road several miles south of Lake Metighoshe. Bergman’s appliance is now located on the corner where Soland’s Standard was located. Before Soland’s it was owned by Bill Brandt. Gary
