Morris Nelson

Funeral Services for Morris G. Nelson, 78, of Duluth, MN, formerly of Dickinson, are Friday, May 30, 2003, 10:00 a. m. at Family of God Lutheran Church, Duluth with Rev. Gary Guptill, officiating. Morris passed away on May 27, 2003, at his home. Morris Glenn Nelson, born December 14, 1924 at Ellingson, SD on the homestead of Nils Blihovde Nelson and Gina (Hage) Nelson, Norwegian-American, Wisconsinites, who came to this area in 1907. Morris was the 10th child of eleven children, there were 8 boys and 3 girls in the family. At the age of two, he had pneumonia and some heart damage. He walked 4 ? miles to school at Ellingson, he also attended Fairview and Hettinger High School, where he earned his way by staying at the Yellowstone Hotel tending the furnace. He also attended agriculture seminars and DSU COM University. During WWII his brothers were sent to Panama, Austria, Australia and Korea and came home alive. They attended Zion Lutheran church where Morris was confirmed. At first the family lived in a sod house, then moved their cousin?s house onto their ranch and farm, the wooden Erickson house. In his teen years, Morris and Henry built their first tractor from old parts and rented land to farm, but still helping their father. In the winter they cut ice blocks from a small dam for the Kitchen icebox, and it was stored in an icehouse they constructed. As a youth, Morris helped the neighbor bunch hay for 75 cents a day. Morris enjoyed old time music at the old Fairview Hall, where dances were held. Morris was a very dependable worker. He graveled for Perkins County, purchasing his own truck and gravel box. Then he purchased a cattle truck and did some trucking and also hauling grain to supplement his income. He purchased Case farm machinery and later went to John Deere equipment. On June 26, 1974, he married Theresa Bogner Montee in St. Paul, MN at Oneida College. He became the stepfather to Joe, Mary and Barb Montee. He moved them to Reeder, ND where he restored a 1912 house. When the children went to college, he built the Silver Wheel Ranch, 10 ? miles south of Reeder and for four years he also farmed at Lemmon, SD. He was avid recycler and very handy with the hammer and saw. Morris always had a smile and a twinkle in his eyes. He was a very kind, generous man. After falling from a ladder, he was diagnosed with an aneurysm, which he was able to control with a lot of medication. During this time he started wood carving, rug loom weaving and hook rug work. Morris and Theresa collected artifacts to corroborate their respective heritages and donated to several museums. A life sized Viking, one of nine figures Morris helped carve went to the Norskedalen Museum at Coom Valley, WI. A Nisse went to Vesterheim Museum at Decorah, IA and a Troll to the Scandinavian Stabbur in Dickinson Prairie Outpost Park. An eagle went to the Indian Museum in Medora, ND and a lutefisk and an antelope to the Regent, ND museum. Then they restored a 1910 building in Regent, ND and donated the Schwove Banat German-Hungarian artifacts to this area in honor of Theresa?s heritage, and some of Norwegian and Hungarian collectibles to Regent, ND. They sent rugs, to the log houses restored in Wisconsin of Morris? great grandmother, when they came to Wisconsin from Tretten and Oyer, (in the Lillehammer Valley in Norway). Morris worked on restoring Theresa?s fathers? old house in Dickinson. Farming was the thing Morris loved most. In his youth, he hunted and trapped, and in later years he loved to see the wildlife on the ranch. He welded some rural art and made some parade floats for the Reeder Uffda days. Morris enjoyed traveling and he and Theresa went to Hawaii, Norway, Germany, the Caribbean, and to Duluth, where they visited daughter, Barb. They often would visit his parents? relatives in Coon Valley, WI. Now and then Morris went with his brother, Martin to Las Vegas to the Mobil Oil conventions. He enjoyed the slim buttes, living on the state lines and three counties, which sometime created problems with paperwork, but the view from the house was spectacular. Later in life Morris built a mini stav kirke on the farm. Morris was a good grandpa to Eric & Ryan Blumhagen and Meagan & Maren Guptill. In 2002, the Nelsons moved their Ethnic museum from Drake, ND to the old Nazarene Church in Regent, ND. They also commissioned, nephew, Frank Opheim to make a Viking Ship Outdoor sign, to call attention to the Norwegian immigrants in SW North Dakota. In 2003, the Nelsons moved to Duluth, MN to be closer to their granddaughters. Morris will be greatly missed by his wife, Theresa of Duluth, MN; three stepchildren, Joe (Pam) Montee of Dickinson, Mary Montee (Myron) Blumhagen of Drake, ND, Barb Montee (Gary) Guptill of Duluth, MN, four grandchildren sister, Ida and brothers, Henry and Chester. Morris? brothers, Irwin, George, Raymond, Martin, Lawrence and sisters, Mabel, Nora and parents preceded him in death.


Burial Date: May 30, 2003
Funeral Home Dickinson, ND

Funeral: Friday, Family of God Lutheran Church, Duluth, MN