LaVern Albert Shefstad

LaVern Shefstad, 85,

Minot, ND, formally of

Bowbells, ND, passed

away at 8:40 am Tuesday

at Trinity Hospital. He

had been a resident at a

memory care facility in

Minot.

LaVern was born north

of Columbus on the Julian

Shefstad farm on May 21,

1933 to Clarence and

Esther (Running) Shefs-

tad. They moved to the

outskirts of Columbus

where he grew up. He was

the fourth of eight chil-

dren. He was baptized

and confirmed at Trinity

Lutheran Church in

Columbus, ND.

He enlisted in the Army

in Feb. 1954. That same

year he married the love

of his life, Gail Glasso, on

April 20 at Noonan. While

serving a year in Alaska,

his first son, Richard Dale

was born. He returned to

collect his wife and 6

month old son to make

the journey to New Orle-

ans where he completed

his service. The day after

returning to Noonan, he

went to work for Texaco

Service for more than

eight years. During this

time they had two more

sons, Larry Dean and

Todd Wayne. A daughter,

Joy Marie, made their

family complete.

LaVern left Texaco to

join the Production Rous-

tabout Service crew for

four years. He worked on

the newly drilled wells

belonging to Northern

Pump Company. When

the 4th well was complet-ed, he was hired full-time

by Northern Pump Com-

pany to serve as their

Company Production

Manager. For this job,

LaVern moved his family

to the Bowbells area

which became their home

of 44 years before moving

to Minot. This company

eventually sold out to En-

sign Gas and Oil, and

LaVern became their Field

Superintendent of the

North Dakota District.

Along with his work in

the oil patch, LaVern

found great joy in living

in the country. He even-

tually became a land own-

er which made him

proud. He was a country

boy at heart, and enjoyed

all things “country”:

horses, cattle, farming,

early mornings and coun-

try drives. But the thing

that really made his eyes

twinkle were his grand-

children and great-

grandchildren.

LaVern is survived by

his wife of 64 years, Gail,

Minot; their children,

Rick (Bev), Grass Valley,

CA, Larry (Cindi), Lufkin,

TX and their children

Taylor and Garrett, Todd

(Sandy), Lignite, ND, and

their children Shanna,

Kelsey and Caitlin, and

Joy Walker (Rick), Minot,

and their sons Jory and

Travis. LaVern was also a

proud great-grandparent

to Shea, Owen, Lincoln

and Wells. LaVern is also

survived by his youngest

brother, Nolan,

Clatskanie, OR.

Preceding him in death

were his siblings; Walter,

Verena, Virgil, Cleone,

Clair and Marlow.

Visitation will be on

Friday, February 1st,

2019, from 4 to 5:30 pm at

Thompson-Larson Fun-

eral Home in Minot with a

Prayer Service at Friday

at 5:30 pm.

LaVern’s funeral ser-

vice will be at Bethlehem

Lutheran Church in

Bowbells on Saturday,

February 2nd, 2019 at

11:00 am.

Burial will be at

Columbus Cemetery in

Columbus.

Memorials: In lieu of

flowers, memorials pre-

ferred to the Bowbells

Ambulance or to the

Bowbells Fire Depart-

ment.

Those wishing to sign

the online register and

share memories may ac-

cess the online obituaries

section at (www.

thompsonlarson.com).