Henry Violett
Henry Aloysius Violett
Aug. 19, 1919 – Feb. 2, 2018
Henry Aloysius Violett, 98, of Inman, SC and formerly of Leeds, ND, passed away Friday, February 2, 2018 at the Spartanburg Regional Medical Center in Spar-
tanburg, SC. Mass of Christian Burial was at 2:00 PM, Wednesday, February 7, 2018 at the St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Leeds, ND with Fr. Daniel Musgrave celebrating the mass. Visitation was held from 6:00 PM-8:00 PM Tuesday, February 6, 2018 at the Nelson Funeral Home in Leeds. Visitation continued one hour prior to the service at the church with a Rosary beginning at 1:30 PM. Burial was held at the St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Cemetery in Leeds. Music was provided by Tammy Meyer, Fran Davis and the St. Vincent de Paul Choir. Military Honors were provided by the Leeds American Legion Post #101, Robert Tovsrud VFW Post #757 of Harlow and the North Dakota Military Funeral Honors Team. In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred in Henry’s name to the St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church 315 Central Avenue Leeds, ND 58346.
Henry Aloysius Violett was born Aug. 19, 1919 to John W. and Elizabeth (Kraft) Violett at their farm home north of Leeds. In October the family moved to Leeds and
joined John’s father (George Violett) in operating a garage and service station that was located along the Teddy Roosevelt Trail which passed through Leeds. Henry at-
tended school in Leeds and graduated from Leeds High School in 1938. He worked with his father until enlisting in the National Guard in 1940, and eventually becoming a member of Company D, 164th Infantry of the US Army. Henry’s National Guard unit was activated into the Army following the Pearl Harbor attack, and he served in the South Pa-cific. He participated in campaigns from Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands through the Philippines, and on to preparations for the invasion of Japan.
After being honorably discharged from the Army on July 6, 1945, Henry married Borgny C. Teigen on Nov. 26, 1949 and continued to own and operate Violett’s Garage (also known as Hank’s 66) in Leeds until he retired in the 1990s. Henry and Borgny raised two sons, John (Tim) and David, both of whom worked with their father during their school years. Henry enjoyed traveling. He and Borgny visited many locations, including the Bahamas, Acapulco, Alaska, Hawaii, Costa Rica, Aruba, and
Jamaica, a cruise that took them through the Panama Canal, and World Expo ’67 in Montreal Canada. He also participated in an Honor Flight to view the WWII memorial in Washington, DC. For a number of years, Henry and Borgny were members of the Prairie Partners square dance club and attended dances in Minnesota, South Dakota, Hawaii and Canada. In 2009, Henry and Borgny moved to Inman, SC to be closer to their sons and grandchildren.
Henry was a member of the Leeds Lions and Harlow Veterans of Foreign Wars, was a member and past commander of American Legion Post 101 in Leeds, was a member and former Fire Chief for the Leeds Fire Department, and was an active member of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Leeds.
He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Borgny, both sons John and David, daughter-in-law Tanya, grandson Avery, step-granddaughter Heather, and a number of nephews and nieces.
He is preceded in death by his parents, a still born baby daughter, two sisters and their husbands (Georgian and Orvis Mickelson & Viola and Jim Ostergard), a brother (John), a sister-in-law and her husband (Claire and Andrew Walters), brothers-in-law (John F Teigen and Maurice Larson), and niece Karen Larson.
Online condolences may be left at www.thenelsonfuneralhome.com
The Nelson Funeral Home of Leeds is in charge of the arrangements.