Arlyn Wadholm
June 28, 1935-Oct. 9, 2020
Arlyn was born on June
28, 1935, at Stanley. It
was the day after a devas-
tating tornado had hit
Mountrail County and the
hospital was full. She was
the second daughter born
to Mabel Elizabeth (Mey-
erdirk) and Loran “Lee”
Stout. Arlyn was taken
home to a farm south of
New Town that her dad-
dy, uncles, and Grandma
Lucy Jane, homesteaded
in 1915.
At the age of five, her
life was torn apart when
her parents divorced and
Mabel took Arlyn, her sis-
ter Dixie, and her little
brother Teddy, to live in
Minot. They later moved
to Garrison, where Mabel
remarried and gave birth
to a little sister Alma. The
years that Arlyn lived
away from the farm, her
daddy Lee would come
and get his three children
as often as he could.
Arlyn had a real direc-
tive point in her life when
Mabel decided to move to
Oregon and take the kids
with her. At eleven years
old, Arlyn cried her heart
out, not wanting to leave
her daddy all alone
without his children. The
Lord told Arlyn she must
stay in North Dakota, so
she listened. Mabel would
only agree to leave the
kids with Lee if he would
raise them in town. Lee,
and his brother Ed,
moved with the kids to a
house in Sanish. Because
of the move, the brothers
had to sell their 30 horses,
which broke Arlyn’s
heart. Her Uncle Ed took
on the mother role with
quiet strength and kind-
ness in the caring of the
children.
Arlyn attended Sanish
High School and was of
its last graduating class in
1953. Lee made sure that
she was proud of her 6 ft
Ç inch height. Slouching
to match the height of the
other girls was never an
option. She later attended
Minot State Teachers Col-
lege. After receiving her
teaching certificate, she
taught at a rural school for
one year.
Arlyn married Theo-
dore “Ted” Wadholm on
August 31, 1957, at Bethel
Lutheran Church, in New
Town. The couple built a
house in New Town. Ar-
lyn worked at the Ben
Franklin store until her
daughter Lorna was born
in 1965. Lorna was usual-
ly carted along to the farm
with Arlyn and Lee while
Ted worked as an auto
mechanic in town. Anoth-
er daughter Charlotte was
born in 1969.
The family moved to
the farm in 1976. They be-
gan remodeling the origi-
nal 1915 house, which
was moved from Sanish
in 1953; an addition was
built so that Lee could
have his own living area.
Arlyn and Ted started
purchasing the farm from
Lee, who later passed
away in 1978.
Arlyn was very active
in the Ladies Aid, Circle,
teaching Sunday School,
and Church Council of
Bethel Lutheran Church.
She was on the city coun-
cil for a time. She took ad-
vantage of evening classes
that were offered in New
Town, including a weld-
ing class. Her favorite
places in New Town
seemed to be the library,
the grain elevator, the
lumberyard, the hardware
store, and the fabric store.
Arlyn loved
semi-trucks, big earth
moving equipment, and
tractors. She had a soft
spot for truck drivers.
When she met them on
the road, she’d motion for
them to pull their horn.
She named all her vehi-
cles, tractors, grain trucks,
combine-everything!
(Dodie, Stew, Mini,
Emma, Elly, etc!)
She was also fascinated
by history and loved
trains. Being able to stand
right where the Golden
Spike had been driven in
1869, to connect the Un-
ion Pacific and the Cen-
tral Pacific Rail lines, in
Promontory, UT, was a
thrilling event for her.
Arlyn learned to drive a
tractor at an incredibly
young age. Being covered
in dirt was okay with her.
She worked hard her
whole life loving the farm,
the outdoors and always
thinking up projects for
improvement. She hired
various young people to
help her with these pro-
jects and the farm work,
mainly to teach them
work ethics and skills.
Passing on her
knowledge, history, and
skills, to her grandchil-
dren was especially im-
portant to her. “We’re
burnin’ daylight” is a
phrase she often spoke
when things needed to be
done.
Farming was her liveli-
hood, so she was honored
when she and Ted re-
ceived the Ft. Berthold
Soil Conservation Service
Award in 1981. They were
a great team. Arlyn would
come up with something,
an idea or design, and Ted
would make it, usually
with a welder. They both
worked hard to build up
the farm. His mechanical
expertise was a necessity
for all the equipment. Ar-
lyn always called him
“Mr. Goodwrench.” Ted
passed away on January
28, 1996.
They opened their
home to many people.
They invited two foreign
exchange students at
separate times. The first
from Norway in 1982 and
the second from Germany
in 1983. They both
remained Arlyn’s
daughters and have been
back to visit several times.
Arlyn was blessed to be
able to go overseas to visit
both in 1998.
Arlyn had the most
unique way of thinking.
When she received a bo-
vine heart valve replace-
ment in 2003, she de-
clared that she had
“finally become a
cowgirl.”
Arlyn enjoyed reading
immensely. Her very large
collection of books, which
began with Zane Grey and
Nancy Drew, has only re-
cently ceased to grow. Her
other passions, besides
family and farming, in-
cluded gardening,
landscaping, wild birds,
poetry and politics. She
remembered sitting on her
daddy’s lap at the age of 4
listening to the news on
the radio. She’s been
listening and learning pol-
itics, and enjoying dis-
cussing it, ever since.
Arlyn was very kind
and generous to many in
need. She often went out
on a limb for those who
needed a place to stay or
who needed some work.
Those who have had the
misfortune of being a reci-
pient of the “Wadholm
beller” will most likely
never forget it, and nei-
ther will we. Throughout
her life, shed lived the
lessons learned in her eti-
quette book and tried her
best to be a lady.
Arlyn was surrounded
by her daughters and
granddaughters at a hospi-
tal in Fargo when she
peacefully went to Jesus,
on October 9, 2020. Her
generous spirit lives on in
the donation of her tissues
and corneas.
She was preceded in
death by: her parents;
husband, Ted; brother,
Teddy Stout; sister, Dixie
Hanley; granddaughter,
Casandra “Casie”
Chagis-Bell; and stepson,
Larry Wadholm.
She is survived by: her
sister, Alma McGregor of
St. Marys, GA; daughters,
Lorna (Mike) Elton of New
Town and Charlotte (Da-
rin) Swensrud of Willis-
ton; stepson, Ted (Retta)
Wadholm of San Jose CA;
grandchildren, Kelly El-
ton, Jen (Torey) Forward,
and Loran Elton, all of
Grand Forks; Zane
Swensrud of Phoenix, AZ
and Elizabeth Swensrud
of Williston;
great-grandchildren,
Dylan and Braden Elton
and Kisa Dohmstriech, all
of Minot; Jack, Jocelyn,
Jayden, and Jamison For-
ward, all of Grand Forks;
and numerous nieces and
nephews.
Memorial Service: Sa-
turday, October 17, 2020
at 2:00 p.m. at Bethel
Lutheran Church, New
Town
Graveside Cremains
Burial: Saturday follow-
ing the service at Van
Hook Cemetery, rural
New Town
(Langhans Funeral
Home, Parshall)
www.langhans
funeralhome.com)