Norman C. Roos

Norman Carl Herseth Roos

Childhood

• Born June 18, 1918 to Nels and Nora Roos on the family farm west of Hitterdal where his grandparents homesteaded in the 1870’s
• Father was a very successful farmer: one of the few in the township that did not go bankrupt during the great depression
• Mother was educated for teaching and was gifted as a singer and organist, serving her church and community with these skills
• Excellent in baseball pitching and basketball, led Hitterdal in its best season until recently; was captain and all district center, and was edged out by a deep Moorhead team in the district finals of a one division playoff system
• Graduated 2nd in his class of 1936 at Hitterdal HS, being active in speech (oratory), band (clarinet) and voice (lead in operetta, male octet)

College

• Active in the Concert Band and the college newspaper as sports reporter for the Concordian
• Earned 7 varsity sports letters in basketball and baseball, and was basketball team captain for 2 yrs.  All-conference in basketball as a senior and was the conference leader in rebounding and free-throws
• Graduated in June, 1940 with a double major in history and economics

Military

• Entered March 1942, Infantry 90^th Division, as corporal, Camp Barkely, TX
• Officer Candidate School, became 2^nd LT, Ft. Benning, GA October 1942
• Military Intelligence School, Camp Richie, MD, graduate of Army Ranger special forces and winter training, awaited assignment to a Ranger group to assist the Norwegian Underground
• Assigned to the 88^th Infantry Division, Camp Gruber, OK, when the British took over the lead in the Norwegian resistance theater
• Transferred to the Air Force in October, 1943, for flight training and completed Air Cadet basic, flying 90 hrs in training aircraft
• Transferred to Navigator School at Monroe, LA in May 1944 due to a shortage of navigators and excellent math skills
• Aerial navigator on C-47 (DC-3) transport aircraft in the European theater
• Flew 28 combat missions dropping paratroopers, and after VE DAY, evacuated prisoners-of-war from concentration camps

Family

• Engaged to Lillian Mercedes Mickelson in May, 1940
• Teaching in Nevis while Mercedes finished her senior year at Concordia was followed by a graduate program at the University of Iowa while Merc taught in Boyd.  All of their best laid plans to end this separation were changed by Pearl Harbor, December 7^th, 1941
• Married Oct 25^th, 1942 on leave from Military Intelligence Training.  Only intermittent visits by Merc during training were possible until leaving for Europe December 22^nd, 1944
• Father of 3 boys: while in Europe, Howard was born June 16^th, 1945.  Donald was born April 30^th, 1948 and John was born the same date in 1953.  Howard, a mechanical engineer specialized in acoustics and vibration, works for Boeing Aircraft, St. Louis, MO; Donald is a physician in Urgent Care emergency medicine, for Park Nicollet Clinic, Minneapolis, MN;  John is also a physician, specialized in Preventive Medicine and Homeopathy, working  in private practice, Burlington, VT.
• He has 6 grandchildren

Career

• Started teaching in Hawley December 7^th, 1945 or 4 yrs after Pearl Harbor
• Worked in the field of education for 40 years at Nevis, MN, Univ of Iowa, and Hawley, MN
• Served as classroom history and social studies teacher at Hawley High School from 1945 till retirement in 1983.  His other contributions in education included being basketball and football athletic coach at various levels and also high school principal.
• Worked as a beekeeper for nearly 30 years, building the business to over 600 beehives at twelve bee-yard locations around the Hitterdal, Hawley and Rollag area. The bees produced large amounts of honey and production reached almost 100,000 pounds during one good year; this size of business required extensive hours of work not only during the summer but also evenings and  mornings in the spring and fall

Community Service

• Hawley City Council from 1972 till 1994 and Mayor for 10 of those yrs
• While in city government, important accomplishments included a new library, the water treatment plant with new wells, and the flood-water drainage system as well as the building of the Hawley Airport and its revenue producing aircraft storage buildings.
• Served on several state and county boards and commissions, including the Clay County Tax Commission, the Clay County Solid Waste Control Board, and the State Exxon Overcharge Commission
• President of Hawley Lutheran Congregation twice; served as Chairman of the Lutheran Church Parish Re-Alignment, Chairman of New Church Study Committees, President and Chairman of the Hawley Lutheran Church Building Committee and also of the Pipe Organ Procurement Committee
• President of the Hawley Education Association
• Was a Director of the Eventide Lutheran Home Board, a member of the Hjemkomst Museum Board as well as the Clay County Historical Society Board

Titles

• Captain (basketball HS)
• Captain (basketball college)
• Corporal (US Army Infantry)
• 1^st LT. (US Army and US Army Air Corps)
• Coach
• Teacher
• Principal (HHS)
• Chairman (numerous boards and committees)
• President (Hawley Lutheran Church and Hawley Education Assoc)
• Director (numerous boards)
• Councilman (City of Hawley)
• Mayor (City of Hawley)
• CEO (business owner of apiaries)
• Dad
• Grandpa

Hobbies

• Music listening, singing and playing (organ, clarinet)

• Photography
• Audio recording of Mercedes during pipe organ pre-performance rehearsals
• Studying and reading history
• Woodworking
• Aviation reading
• Camping
• Travel
• Hunting and fishing
• Car Restoration