JANUARY 2024 Update

JANUARY 2024 Update

JANUARY 2024 - Classmate Update

JERRY IVERSON: Rhenda and I are still living in St James Plantation, located about 5 miles west of Cape Fear, and enjoying Coastal Carolina. We have been here for 20 years, the longest that I have ever lived in one place. We are in good health and enjoying all the amenities around us – golf courses, good weather (except for hurricanes), ocean and beach, and little traffic. We keep busy with golf, bridge groups, book clubs, a wine group, walking and attendance at musicals and plays in the local area. When I say good health – that also means the standard aches and pains resulting from 80 years of living.

I just completed my fourth and final retirement. I retired from the USAF in 1990 after 24 years of active duty. I retired from the defense industry in 2003 where I stayed in Waco, TX but worked for three different companies due to buy-outs. The three companies were Chrysler Technologies, Raytheon, and L-3 Communications. After moving to NC, I worked as a consultant for seven years advising many different defense companies in the pursuit of new business. My last retirement was late last year from the Board of Directors for our Property Owners Association (5,000 homes) where I served nine years on the board and seven years as president. Retirement feels good.

Our travel has slowed a bit and we no longer travel over-seas. Our travel these days is primarily to see family, attend graduations, weddings, and the like. We do have annual reunions with my two sisters and their husbands. Our last reunion was in October of last year in Sedona, AZ, followed by a couple of days in Scottsdale for more golf.

Our children and five grandchildren are all doing well. Kara and family are living in Apex and has two of our grandchildren. Kait their oldest is graduating from Davidson this year and will be attending Vanderbilt in the fall for an advanced degree. Megan is graduating from HS this year and will be attending UNC, Chapel Hill. Jennifer and family are living in Ridgewood, NJ, with three of our grandchildren. Grace, their oldest is a freshman at James Madison University. Jack is a freshman in HS and is on the school basketball and lacrosse teams. Luke, our youngest grandchild is in the fourth grade and active in all sports.

LUTHER & MARILYN NERIVG: Mary Jo Forseth (now Marilyn Nervig) and I (Luther Nervig) will celebrate our 58^th anniversary next August. We moved to Wadena, Minnesota in August 1967 when I finished law school, and we still live in the same house that we built in l975. So our lives have been consistent. We are in good health and have maintained an active life. We spend the months of January, February and March in the warm weather of Marco Island, Florida. We try to spend most of the summer months at our lake cabin on Kabekona Lake, which is 70 miles northeast of Wadena.

Marilyn taught at the Elementary School and the High School for several years and then cut back to intermittent subbing to accommodate our travel plans. I practiced law for 43 years, and when I retired from the law practice in February 2011, I turned in my license so that I did not have to open a law book again. I served on the Tri-County Hospital Board in Wadena for 40 years and retired in 2010. Today I continue to enjoy serving on two bank boards and we both enjoy volunteering on several community and church committees and activities.

We have been fortunate to travel to many parts of the world over the years with our first trip to Norway and Europe financed with wedding gifts. Overseas travel has become an avocation for us, and having a son and family employed as a diplomat in the Foreign Service has resulted in many trips to areas that we had never considered visiting. Next year’s destination will be Manila, The Philippines.

We have three children and six grandchildren. Sarah and husband Scott live in Shoreview, Minnesota where she is a Spanish professor at Bethel University. Their oldest son Ben will graduate from St. Olaf College this spring, and son Joseph is a sophomore at Denver University. Maren and husband Chris live in Carver, Minnesota very near to Chaska where Maren taught elementary school for many years and continues to do long and short term subbing. Their daughter Emma graduated from DePaul University a year ago and is working in wealth management with her father, and their daughter Leah will graduate from Gustavus Adolphus College this spring. Our son Phillip and wife Katherine live in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, where he is a diplomat at the US embassy. They have two sons, 16 year old Jack and 13 year old Sam.

All of our family members are healthy, and we are truly grateful for all our blessings.

RON CLEMENTS: As some of you may remember, I spent my boyhood in Southern Illinois where my Father worked in the oilfield. During the tail end of my sophomore year in high school, Dad broke the news that he had a great job opportunity in Williston where they had just discovered oil. The next thing we knew, my two sisters and I were headed north. As far as I was concerned, we might as well have been going to the Moon!!! In spite of that rough start, I highly value my 8 years spent in North Dakota which I will explain later.

After high school, I attended the University of North Dakota where I got a BS degree in electrical engineering. I interviewed several electronics companies, but at the last minute I decided the oil business was in my blood and accepted a job with Shell Oil Company in New Orleans. After a year on the job, I decided that I needed more education in the field I had chosen and obtained an MS degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Tulsa.

It was about this time that the Williston draft board was highly interested in my services with the Viet Nam war going hot and heavy. Due to an injury I had while in graduate school and the fact that the military considered jobs in the oil industry as critical to the war effort, I was given a deferment and did not serve. I know many of you served in the military during the war and went on to have successful careers thereafter. I greatly appreciate your service ot our country. I would like to give special recognition to our classmate Bob Himler and an ATO fraternity brother of mine, Ernie Bartalina who gave the ultimate sacrifice to our nation. They both served as helicopter pilots in Viet Nam.

I spent 35 thrilling years in the oil business and enjoyed every minute of it as I was involved in drilling and producing oil and gas wells. I spent most of my time in the gulf coast (both onshore and offshore). The last 10 years of my career was with a large independent in the northeastern part of the country. It was an exciting business to be in though I have to admit it was mitigated to some extent as I climbed the management ladder and the stress level intensified.

I met my wife Brenda in New Orleans. She has been a wonderful partner and loving mother to our two daughters going on 56 years now. Our oldest daughter Kara lives in Katy Tx where she works for Shell Oil Company as a petroleum engineer They have 3 boys and the oldest is a freshman at Texas A&M. Our youngest daughter Kimberly is a Community Relations Manager for a Construction Compay living in Canton, Oh. She has a girl and 2 boys.

I was fortunate to be able to retire at age 57. The past 23 years of retired life have flown by. We keep busy playing tennis and golf, managing our investments, doing volunteer work, and traveling extensively. We have visited all 50 states and made many trips overseas. The most enjoyment has been experiencing our 6 grandkids grow into mature young adults. We are so proud of each one of them.

One of the biggest regrets in my life has been that I lost total contact with all my high school and college classmates when I headed south to work after graduation. It is such a shame since all of you had a very positive impact on my life. You took in a lost sole early in my junior year and instantly made me feel at home. You exposed me to so many traits that are still with me today. First of all, you showed me how to enjoy life. I have such fond memories of trolling Main Street from Volney Lanes to the railroad station. On a few occasions, we shared a six pack of Grain Belt Premium that were purchased using an old draft card. You taught me how to do what I think was called a “Wheelee” where the car did a 180 on icy roads. You showed me what a strong work ethic is all about. You taught me how to survive in below zero weather with the wind blowing 30 mph. And you did it all with such an unassuming attitude and humility. I am so late in saying this but I thank all of you from the bottom of my heart!!

GO COYOTES!! FIGHTING SIOUX FOREVER!!

ROBERT BURNS: Like most of us guys back in 1960 we were faced with being drafted into the US Army which didn’t appeal to me. So I enlisted in the US Navy and choose being a radarman as my MOS. I was sent to San Diego, California for my boot camp training. After boot camp I was stationed at Treasure Island, California to attend Radarman A school. While at Treasure Island my first wife (Erlene Houle) and I were married. After graduating from A school I was assigned duty on the USS Mahan DLG 11 home ported in San Diego, California. As luck would have it a couple weeks after reporting onboard we were deployed to the Vietnam area. The Mahan was the first US Ship officially chosen to enter the Vietnam area and since we had the Commodore Flag on onboard, we were sent up the river to Siagon for a diplomatic visit.

In 1964 I re-enlisted for an additional 6 years and went back to Treasure Island, CA for Radarman B School. After graduation I was assigned to the USS Ranger CVA 61 home ported in San Francisco, California.

I made five deployments to the Tonkin Gulf, Vietnam. As a result I was able to visit most of the far east. Philippines, Hong Kong (under British rule at the time), Singapore, Borneo, Australia, New Ginea, Japan to name a few. On one of our returns to the states I was honored to be chosen as one of the first two enlisted personnel to ever be sent to the Computer Programming School at FAWTC in San Diego, CA.

While home ported in San Diego Erlene and I had two children Roger Dale and Janice Ann. Erlene passed away very young of heart failure. Roger now lives in Apache Junction, AZ with his family and works for the fire department as the Chief Fireman. Janice now lives in San Jose, California area with her family.

Having spent 10 years on active duty I was hired by Hughes Aircraft Company as a programmer on the Navy’s new AGEIS radar system where I met my second wife Cheryl Sue Winn. Back in the 60’s and early 70’s programmers went to work with companies that were awarded new contracts as a result Cheryl and I moved to New Jersey where I went to work for Computer Sciences Corporation in New Jersey. Two years later I went to work for Litton Data Systems in Culver City, CA. Four years later I went to work for a little unknown corporation Telos Computing Inc. and moved to Duncan, OK where we stayed for over 10 years. Telos transferred me to Fort Wayne, Indiana as Regional Manager working with Magnavox and other companies.

Along the way Cheryl and I had two sons and Cheryl became an LPGA golf pro. Our two sons Todd Dewayne and Chad Robert both live in Oklahoma. Todd lives in Yukon, Ok and owns his own computer systems consulting firm and his wife Mary Jane is now one of the top three realtors in the Oklahoma City area. Chad lives in Eufaula, OK and is a master mechanic and owns automotive repair services shop and his wife is an accountant and has her own accounting firm. Chad followed in his mothers footsteps and received his PGA ticket before going into the mechanics business.

After 27 years Cheryl went on to become an LPGA teaching pro and we divorced and Cheryl moved to the Florida Villages and remains there today.

As for me I am retired and live in the small town of Eufaula, OK. I live right on one of the largest lakes in Oklahoma, Lake Eufaula. I live right on the shore of the lake and have my own dock and boat for great fishing, swimming, and boating.

I am currently Precinct Clerk for elections when scheduled, which makes for some very long hours on election day.

I have also become very active in the Oklahoma GOP and serve as Precinct Chairman for Precinct 203 in McIntosh County, OK and am a delegate to the County Convention and also the State Convention.

Health wise back in 2016 I had a triple-by-pass heart operation and have recovered nicely. My general health at this time is good and I stay pretty active as well as helping out at my son Chad’s shop.

TERRY HAAKENSON: Cheryl and I are still living in Charlotte, North Carolina, where we have been for more than 21 years. We are enjoying an active retirement, with lots of walking, jogging, reading, and serious amounts of travel, both foreign and domestic. We recently celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary (almost two years late, due to the Covid scare) by taking a cruise in French Polynesia.

After high school, I attended the University of North Dakota, graduating with a degree in mathematics. Then, with the draft board showing great interest in me, I joined the U.S Air Force, where I learned to enjoy the life of an aviator, so I decided to stay in. Five years into my Air Force career, I met Cheryl, an Ohio University graduate, who was working in Columbus, Ohio. We were married there in 1971, and she gave up a promising banking job to take on one of the tougher jobs in the Air Force – being an Air Force wife. We enjoyed all of our USAF life, with assignments to such places as Hawaii (5 years) the Washington DC area (6 years), and last but not least, Norway (5 years), where I served at the U.S. Embassy in Oslo as a military attaché.

Along the way, we raised our three sons, who are now living in three different locations in the U.S. Erik and his wife Eva are in San Francisco, CA, with their son Kristian (our only grandchild); Mark is in Charlottesville, VA; and David lives in New York City.

I finally retired from the USAF in 1992 after 27 years of active duty. At age 50 I started a new career, this time as a CPA, first in Charlottesville, Virginia, and, after a few years, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Cheryl, after being a military wife, and raising the three boys, returned to her banking career, which she had given up in 1971 to marry yours truly. She retired a couple of years ago from her position as an internal auditor for information technology at the Wells Fargo Bank in Charlotte. And I retired from my CPA work in 2019.

We are both in good health, though I am doing more walking than jogging now (mostly due to aches and pains from those three dozen marathons I ran during my 40's and 50's, including Boston five times). Regarding our travel, the planning is all done by my live-in travel agent (Cheryl), and I'm happy to accompany her wherever she decides we will go.

Given all of the above, I'll never forget the good times and good friends during those growing-up years in Williston in the '50s. Great memories!

Bonnie (Anderson) Neisess: It is fun seeing the different profiles. I attended the University of Sioux Falls and graduated with a BA In Social Work. I met my husband there and we have been married for 59 years this year. I worked in Child Welfare before children and then part time as a SW for nursing homes. We have three amazing daughters and their husbands plus four incredible grandchildren. Garth was a high school counselor for 31 years. We began a family entertainment center that has a children’s theatre, mini golf, and three flea markets called Treasure Village in Okoboji IA. Last year was our 50th year. We still work during the summer months but winter in AZ. We have traveled to all 50 states plus 15 overseas countries. We are well and enjoy various activities from golf to concerts. We thank God for family, friends and His many blessings to us even in a confusing world.

Sharon (Jacobson) Myron: Duane and I are yet on the farm south of Grand Forks, ND. We moved to Memphis, Tennessee, after he graduated from Biochemistry at UND; and lived there 2 years while he did a post doc at St Jude's Children's Hospital. I transferred to Memphis State (now Memphis University), graduating with a degree in education. We then moved to St John's, Newfoundland, and lived there 1 year while Duane continued his research. After that we moved back to ND, and he worked at the FDA Human Nutrition Lab in Grand Forks. We were living in Thompson then; but in 1976, we built a house on the farm he grew up on near Grand Forks, and in a few years, he began to farm full time after his father was not able.

Spring ahead many years and this finds us still here with 3 houses on the farm. Our son and his wife and our granddaughter and husband do the farming; and Duane and I do mostly yard work and gardening. Our daughter and husband farm a few miles from us with 2 of their sons.

I am still doing some entertaining with accordion and piano with a partner who plays the accordion. Besides music, I have had the addictive hobby of genealogy, so have accumulated lots of names, dates, photos, and stories for both of our family trees. I did not teach full time but substituted for a few years in elementary schools in this region. I also am guardian for my youngest brother, Mark, who has Down's Syndrome, and lives in an assisted living facility in Grand Forks.

We have 7 grandchildren, all married except the youngest, a girl adopted from China when she was 17 months. She is now in college at UND. We have had the 11th great grandchild added to the family this spring with 2 more expected this summer.

Our winters are spent in Bonita Springs, Florida; and we have had some wonderful trips to Norway and Denmark, the last being a Hurtigruten cruise up the west side of Norway from Bergen to Kirkenes. We are enjoying our Christian experience here, and life is still mostly good.

STANLEY NESS: After high school, I spent a little time soul searching and then moved to Minot in 1961 for employment in the missile fields, saved some money and left for the University of Maryland in 1962. Classmates might like to know that I returned to Williston High School in 1966 and taught senior government as an intern teacher. I came to know a number of teachers as friends who were teachers when we were in attendance. I came to know Norm Furseth who was as nice of a guy as a friend as he was; to many of us as our favorite teacher.

I moved to California, continued going to graduate schools and ultimately earned a Juris Doctorate. After spending a while as a deputy district attorney, I went into private practice and spent the next 45 years as a litigator. The last 20 or so were spent representing developers and construction companies throughout the country in those matters designated by the courts as complex litigation cases. (It is more interesting than it sounds…) After my retirement a few years ago, the Orange County courts appointed me to serve on the Orange County Grand Jury and I served as president of that association until recently.

Unfortunately, but understandably, I like most others am not immune to the medical challenges of the aging process and have started to slow down a little. After having been scuba diving in various exotic places, I have had to give that up. More hurtful is the need to spend less time on hobby sport cars and will soon start the liquidation process. I’m a little late in that department but maturity has never been my strongest feature.

I am the father of two wonderful daughters (both married lawyers), six grandchildren, (two of whom are lawyers) and four great grandchildren, with yet another on the way this fall. I reside in Newport Beach, Ca., a wonderful community about half-way between LA and San Diego. Life has been good for me, and I have learned to cherish not only my family but all those friends who I have picked up along the way.

I have not had the opportunity to return to Williston for many years (about 42 or 43 years). I have no family there and from the descriptions I have heard of it in recent years, it has changed considerably. But it would be a real treat to catch a movie at the Snyder or Grand theatre, take a walk through Harmon Park, or grab a burger and a malt at Keenan’s drive-in.

Please give my best to all the fellow classmates who have maintained such a continuing interest in that time we all spent together.

GO COYOTES!! FIGHTING SIOUX FOREVER!!

ANDI (Andrea Gurke) SCOTT: Our family moved to Williston in 1952 when I was in the 5th grade. It was the big city for me and living right next to Harmon Park meant swimming all summer and the ice-skating rink in the winter. It was a great place to grow up and I’ll never forget our awesome bonfires before football games, slumber parties, teen canteen, Band Day, dragging Main and so much more.

Well, I was that crazy girl that got married one week after graduation to Jerry Scott (whose parents owned and operated Scotty’s Skateland) which is where we met. A few months later I started working for Ray Walton in the State’s Attorney’s office and that was the beginning of my career in law offices in North Dakota, Oregon, California, Montana, Idaho, and Washington.

In 1964 the oil refinery where Jerry worked closed its doors and we packed our cars and headed west. We landed in Eugene, Oregon where Jerry had a dozen jobs that first year and I ended up working in the District Attorney’s office. He attended the University of Oregon while I took night classes at a small community college.

In 1968, a two-week vacation to San Diego resulted in a move to California where Jerry worked for the US Postal Service in every job they had. I went to work for a small law firm on El Cajon Boulevard but after two years of driving to work for 30 minutes and driving home in an hour or more, I found a job with the Chula Vista Public Library as Administrative Assistant to the City Librarian.

Jerry and I started law school at night and, in our second year, started talking of a two-year excursion to Australia and the Outback before finishing college. As we were in the process of selling everything to make that move, we found that I was pregnant. And that put a screeching halt to a trip to explore Australia. Amber and Ember were born in 1973 and in 1980 we decided to leave California for a simpler life. We ended up in Sidney, MT where Jerry was Postmaster and our daughter Erin joined us in 1982. It was a win, win as my parents were 45 miles away in Williston as was Jerry’s brother, Bob, and family. In Sidney I worked for a small law firm until 1993 when we headed to Rathdrum, Idaho (north of Coeur d’ Alene) where Jerry was Postmaster and I worked for a law firm in Spokane with their Elder Law clients.

In 1994, Jerry was diagnosed with myelofibrosis, a rare bone marrow blood cancer. Never one to give up, after reluctantly taking a medical retirement from the post office, he drove long distance semi’s coast to coast for two years before surgery intervened and 18 months of hospice care followed. He died in February 1999, ten days after Erin turned 17.

I continued working in law offices in Spokane until 2005 when a double hip replacement was required, and I lost my job. Amber and Ember came to my rescue and immediately moved me into their tiny two-bedroom bungalow in San Diego and we started looking for a house. I’ve loved San Diego ever since that first vacation trip in 1968. My plan was to get a job but after joining the YMCA for their aerobics classes, heading to the beach every Wednesday to boogie board, joining two cooking classes, and a Tai chi class with Master Henry there just wasn’t any time for work.

So, I fully embraced retirement. I joined the Red Hatters, a Bible study group and discovered cruising. The Mexican Riviera was the first cruise with my Red Hat friends. We had a ball, and I was hooked. My high school buddies, Joyce, Cleo, Marilyn, Donna, and I rented a house on the beach in Costa Rica, close to Tamarindo, a surfing spot. We went to Nicaragua (which was a little scary), a spa/resort at the base of a volcano, watched turtles come up on the beach and lay their eggs. We explored everything. Watched the sun come up and go down. Tracked a leatherback turtle’s tracks onto the beach. It was the size of a Volkswagen.

I’ve been blessed to join my friends on so many cruises since my first one with my last being a Viking River Cruise from Moscow to St. Petersburg, Russia. Amazing and wonderful architecture.

In 2017, Alton and Erin gave me my first grandchild – finally – Jefferson Boone Helm. In 2018, Julius Wilder Helm arrived and I’ve been blessed to be a significant part of their lives as a live-in granny/nanny while they pursued careers in the Army, the Red Cross, as farmer/ranchers, Air B&B owners and are in the process of building a house and restoring a historical railroad building as a wedding/event venue. I get tired just trying to list all their jobs. In March 2023, Piper and Dixie joined the family and I was with them until September 2023. There’s nothing like a baby’s snuggles and smiles. I miss them!

I am currently living with Amber in Matthews, NC and Ember has a house 10 minutes away. Alton, Erin, and family live in Missoula, MT. Needless to say, I’m going to have some frequent flyer miles.

I am blessed with amazing church families in Montana and South Carolina and my kids spoil me rotten and I love it. I’m still in touch with my high school buddies, my siblings, my fellow cruisers and am going to just keep on keeping on! Life is good!

SUZANNE LERVICK

After high school, I graduated from North Dakota State University where I met my husband Bob. I taught high school physical education in Manitowoc, Wisconsin for one year before we married in 1965. Bob was obligated to the army, so I will say we were relieved when he drew an assignment to Germany. We were in Germany one year before being assigned to Fort Benning, Georgia where he finished his tour of duty.

We moved to Pekin, Illinois when Bob accepted a position with Caterpillar. I taught high school physical education until our first child arrived. Bob had always thought he would teach and coach, so we made the move back to Fargo for him to obtain a graduate degree in counseling and guidance. We then moved to Eau Claire, Wisconsin in 1970, where we both held positions in the student housing arena. In 1974, we moved to Minneapolis where Bob spent the rest of his working days with Ziegler, the Caterpillar dealer in Minnesota. When Ziegler took ownership of the Cat dealer in Des Moines, Iowa, we relocated to oversee the integration of that dealership. During our time in Iowa, I began working with ITA Group, an incentive travel company, as a travel director. It was great fun for 16 years, to travel with groups as they visited many wonderful locations. Bob finished his career with Ziegler back in Minneapolis where he retired in 2003.

Since our retirement, we split our time between Minneapolis, a home in Surprise, Arizona and our lake home near Detroit Lakes, Minnesota. We raised two children who are both living in Edina, MN. Greg is an orthopedic surgeon married to Katie, a practicing dentist, and daughter Kristen is the owner of a real estate company. Our five grandchildren are nearly grown. Bjorn Lervick is attending St. Olaf College, playing hockey for the Oles. Anna Lervick is a freshman at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana where she is busy with volleyball and track. Jenson Christianson is a sophomore at the University of Missouri, Sam Christianson is a senior at Edina High School in Minneapolis and Lena Christianson is a sophomore.

Our faith life has always been foundational in our life together. Every time we were in a new location, the first thought was to find a church family. The fellowship of believers has made every move and change a blessing.

We have found great pleasure in seeking out volunteer positions. We have spent a week at Teddy Roosevelt National Park, we have placed flowers on the Rose Bowl floats in Pasadena, we have worked at a Christian school in the Dominican Republic, we have accompanied two Korean veterans to Washington, DC on Honor Flight, we have marshalled at the Phoenix Open for over 15 years, we have laid Christmas wreaths in a military cemetery and we have maintained close ties to our alma mater NDSU.

Our retirement enjoyment comes in the form of golf, tennis, bridge, reading and spending time with family and friends. We know we have been richly blessed with good health and long years and are full of gratitude to God.