Leonard Lund
Oct. 17, 1923 – July 25, 2022
Leonard Lund, 98,
Minot and longtime writer
for the Minot Daily News
died on Monday, July 25,
2022, in a Minot assisted
living facility.
Leonard Morris Lund
was born on October 17,
1923 on a farm in El-
verum Township of Pierce
County southeast of Rug-
by, ND to Anton and Julia
(Evenson) Lund. He grew
up on the family farm and
attended school in Silva,
graduating from Silva
High School in 1941. He
continued his education
at Jamestown College for
two years prior to serving
in the U.S. Army Air
Corps from 1943 – 1946.
His most noteworthy duty
was writing for the 15th
Air Force newspaper
“Stars and Stripes” in
their Rome office. Follow-
ing his honorable
discharge, he returned to
Jamestown College and
graduated with a degree
in social science and a
minor in chemistry. Fol-
lowing graduation, he was
employed by the Minot
Daily News for a short
time before continuing his
education at Columbia
University in New York
city where he received his
master’s degree in Jour-
nalism. Then, he returned
to North Dakota and was
employed by the Grand
Forks Herald where a
highlight was writing a
front page article on the
discovery of oil in western
North Dakota. He moved
to Cedar Rapids, Iowa in
1951 and was employed
for a short time in the
public relations office of
Coe College. He returned
to newspaper writing
when he worked for the
Devils Lake Journal from
1952 – 1958 and the
Farmers Press in Min-
newaukan, ND for a short
time.
Leonard continued his
career in newspaper writ-
ing at the Minot Daily
News in 1959 where a
focus of his writing was
on agriculture related to-
pics. However, a highlight
for him was an article he
penned about Sondre
Norheim who was famous
in his ancestral home of
Norway. He retired in
1988 but continued to
write on a part time basis
long into his retirement.
Also, he did public rela-
tions writing for the Serto-
ma Club of Minot and was
proud to have assisted
with locating the grave of
Sondre Norheim, the fa-
ther of modern skiing,
near Denbigh, ND. In ad-
dition to this research, he
worked for many years
compiling the genealogy
of the Lund and Evenson
families dating back to
1370. Most recently, he
had been a resident of
Edgewood Vista .
Leonard was a member
of the Minot Sertoma
Club, Republican Party
and regularly attended
church at Bethany Luth-
eran and Christ Lutheran
Churches in Minot and
was a former member of
First Lutheran Church in
Rugby. He was very proud
of the award he received
from the ND Association
of Soil Conservation Ser-
vice and being King (3X)
of the Senior Thanksgiv-
ing Love Feast at the
Minot Air Force Base.
Leonard especially en-
joyed travel with
highlights being trips to
his grandfather’s ancestral
home in Skollenborg (near
Kongsberg) in Norway
(2X), Hawaii (3X), Mexico
(3X), Jamaica, Bahamas,
Alaska, every province
and territory in Canada,
every state in the U.S.A.
and all of the Amtrak
routes in the U.S.
Leonard is survived by
his nieces and nephews:
Adeline Newnam, Garold
Hamilton, Lyle Langseth,
Betty Hayden, Gladys
Boe, Ardis (Halvorson)
Adams, Beverly Laurich,
Barbara Henderson, Ruth
Heard, Joann Johnson and
Liz (Ramstad) Zelandais
and special friend John
Roll.
Leonard was preceded
in death by his parents
and siblings: Cora Lang-
seth, Stella Salsbury,
Agnes Olson, Eunice
Hamilton, Myrtle Ram-
stad, Belva Halvorson,
Edwin Lund, Odell Lund
and Allan Lund and an in-
fant sister as well as
nieces and nephews: Ar-
vid and Eugene Langseth;
Robert Booth; Daniel,
Ruth, David and Loren
Hamilton; Arthur and
Duane Lund; Roger, Jayne
and Richard Lund; Vir-
ginia Tetzlaff and Marie
Whorley.
Leonard very much
wanted to acknowledge
the excellent care he had
received from Rhonda and
Tom Johnson and the staff
of Edgewood Vista and
the assistance from the
Minot Commission on Ag-
ing.
Service to Celebrate the
life of Leonard Lund:
11:30 a.m. Monday, Au-
gust 1, 2022 at the Tho-
mas Family Funeral
Home, Minot. Interment:
Persilla Watts Cemetery,
Rugby, North Dakota at
approximately 3:00 p.m.
Visitation: Sunday, July
31, 2022, from 12:00 p.m.
until 2:00 p.m. at the Tho-
mas Family Funeral
Home, Minot. Memorials
are preferred to Salvation
Army, Minot Commission
On Aging or the Prairie
Village Museum, Rugby.
Memories and con-
dolences can be shared at
thomasfamilyfuneralhome.com