JoAnn Arlene Huus Eklund

Our beloved JoAnn Ek-

lund died on August 6,

2020 at the age of 85, after

a long illness, surrounded

by her family. She was

born to Theodore and

Emma (Skaar) Huus on

April, 19, 1935 on their

farm near Wabek, North

Dakota. Her grandparents

had immigrated from

Hoyland and Masfjorden,

Norway and eventually

homesteaded and pur-

chased farms near Plaza,

North Dakota where other

family members had set-

tled. Theo and Emma also

purchased a farm near

Plaza in 1927 and lived

there through 1957. There

were 6 children; Ervin,

Grace, Lawrence, JoAnn,

Shirley and Kenneth.

JoAnn attended grade

school in Wabek and gra-

duated from Plaza High

School in 1953. She was a

cheerleader for three

years and a basketball

player. She had plans to

attend college for a teach-

ing degree but her senior

summer, after graduation,

while working at the

Super Value Store in

Parshall, she met the man

of her dreams and lifelong

love, Lew Eklund. They

married after a whirlwind

romance on October 25,

1953 at the Lutheran

Church in Wabek.

The couple first moved

to Riverdale, North Dako-

ta where Lew worked on

the Garrison Dam as a

driller, then moved to

Moorcroft, Wyoming to

explore for uranium. In

total, the family would

move 44 times in 11 years

before permanently cal-

ling Carlin, Nevada

“home”. They lived in

North Dakota, Wyoming,

Utah, New Mexico, Mon-

tana, Nebraska and

Colorado following the

drill jobs, some states

several different times

and different towns. They

had four children; Can-

dice Lou, Lance Joel,

Sheri Lynn and Valerie Jo.

Together they loved, sa-

crificed and struggled

greatly financially early in

their marriage but with

those Norwegian North

Dakota farming roots and

work ethics and with the

help of friends, they were

able to start Eklund Dril-

ling Company on June 1,

1960.

Eklund Drilling Com-

pany was the first drilling

company to drill for mi-

croscopic gold, so pre-

valent in global mines to-

day. Many of those dril-

ling and sampling tech-

niques used in the 1960’s

discovery of the Newmont

Gold Company goldfield

and the Carlin Trend were

developed by Eklund Dril-

ling and are still used to-

day. As Eklund Drilling

was growing and expand-

ing, JoAnn worked for the

company doing all the of-

fice work while Lew

would be out in the field

drilling or soliciting jobs.

JoAnn was always the

rock solid foundation of

support for the family

24//7, always making sure

the kids were well taken

care of, creating unforgett-able custom birthday

cakes with big parties,

running to games or

events for the kids and

making each and every

holiday magical. She be-

came quite a renowned

cook and baker and her

kitchen was always full of

homemade pies, cookies,

cakes, bars and other deli-

cious treats. Her Norwegi-an traditions and dishes

were passed down to

every one of her five gen-

erations of the family. The

values of family and life

learned early on in those

farm settings carried

throughout JoAnn and

Lew’s lives. The strength,

support and uncondition-al love of family was their

conviction and they

spread that love and com-

passion to all that they

met.

Lew and JoAnn owned

Eklund Drilling Company

from 1960-1988, at which

time their son, Lance, and

his wife Joanne, pur-

chased the company and

continued to build the

reputation and legacy un-

til selling to Boart Lon-

gyear in 2008. Eklund

Drilling Company was

committed to their clients,

their employees and safe-

ty of all and well-known

for their generosity to

their employees, the com-

munities they lived in and

the quality of service

given to each and every

client.

Lew and JoAnn also

raised and showed Ap-

paloosa horses for many

years. As with the drilling

company, that commit-

ment to excellence was al-

ways there driving them

to become the very best.

Their hard work and dedi-

cation led to their first Na-

tional Championship in

1975 with their stallion

“The Executive”. Their

closed book breeding

operation led to over 60

National or World Cham-

pionships and as a result,

the Executive, Lew and

JoAnn and several of their

mares were inducted into

the National Appaloosa

Horse Club’s Hall of Fame

in 2003. Lew and JoAnn

also started and produced,

with the help of many

volunteers, the Sagebrush

Circuit Appaloosa Horse

Show held in Elko, NV,

which ran for almost 20

years and was one of the

biggest Appaloosa shows

in the country. They also

funded the National Ap-

paloosa Horse Club Youth

Foundation scholarships

for many years. Through

the many aspects of being

successful breeders, the

most fulfilling and excit-

ing role to JoAnn was

staying up all night with

Lew and the pregnant

mares, helping them foal

or just watching, mesmer-ized by those newborn

beautifully colored Ap-

paloosa foals and dream-

ing of their futures. The

Eklunds’ horses were

highly prized nationally

and also have been sold

and shipped to Canada,

Mexico, Australia, Brazil,

France, The Netherlands

and Italy.

If the true test of a per-

son is how they contri-

bute in their community,

JoAnn and Lew were a

testament to the term of

“giving back”. Because of

their success and appreci-ation for all that mining

and the City of Carlin had

done for them, JoAnn and

Lew were committed to

giving back in every way

they could; volunteering

time and resources, organ-

izing, working on commit-tees or simply helping

fund the many projects

undertaken by the City of

Carlin, Carlin Combined

Schools, kids’ sports or

club activities and in-

dependent projects.

JoAnn served on the

American Legion Scholar-

ship Committee for many

years and enjoyed watch-

ing the students grow and

develop through their

years in Carlin and

beyond. She took an ac-

tive interest in many ac-

tivities in Carlin and

baked pies, cakes, bars or

dishes for any event and

took cherished Christmas

trays to the Police Station,

Post Office and anyone

else lucky enough to re-

ceive one. JoAnn was also

active in the annual

Museum’s fundraiser, the

Great Humboldt Duck

Race, and because she

bought so many duck en-

tries, she was the Lucky

Winner several times! Her

heart was made of pure

gold and she loved the

selfless reward of giving

back, most of the time

quietly and anonymously.

For their many acts of

kindness and involvement

in the community, Lew

and JoAnn were named

Carlin Citizens of the Year

in 2002. They also re-

ceived the Life Time

Achievement Award from

the City of Carlin, Elko

County Commission and

the State of Nevada as

well as the U.S. Congres-

sional Special Recognition

Award. For their contribu-tions to the Carlin Senior

Center, they were

honored with a per-

manent plaque at its en-

try.

JoAnn’s greatest love

was her family and it was

central to everything she

did. She loved going to

her children, grandchil-

dren and eventually

great-grandchildren’s

games or events to sup-

port them in whatever

they chose to do. Big fam-

ily get togethers and reun-

ions were her favorite

times and friends became

common invitees to grow

the family even bigger.

Church and God were

fundamental to her values

and she lived her life by

the Golden Rule. She al-

ways did the right thing,

she loved unconditionally

and she spread kindness

everywhere she went.

“Make each day special”

and “Always stay humble

and kind” were her beliefs

and she lived those devot-

edly until the end. She is

now reunited with her

lifelong love and partner,

Lew, and the Lord, our

Savior. She is the wind

beneath our wings.

JoAnn was preceded in

death by her husband of

64 years, Lew Eklund, her

Father and Mother, Theo

Huus and Emma Larson,

her brothers Ervin and

Lawrence Huus, her sister

Shirley Forsman and

daughter Candice Eklund

Kley. She is survived by

her sister Grace Wurtz of

Plaza, ND, her brother

Kenny Huus of Bismarck,

ND, her son Lance Eklund

(Joanne) of Reno, NV,

daughters Sheri

Eklund-Brown (Randy) of

Elko, NV and Val Ray

(Tom) of Carlin, NV;

Grandchildren Canesa

Passey (Dave) of Cedar

Hills, UT, Justin Kley

(Sage) of Elko, NV,

Lindsey Leonis (Joe) of

Reno, NV, Kyle Eklund of

Reno, NV, Dallas Johnson

(Grace) of Seattle, WA,

Sammi Johnson of

Phoenix, AZ, Brock Simp-

son (Ami) of Elko, NV,

Tara Gonzalez (Juan) of

Elko, NV, and Rex Simp-

son (Alyssa) of Elko, NV;

Great-grandchildren Ken-

zee (Queston), Kambree,

Brynlee, Jonah, Candice,

Keston, Jamison, Julianna,

Carmen, Tristen, Tierra,

Hailee (Millie), Adara

(Randy), Cade, Maddox

and Kylo; and Great-great

grandchildren Hudson,

Aria and Avery.

Please join us for grave-

side services Friday, Au-

gust 14, 2020, at 1:30 p.m.

at the Carlin Cemetery,

13th & Fir Street, Carlin,

NV. A reception to follow

at the Lew & Jo

Eklund//Jon Gift Com-

munity Center “Gathering

Place” at 372 8th Street,

Carlin, NV. Celebration of

Life to be announced and

held at a later date due to

the COVID pandemic.

In lieu of flowers, dona-

tions may be made to the

Carlin Open Door Senior

Center, 320 Chestnut

Street, P.O. Box 123, Car-

lin, NV, 89822; the Carlin

Fire Department, 121

Hamilton Street, Carlin,

NV, 89822; Lew & Jo

Eklund//Jon Gift Com-

munity Center, P.O. Box

1515, Carlin, NV 89822,

or the charity of your

choice.