Lester Vern Tweeten, 95, rural Turtle Lake, died peacefully in his sleep Thursday, June 18, 2009 at the Community Memorial Hospital in Turtle Lake.
Funeral services will be held 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, June 24, at Washburn Baptist Church, with Rev. Rick Torkelson and Rev. Jack Eichhorst officiating. Jude Heringer, organist and soloist. Burial will be in Riverview Cemetery, Washburn.
Public visitation will be held from 4 to 8 P.M. CDT Tuesday at Goetz Funeral Home, Washburn, with an 8:00 PM private family service. Visitation will continue 1 hour prior to time of church service on Wednesday.
Lester was born May 16, 1914 in his parent's rural farmhouse north of Washburn to John B. and Edith (Johnson) Tweeten. He was baptized and confirmed at First Lutheran Church, Washburn. He grew up on this farm with his parents and brothers. He was an 8th grade graduate of Sverdrup District local rural school. He married Leone Beatrice Nordquist on January 29, 1939 at First Lutheran church, Washburn. They made their first home on the former Oscar Nordquist farm for 11 years. In March 1950, they purchased and then resided on the farm that had been homesteaded by Leone's deceased father, Charles Nordquist. Lester was a small grain farmer/rancher for many years.
Lester, a teetotaler, was a devout Christian who dearly loved Jesus Christ. Daily, he did Bible Study and prayer, especially in his active retirement years, reading the Bible from cover to cover many times. He memorized many Bible verses and loved to quote them. In his latter years of life, he developed prostate cancer, which eventually metastasized; he told his M.D.'s and his family that he was at peace with the fact medicine or surgery could no longer help him heal his body. He felt that overall life had been good to him. In spite of his disability problems, he became a successful farmer and rancher.
Lester and Leone joined Washburn Baptist Church in 1958, where he served as a Deacon and a Trustee. He served as Clerk of his children's Veeder District rural school for many years. He was 4-H co-leader with Jack Luithle one year. He was a member of Farmers Union and Farm Bureau. At the time of his death, he was serving on the Board of Ingersoll-Veeder Cemetery Association. He had a shop reserved for his woodworking hobby.
Lester had a lifelong love of horses, especially quarter horses and mules. His experience of farming with draft horses as a young man prepared him for a hobby during his retirement years of strong health that developed into his pride and joy: purchasing, breeding, raising, training, parading, trading, and selling a small herd of Clydesdale horses. He drove his Clydesdale teams, who pulled large wagons and at times, his brother's stage coach at local small town celebration parades, including North Dakota's State Centennial Parade in Mandan, ND.
In 1984, as a breeder, he sold a young Clydesdale named King of Glanord to Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis, MO. For most of his lifetime, he and some of his children rode quarter horses with his local horse clubs, including Garrison Wagon Train for his Clydesdale teams.
He is survived by his children: Carol M. Nelson of Bismarck, Clinton (Sharyll) Tweeten, & Donald (Cheryl) Tweeten of rural Washburn, Gerald (Arlis) Tweeten and David Tweeten of rural Turtle Lake, & Judith (Marvin) Bonnett of Calhoun, LA;
14 grandchildren; 35 great grandchildren; one great-great grandson; sister-in-law, Martha Tweeten of Washburn; and many cousins, nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife; one infant son, James Lester; brothers and sisters-in-law: Oliver (Alice), Ernest (Ruby), & Kenneth; one infant grandson, Michael Ronald Nelson, and two infant great grandsons.
A black riderless quarter horse, under the guidance of Lester's friend, Mrs. Michael (Jessie) Martin, will lead the funeral procession for the final third of the journey to his grave site.