Orrin Holen

Orrin Holen, 87,

McClusky, ND died Tues-

day, January 31, 2017 at

his home with family at

his side after a nine

month hard fought battle

with cancer.

Funeral services will be

at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 4

at Grace Lutheran Church,

McClusky, ND.

Visitation will be from 4

p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday at

Grace Lutheran Church

with prayer services at 7

p.m. at Grace Lutheran

Church.

Burial will be in the

spring in McClusky City

Cemetery.

Orrin was born on July

2, 1929 at Upham, ND.

He was the son of Oluf

and Anna (Pederson)

Holen. He grew up and at-

tended school in Upham.

As a young man he

worked for farmers in the

Upham and Bantry areas

before moving to Seattle

where he worked in a saw

mill. Orrin returned to ND

and started working on

road construction. He

moved to the McClusky

area in September 1952

with Tennefos Construc-

tion and helped build

Highway 200 through

McClusky. Orrin and

Obert Osmundson started

a construction company

in May 1953. Orrin then

met Mayola Helm, the

love of his life, and they

were married on March 6,

1955 at the EUB Church

in McClusky. They resid-

ed in McClusky. In 1956

Orrin bought out Obert’s

share of the business and

it continued as Holen

Construction. He retired

in 1993 but continued to

work for ten years for Or-

rin A. Holen Construc-

tion, Inc. which was

owned and operated by

his three children.

Orrin had many in-

terests including his

greatest love of flying his

airplane in which he

logged over 7,000 hours of

flying. His flights were

often to construction pro-

jects or asking the chil-

dren and grandchildren to

fly to Bismarck for a Coke

and pie. He loved old cars

and he and Mayola parti-

cipated in many Model T

Tours and attended

numerous Hudson Rallies

and car shows. He started

painting pictures during

his retirement in McClu-

sky and in Arizona during

the winter months. His

paintings were displayed

at the local cafe, at home

and with those fortunate

enough to have either re-

ceived one as a gift or may

have purchased one. Or-

rin and Mayola drove

their motor home to AZ

and back for 25 years.

Winters spent in AZ were

filled with pursuing his

hobbies and many sum-

mer days were spent with

family at their Brush Lake

cabin. His children and

grandchildren will always

appreciate his hands on

teaching and lessons

learned about God and the

importance of family and

community. Orrin’s chil-

dren and grandchildren

will always remember his

favorite saying to his fam-

ily; “We are going to have

fun, fun, fun” when head-

ed out for a camping trip,

the lake, vacation, almost

any time together.

Orrin held member-

ships in the Grace Luth-

eran Church where he

served on the council;

Sons Of Norway in Minot;

The Elks Lodge in

Bismarck; Model T Club;

Hudson Car Club; McClu-

sky Lions Club; McClusky

Merchants; Associated

General Contractors of

America; served on the

McClusky City Council.

Orrin also held his private

pilot’s license, was a

member of the Aircraft

Owners Association and

served on the McClusky

Airport Authority.

Orrin is survived by:

his loving wife of 61

years, Mayola; three chil-

dren, Jay (Lona) of Minot;

Rhonda (Lee) Boehm of

McClusky; Scott (Diane)

of McClusky; 8 grandchil-dren; Ryan, Cory, Shawn,

Levi, Eric, Zach, Alex,

Cambree; 10

great-grandchildren, Jack,

Abby, Kason, Brookes,

Paedyn, Kendall, Willow,

Karlesha, Olivia & August;

brother, Alvin (Carol)

Holen of Minot; sister,

Caroline Natwick of

Towner, ND; numerous

nieces and nephews.

Orrin was preceded in

death by: his parents;

brothers, Oliver, Glenn,

Morris Sr. and Irvine.

Online condolences

may be shared at

www.hertzfuneral

homes.com