Sons, Like Father, are Electricians
Born in 1924 near Carpio, Lloyd Peterson remembers the 1930s: “The one thing that sticks with me is the government brought [surplus] to townships. We never got any,” because his dad wasn’t a citizen.
Food is also a part of Joyce Vedvig’s memories of childhood. Born in 1926 in Carpio, she says, “The farmers had their [meat and dairy]. My dad was a mechanic. When I looked in his [record] book—50 cents for a weld job, 75 cents for another. We just didn’t have that much. So my mother took in [high school students]. And she’d get paid with the milk and the cream and the meat. So we ate off their board and room. I remember my mother going to the fields, picking field corn and canning it. I had some aunts say, ‘Oh, I feel so sorry for you, Joyce, Your mom just works you way too hard.’ I didn’t know anything else. And as I would say now, it did not hurt me.”
Lloyd saw active duty during World War II aboard the USS Southampton, which operated in the South Pacific. His ship landed vehicles and personnel, and brought back the wounded. “It was so hard to make a landing [at Iwo Jima]. It’s such volcanic ash. You had to end up getting steel screens [for tanks to drive on]. And the first thing you know, it’s like [the enemy] were shooting darts. Poom. Poom. We never got hit,” he says, “but the ship was not in the best conditions.”
Lloyd was discharged in 1946, and made his way back to his sweetheart, Joyce with whom he had been corresponding. In 1947, they married. They have six children, 17 grandchildren, and 17 great-grandchildren.
After marriage, Lloyd worked as an electrician, eventually founding Peterson Electric. Later their three sons joined him in the business, and each has his master’s license. Joyce worked for the postal service, including being the postmaster. Lloyd says, “I’d say our life has been successful. We’ve raised a family. We’ve had a good life together. And we traveled. We even went back to see some of my cousins in Norway.”
Lloyd and N. Joyce (Vedvig) Peterson, Interview: June 23, 2014, County: Ward, and City: Carpio.
Grandfather Gave up his Spot on the Lifeboat
Mark Chaffee’s grandfather, Herbert Fuller Chaffee, ran a bonanza farm. At its peak, the operation controlled over 40,000 acres of prime farmland, 34 grain elevators, a grain-trading firm, and three company towns with dozens of smaller company-owned businesses. The nearby town of Chaffee was named after the family. Mark remembers, “We lived in the chauffeur’s quarters that my grandfather had for his 1910 Cadillac.” “In 1910,” Mark says, “my grandmother was diagnosed with what they thought was a terminal illness, but then she recovered.” To celebrate her good health, Mark’s grandparents took a trip to England to visit where their ancestors were from and to check the status of stained glass windows being constructed for their church in Amenia.
“For the trip home,” Mark says, “they had first-class tickets on the Titanic. Dad remembered running home crying when he found out the ship sank. He was told that everybody on board was lost, so he thought both his father and his mother had died.” But Mark’s grandmother was rescued. “My grandfather was an iconic person at the time, but like all the other men on the Titanic, he gave up his spot in the lifeboat to the women and children, so they could be saved. They were all heroes.”
The stained glass windows that Mark’s grandparents went to England to inspect were eventually delivered and installed in the Amenia church. They are now on display at the Bonanzaville USA pioneer village in West Fargo.
Most of the bonanza farm fortune was gone by the time Mark was growing up in Amenia. The bulk of the money or the land that was there was lost during the Depression. “My life changed from a rich man’s son to just a hardworking son-of-a-gun, I guess. That’s how I was raised. I think a person’s best accomplishments are those that he did on his own. And also the number of friends and family members you have.”
Mark completed a two-year degree in auto mechanics and a four-year degree in agricultural economics. He served in the Naval Reserve as a commander.
Mark Chaffee Interview: March 28, 2018, County: Cass, and City: Amenia.
A Potluck at the Service Station Every Friday Noon
“Sentinel Butte was a great place to grow up,” boasts its mayor Rick Olson. “There were a lot more people back in the ’60s and ’70s. We had a dam, so in the wintertime we would be ice skating, Crack the Whip. The doggone parents would come and drag us out by the ears because we wouldn’t come home for supper. We had a lot of fun growing up.”
Rick now owns and operates a gas station in Sentinel Butte. “You could also say a community center. We have a potluck every single Friday. I usually provide the meat and I grill and people just come on in, some will bring a hot dish, a salad, you name it. You never know on any Friday what you are going to have here. People just show up, and we have a good time.
“I started this because I just like grilling out. I get tired of sandwiches, and I decided I’m going to grill myself a hamburger. Mom and Dad come on over, next thing I know the neighbors are coming over as soon as it is Friday. On any given Friday between 10 and 60 people show up. I never know. They look forward to it. It is great to see everyone visiting and having a good time.”
Rick’s station is open “Monday through Friday. Saturday we are open at 7:30 and Sunday after church, because there is a local rancher who has to have his Diet Coke. And if he is out of chew, my God, heaven help us. He has a diesel pickup, and you know when he is waiting for you to get out of church because he will circle the church. You can just hear that diesel idle by the church. He might rev her up a little bit just to let you know ‘Yes, I’m here, get that sermon over, get that church over with.’ He does this every once in a while. Yeah, it is pretty comical.
“If I have to go [on a Friday night], and sometimes I do, I say, ‘Shut the gas pump off, turn off the light, lock the door when you leave.’ Like I said, this is the most self-service place you will probably ever find in a community.”
Rick Olson Interview: June 6, 2013, County: Golden Valley, and City: Sentinel Butte.
(Editor’s Note: These profiles of North Dakota residents were collected by author James Puppe between 2004-2018, covering 617 subjects and 113,000 miles. He has given permission for his book to be serialized in North Dakota Newspapers at no charge. To find out how you can read the entire collection of Dakota Attitude profiles go to dakotaattitude.com.)
