|
Gene A. Hovland • 1934 - 2006 Gene A. Hovland, 1711 6th St. SW, Minot, ND, passed away February 11, 2006. He fought a good fight, he has finished the race, he has kept the faith. Gene was born in Fertile, MN on March 2, 1934, the son of Amund and Randi (Gunufson) Hovland. He attended school in Minnesota and Oregon. He graduated from the Northwest School of Agriculture in Crookston, MN. While in high school he played football and was on the boxing team. He was a Golden Glove Boxer and boxed at Madison Square Gardens. Upon graduation he joined the Air Force. While in the Air Force he was in the transportation field and drove all the heavy equipment they had and the semis. He was stationed in Texas, twice in England, New Mexico, twice at the Minot Air Force Base and the last four and a half years of his career he was at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, where he worked under the Secretary of the Air Force in the AFOG unit. Upon retirement from the Air Force he moved with his family to Minot and started work for Cenex as a transport fuel driver for over 21 years. All the while that he was in the Air Force he was involved with the Boy Scouts. He started Troop 435 at the Minot Air Force Base. He first joined the Scouts while in Oregon and earned his Eagle Award. He was involved in the Scouts for over 56 years and in February 2005 he received their highest award, "Silver Beaver". While in Scouts in Minot he was on the Eagle Board Review and on various district committees. He was most proud of the improvements that he was involved in at the Big 4. At all the camps he was known as "Grandpa". His motto was "Once an Eagle, Always an Eagle". In 2005 he was asked to be one of four Boy Scout Representatives in the United States for the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He married Loetta Renfrow in 1965 at Turtle Lake, ND. He loved his family and was very proud of his children and grandchildren. He was a good neighbor and always willing to help anyone who needed help. He is survived by his wife, Loetta; his four children David Hovland of Glendale, WA, Layne Hovland, Minot, Corey Hovland, Westminster, CO, and Penny (Calvin) Watkins, Stockbridge, GA; his adopted children, Gary and Linda Siewert, Surrey; 13 grandchildren, Natalie Palmer, Katie Hovland, Crystal Hovland, Taylor Hovland, Jamie O'Fallon, KyLee O'Fallon, SteviRae Gross, Matthew Hovland, Taylor Watkins, Meghan Watkins, CJ Watkins, Davion Watkins, Oshaya Watkins; five great-grandchildren, Jade O'Fallon, McKy O'Fallon, Jazzlynn O'Fallon, Kaylee Williams and Randi Palmer; one brother, Gordon Hovland, Silverton, OR; two sisters, Orpha Alrick, Silverton, OR, and Dorothy Osborne, Salem, OR; numerous nieces, nephews and cousins survive. He was preceded in death by his parents, one brother, Allen Hovland and sister MaryAnn Bartolomie. Funeral: Thursday, February 16, 2006 at 10:30 a.m., at Thompson-Larson Funeral Home, Minot, ND. Visitation and prayer service: Visitation will be Wednesday from noon to 6:00 p.m., with a prayer service at 6:00 p.m., all at Thompson-Larson Funeral Home, Minot. Burial: Thursday at 3:00 p.m., at the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery, Mandan, ND. To sign the online guest register
for Gene
|