Daniel J. Sigdestad

Daniel J. Sigdestad was born September 17, 1899 at his parent's farm near Bristol, SD. There were nine children in his family, but the first four infants died. Mr. Sigdestad attended his first eight years of school in a one-room rural school house near Bristol. He attended Lutheran Bible School in Grand Forks, ND during high school, and Augustana College in Sioux Falls, SD. He also attended summer school at Northern State Teacher's College in Aberdeen, SD.Mr. Sigdestad and his twin brother were drafted into the Army the fall of 1918; only weeks later the Armistice was signed, ending the war. He taught school for nine years in Webster, Bristol, Lily, Westport, and Stratford, SD. During that time, he married Freda Westley from Hannaford, ND.The Sigdestads moved to Webster in 1934 with their three children. There Mr. Sigdestad was Deputy Superintendent of Schools, serving six years with his sister, Minnie, County Superintendent of Schools. He was Sunday School Superintendent at the Lutheran church in town, as well. He also worked as a clerk/salesman in Webster and would help out on his brother's farm near Bristol whenever he could.The family moved to Moorhead, MN in 1941. This was during the Depression, so further schooling to gain a MN teaching certificate was out of the question. He worked as a traveling salesman for a book company as well as a clerk in several men's clothing stores in Moorhead and Fargo. He spent 45 summers walking through fields as far south as Texas and east as Ohio as a crop hail inspector. He retired in his 80's. He was an active member of Trinity Lutheran Church for nearly sixty years; he taught Sunday School to all ages and was usher for many of those years. He was active in the Kiwanis Club and he loved to golf. Mr. Sigdestad taught the English classics, including poetry of the Masters. He could recite those poems from memory until the day he died. He became quite a poet himself, having poems published in several books. His son, Duane, was killed in a motorcycle accident in 1947, three months after returning from World War II, having fought in major campaigns as a paratrooper. He and his wife then adopted a nine year old boy, Curtis. Mr.Sigdestad's wife died of cancer in 1949. He married Myrtle Nellermoe in 1951. She died in 1996. Others who preceded him in death were three sisters, Clara Fuglestad, and Minnie and Carol Sigdestad; two brothers, Selmer and Joel Sigdestad; and two grandchildren, Lee Duane and Jill Adair.Surviving are two daughters: Joyce Evenson, Columbia, MO and her husband, Walter; Mary June Anderson, Lakewood, CO and her husband, Roger; and one son, Curtis, Louisville, KY and his wife Kathleen. Also, 14 grandchildren, 21 great-grandchildren and 15 nieces and nephews and their families, many cousins and dear friends, all who loved and respected a most remarkable man whose faith in God was his primary legacy. He will be missed, but never forgotten.