September 30, 2009

Dagny Bolken

Former Arnegard resident, Dagny (Anderson) Bolken, 92, passed away peacefully on Sept. 26 in Mukilteo, Wash.
Dagny was born Nov. 23, 1916, on the Carl Anderson homestead in Farland. In later years, this was the farm where the Olaf Leiseth Sr. family lived.
She fondly liked to tell about when Farland was the stage stop between Williston and Sanish, and at that time, Farland had its own post office.
Dagny attended grade school at the Farland grade school and high school in Watford City. She was baptized and confirmed at the Farland Lutheran Church.
On June 6, 1935, she married Harald Bolken, of Arnegard, at the Wilmington Lutheran Church. They took over the Bolken homestead three miles north of Arnegard where they raised their children, Olaf, Paul, Luther, Melody and Nolan. Then in November of 1952, they sold the farm to Harald’s niece, Genevieve (Holen) Bruins, who two months earlier had married John Bruins. The family then moved to a small farm in Springfield, Ore., where Dagny had one more child, Kaja.
In 1974, Harold retired from the sawmill he worked in and they moved onto the small ranch of son, Olaf, at Terrebonne in central Oregon where they lived the next 28 years.
Dagny loved to sing and was very active in church choirs in Arnegard, Springfield and Sisters, Ore. She sang many duets with Harald over those years and also sang with the Sweet Adelines. After moving to central Oregon, she enjoyed watching Olaf’s three children grow up next door, baking and entertaining as often as any one would drop in. Her grandchildren gave her a large sign which read, “Grandma’s buns are best.” She proudly displayed it right next to her sign, “Welcome, make yourself at home.” She was active in the Grange and Sons of Norway and loved cooking and teaching others how to make Norwegian goodies.
After Harald passed away in 2002 she went to live with her daughter, Melody and her husband Lewis Hunsberger, overlooking Puget Sound, north of Seattle. Melody and Dagny spent their winters in Palm Springs, Calif., and their summers in Mukilteo, Wash., where the Hunsbergers own a sheet metal company.
She leaves behind many, many friends and relatives and her six children, 12 grandchildren, 13 great -grandchildren and two great-great -grandchildren. Dagny, with her always cheerful smile, will be greatly missed.
Arrangements for her burial at Arnegard Wilmington Cemetery are pending.

 

WATFORD CITY WEATHER