Bill Fassett Memories
From Bill Hosmer (’48): Tucson, AZ
Gary and Friends. I was in Dunseith a short time
this summer and picked up a copy of”Prairie Past
and Mountain Memories” for $20.00. I was there
with my brother Don, Jess Hosmer’s husband, my
sons John and Donald and John’s wife, Dotty Hosmer.
The occasion was the delivery of a new shelf and display case which my son John made. On it is a
brass plate which says, “In Memory of Jesslyn Hosmer”, who was mentioned by so many of our
Dunseith friends in the latest Blog.
On another note, I am blessed with a copy of the CD
which is Bill Fassett’s guitar and vocal collection, and
which reveals the talent that was hidden from us all those years. Bill was the coach during the short time I
played Legion Baseball in Dunseith with many guys still
around, and some who have passed. His wife Irene was very active in Dunseith matters dealing with our Centennial Celebration in 1982, as was Bill, George Gottbreht, and the Campbells. On one of my visits home, I called Irene “Mrs Dunseith”. She smiled and Bill told me later, she thought that was great.
Judging from many kind comments regarding my sister-in-law, Jess Hosmer, she would have warranted that title in her years in Dunseith.
We readers have a rare and precious heritage which
I would say we all cherish, based on the many contributions that Gary compiles for us all.
In departing I’ll relay a story that Darrel Fassett
tells about his brother Bill. On the ninth Tee at
the Dunseith Garden Gate Golf Course, Bill
drove a ball into one of the big trees right in front
of the tee box and it came back at about 95 mph,
and being a natural ball player, Bill took a giant
swing at that ball with that tiny shaft and huge
club head. It was a missed strike. That’s the
way to do it if one swing doesn’t work, try the
other one. Unforgettable memories. Bill Hosmer
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Ruth Peterson and her daughter Norma
Reply from LeaRae Parrill Espe (’67): Bottineau, ND
I love the picture of Ruth and her daughter Norma “Muffy” . Mom and Ruth were such good friends since mom (Mildred Parrill ’43) taught the Medrud School and stayed at Ruth’s parents Oscar and Lydia Larshus. I believe Ruth was in college and her kids stayed at their grandparents and attended the Medrud School. Ruth’s children were Ralph, Norma and Marjo. Mom and Ruth followed each other around in their careers and life. Mom later taught at Russel, ND and when the school consolidated with Newburg, Ruth taught in Newburg and had some of the same pupils/families. Later mom taught and Dunseith Public and Ruth was hired there. In the later years Ruth moved to Oak Manor and about that time mom did also. Then Ruth ended up at Good Samaritan and mom did also. Mom did stay at Good Sam only about three months when she broke her wrist in 2012 and Ruth had sadly already passed.
I remember when I was about 6 years old ,Ruth would come with her car and loaded up Clark and I with mom to pick wild raspberries. They would get going quite early and Ruth would come into the house and annouce that she was ” airing her beds” today and they would laugh and mom said she was doing the same. We have used that phrase more than a few times when we were caught without making the bed!
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Bernadette’s Nieces, Novie and Mirasol at the Cebu Expat dinner at the Marco Polo
Novie always goes with us wherever we go. If Bernadette is in the car, Novie is along to assist her aunt Bernadette. She is right there along with us at all of our social events. Our Expat friends have learned to know and like Novie very well. She is a good mixer and fits in very well.
Mirasol is married to Bernadette’s nephew, also Novie’s cousin. They live in one of the apartments on our grounds that we built for Bernadette’s nieces and nephews. These are pretty simple units built to Filipino Standards, not American. Upon our return from the states, our helper got sick, so we hired Mirasol to fill in while he recovered. Upon his return in two weeks, we decided to keep Mirasol too. Novie’s primary job is taking care of Bernadette, but she also does a lot of the house hold chores too. Now Novie and Mirasol take care of the inside of the house at the same time keeping an eye on Bernadette and taking care of her needs and wants too. The helper that was sick takes care of the outside chores and also does our laundry.
This past Monday, we decided to take Mirasol along with us to this months Expat dinner at the Marco Polo Plaza too. Up to this point, McDonald’s had been the extent of her dinning out. Treating her to a 5 star hotel buffet dinner was a real treat. Last week she had her 33rd birthday too. She was mighty surprised when the Marco Polo team presented her with a cake and sang happy birthday to her and three others in our group. The Marco Polo had asked me for the names of those with Birthdays in advance. There were 96 expat folks that attended our Marco Polo dinner. It was the biggest one ever.
Gary
