Gordon Johan Rugland

Gordon Johan Rugland,

89, of Stanley, ND passed

away on Sunday, October

7, 2018 at the Trinity

Medical in Minot, ND.

Springan Stevenson

Funeral Home of Stanley

has been entrusted with

arrangements and ser-

vices.

Friends may call at

Springan Stevenson Fun-

eral Home in Stanley on

Monday, October 15, from

12 PM until 4 PM and at

the church one hour prior

to services.

His funeral service will

be held at 11:00 AM,

Tuesday, October 16,

2018 at the Faith Lutheran

Church in Palermo, ND.

Pastor Carter Hill will be

officiating. Burial will be

in Faith Lutheran

Cemetery, Palermo, ND.

Friends may sign the

on-line register and give

their condolences at

www.springanstevenson

.com.

Gordon was born on

April 26, 1929 to his

Norwegian immigrant

parents, Gunder and

Johanna (Kvamme) Rug-

land on the family farm

south of Palermo, Burke

Township, ND. Gordon

was baptized, confirmed

and a lifelong member of

Faith Lutheran Church

which his parents helped

charter upon their arrival

to “The New Country”.

He spoke only Norwegian

when he started first

grade at the one room

country school. Since it

was next door to the farm,

their home was also the

“teacherage”, meaning the

teacher lived with them

during the school year.

Gordon and his brother,

Kenneth, recall diving

under their covers when

they heard her footsteps,

since she had to come

through their bedroom to

get to her room. Gordon

was invited to play music

at this teacher’s 100th

birthday party a few years

ago. While home on leave

from the Army years later,

Gordon met his future

wife, Beverly, the teacher

at that little country

school.

Life on the farm was

hard after a dusty decade

without much rain, which

was known as The Dirty

Thirties. Gordon farmed

with teams of horses. For

fun they listened to the

big console radio and

spent time with their

many Norwegian neigh-

bors. Gordon being the

youngest of 3 siblings, got

to attend high school in

Palermo and Minot, gra-

duating from Minot’s

Model High School in

1947. Meanwhile, his

brother and sister had to

quit school after 8th grade

to help on the family

farm. While attending

school in Minot, he and

friends formed a motorcy-cle club called The Nite

Riders. He rode an Indian

brand motorcycle & later

used motorcycles to herd

his cattle, rather than us-

ing horses.

Gordon was drafted into

the Army and trained in

the Signal Corps. Since he

spoke a foreign language,

he was fortunate to be

sent to peacetime Ger-

many while other Army

buddies were sent to war

in Korea. After the Army,

Gordon returned to Minot.

He worked for St. Croix

Motors and then with the

Great Northern Railroad

as a brakeman. He mar-

ried Beverly Ball on Au-

gust 2, 1953 in Stanley,

and they moved to her

family’s farm north of

Clear Lake. Hardship fol-

lowed when his entire

first herd of cattle was

wiped out from disease.

Their old house was so

cold, he recalls waking

during the night to make

sure their 2 baby girls

were still covered up,

even pinning blankets to-

gether so they’d stay

warm. They were finally

able to buy their own

farm nearby from

Osmund and Anetta

Schjerveim. Gordon over-

heard Anetta urging

Osmund to sell to the

young couple since Gor-

don spoke to them in

Norwegian. He described

the move to their new

farm as quite a trip, put-

ting the chickens into his

old car and moving them

under cover of darkness.

Gordon and Beverly

remained there for over 6

decades farming wheat,

ranching and raising their

3 children. When they fi-

nally quit ranching, they

spent many happy snow-

bird winters in Apache

Junction, AZ.

Gordon was a member

of the Stanley Golden Age

Club, the Sons of Norway,

served over 50 years on

the Idaho Township

Board, The Frozen Fingers

music organization, over

50 years membership in

the American Legion, and

longtime mandolin player

with “The Palermo Pick-

ers”. He and Lawrence

Bruhn gladly shared their

talents & even recorded a

CD. Gordon and Beverly

enjoyed many years “jam-

ming” in Arizona, North

Dakota and Florida.

Gordon was preceded

in death by his parents;

wife Beverly and brother

Kenneth both in 2013;

and his sister Bernice in

2016.

Survivors include

daughters Vonee

Pawlowski (Matt), Au-

burn, MA and Geri Finks

(Glenn), LaBelle, FL; son

Greg Rugland, Geyser,

MT; grandsons Jared

Finks (Melissa), Thomas-

ville, GA, Adam Dzwon-

koski (Jacquline),

Phoenix, AZ and Tom

Pawlowski, Charlotte, NC;

granddaughters Joanna

Finks Chapman (Rob),

Tampa, FL, Casey Rug-

land Tassoul (Jerame),

Gilbert, AZ and Erin Rug-

land, Phoenix, AZ; great-

grandsons Porter & Grey-

son Finks; Easton, Beau

and Barrett Gordon Chap-

man; Braxton Tassoul and

Desmond Dzwonkoski;

great-granddaughter

Evelyn Dzwonkoski;

brother-in-law Earl Ball,

Mesa, AZ; cousins,

nephews and nieces.

Also left to cherish his

memory are special neigh-

bors Lynn and Marlene

Grabow, Dallas, Lindsay

and Shelby.

Memorials preferred to

the Sibyl Center, P.O. Box

628, Stanley, ND 58784;

Stanley Golden Age Club

and Faith Lutheran

Church, Palermo, ND.

Online condolences

may be shared at

www.springanfuneral

home.com.