Lester Gustafson
July 5, 1923-June 9, 2019
Lester Gustafson, 95, of
Stanley, ND, passed away
Sunday evening, June 9,
2019 at the Mountrail
County Nursing Home in
Stanley. His arrangements
are with Springan Steven-
son Funeral Home of
Stanley. Friends may sign
the on-line register and
give their condolences at
www.springan
stevenson.com
His funeral mass will
be held Saturday, June 15,
2019 at 10:00 AM at the
Queen of the Most Holy
Rosary Catholic Church in
Stanley, ND. Father Jason
Signalness will celebrate
the mass. Burial will be in
Fairview Cemetery in
Stanley. A vigil will be
held Friday, June 14, 2019
at 7:00 PM at the Queen of
the Most Holy Rosary
Catholic Church in Stan-
ley, ND. Friends may call
at the Springan Stevenson
Funeral Home on Friday,
June 14, 2019 from 1:00
PM to 5:00 PM and one
hour prior to the vigil and
mass at the church on Sa-
turday.
Lester was born on July
5, 1923 on a farm north of
Blaisdell, ND. He married
Angeline Biegler on April
30, 1949. They celebrated
70 years of marriage in
April. Lester and Angie
farmed for a few years
near Edgeley, ND and
then later at the farm
where Lester grew up. In
1957 they moved to Stan-
ley with their family,
where Lester worked as a
carpenter until he retired
at the age of 62. His crew
for many of those years
were his 7 sons. They
raised 12 children; Bar-
bara (“Coop”) Cooper –
Berthold, Pat (Paul)
Thunshelle – Plaza, Mary
Chewakin – Fargo, Allen
(Diane) – New Town, Judy
(Rick) Spletstoser – Wat-
ford City, Elmer (Ann)
-Shockapee, MN, Gerard –
New Town, Tim (Angie)
-Grand Forks, Bryan (Lori)
– Stanley, Pam (Gary)
Schmidt -Stanley, Glenn
(Carol) – Prior Lake, MN.
They have 24 grandchil-
dren, 36
great-grandchildren and 1
great-great-grandchild.
Lester enjoyed music,
electronics, fishing, cross-
word puzzles, whistling,
bird watching and reading
the newspaper from front
to back every day. His
greatest love was his wife,
Angie. He loved and was
proud of all of his family.
Lester is preceded in
death by: his parents, El-
mer and Barbara (Goettle)
Gustafson; son, James
Gustafson; son-in-law,
Myron “Coop” Cooper;
grandson, Michael
Chewakin; sisters, Lillian
Neether, Violet Vettle and
Vivian Lagien.
The Gustafson family
would like to thank every-
one for their kindness and
prayers during this diffi-
cult time.