Allen O. Larson

Allen O. Larson, 91,

Minot, ND, died Saturday,

November 7, 2020, at

Trinity Homes.

Ever since his parents

gave him a toy printing

press and a Kodak box

camera, Allen has em-

ployed artful visual im-

ages and the power of the

written word to express

his many thoughts and

ideas. Through a lifelong

career in the printing in-

dustry, Allen has helped

countless others express

their words and images

and share them with the

world.

Allen O. Larson was

born July 7, 1929, in

Minot, the fifth son of

Laura (Sevland) and

Joseph Larson.

He graduated from

Minot Model in 1947,

after which he attended

school in Aurora, Mis-

souri, to study pho-

toengraving. Allen then

opened his own business

(at age 18), as a pho-

toengraver, making plates

for The Minot Daily News

and other publications in

northwest North Dakota.

Because of this new ser-

vice, The Minot Daily

News was able to print

photos of a news event on

the same day. He also is

credited with making the

first offset printing plate

in Minot, as this new

method of printing be-

came popular.

He married Shirley

Liebel of Carpio, ND, on

August 12, 1950, and

started a family in 1953,

with the birth of a

daughter, Valerie Laura; a

son Sheldon Allen, born

in 1956; and a daughter

Diana Jean in 1961.

In 1959, he began a

23-year-long partnership

in Lowe and Larson Print-

ing.

Together with some of

his weekly newspaper

publisher friends, Allen

established Minot’s first

web-offset printing plant,

Greater Northwest Pub-

lishing in 1973, and con-

tinued to serve on its

board of directors for

many decades. GNWP

currently prints several

weekly newspapers and

numerous other publica-

tions.

In 1981, he and wife

Shirley and their son

Sheldon, founded

Creative Media, an ad-

vertising agency; Creative

Printing; and North Amer-

ican Heritage Press, a pub-

lishing house that has

found a niche with books

of Scandinavian interest.

Between 1983 and

1986, Allen partnered in

the publishing of the po-

pular shopper Area Mark-

et Review, which was

then sold to the Minot

Daily News.

In 1985, Allen added

United Mailing Services, a

First-Class Presort/Bulk

mailing facility – the larg-

est processor of mail in

Minot, excluding the US

Postal Service.

The full-blooded

Norwegian-American was

a founding father of Norsk

Hostfest, and served as

coordinator and designer

of print materials and

print advertising for the

festival since its start in

1978. He was the

association’s vice

president for many years.

He was inducted into

Hostfest’s Scandinavian

-American Hall of Fame

on September 30, 2009.

He also initiated the

founding of Scandinavian

Heritage Association in

1988, and has been

described as the “spark

plug” for the development

of Minot’s Scandinavian

Heritage Park.

Allen took great pride

in his Norwegian heritage,

and was always active in

helping to promote better

understanding of the

Scandinavian heritage. In

2013, he purchased the

long-time favorite maga-

zine Scandinavian Press,

and set about remodeling

it to be a glossy full-color

publication that is still en-

joyed by subscribers all

over North America.

Allen was a charter

member of the Minot Ser-

toma Club, joining in

1959, and remaining ac-

tive in the club up until

recent years.

Besides his beloved Ser-

toma, Allen belonged to

several other fraternal or-

ganizations, and served in

several capacities at First

Lutheran and Christ Luth-

eran Church.

Despite a busy work

and volunteer life, Allen

always made time for his

family; wife of almost 60

years, Shirley (who

passed in June of 2010),

his children and his

grandchildren. No matter

the demands of work,

there was always time

each year for a family va-

cation somewhere –

every other year driving to

the West coast to visit

family and relatives in

California and Oregon.

Allen and Shirley also

enjoyed taking trips to

many other destinations

including Hawaii, Spain,

England, France, North

Africa, and Norway.

Allen’s loving family

includes: Daughters:

Valerie (Ron) Smith,

Minot, and Diana Jean

Larson, Minot; Son:

Sheldon Larson, Minot;

Grandsons: Dustin

(Jolene) Smith, Shawn

Smith; Great- Grandchil-

dren: Olivia Smith,

Everett Smith, Iver Smith;

Sisters-in-law: Eleanor

Lee, Della Liebel;

numerous nieces and

nephews also survive.

He was preceded in

death by his wife, Shirley

Larson; parents; brothers

and spouses: Laurence

and Bonnie Larson,

Leonard and Ardis Lar-

son, Raymond and Eileen

Larson, Donald and

Annella Larson.

Funeral: Saturday, No-

vember 14, 2020, at 10:30

a.m. at Christ Lutheran

Church, Minot.

Visitation: Thursday,

November 12, 2020, from

1:00 to 3:00 p.m. at

Thompson-Larson Fun-

eral Home, Minot.

Memorials: are pre-

ferred to Scandinavian

Heritage Association or to

Souris Valley Animal

Shelter.

Those wishing to sign

the online register and

share memories may ac-

cess the online obituaries

section at (www. thomp-

sonlarson.com).

Those wishing to view

the funeral service via

livestream may do so at

www.bit.ly/AllenLarson

Funeral