Carl A. Nygaard

Carl A. Nygaard, age 101, Lily, died on Sunday at the Bethesda Home in Webster where he had resided for the past three years. Funeral services will be held on Thursday, September 22, 2005 at 10:30 AM in the Historic Lutheran Church at Lily with the Reverend Dan Overbo officiating. Burial will follow in the Our Saviours Lutheran Cemetery - East at Lily. Music will be provided by David & Carol Finstad singing "Amazing Grace" and "The Old Rugged Cross". The congregation will sing "What a friend We Have in Jesus" and "How Great Thou Art". Visitation will be held on Wednesday from 5-7 PM at the Furness Funeral Home at Clark and 1 hour prior to services at the Church in Lily on Thursday. He was born at Bradley, SD on September 23, 1903, the son of Andrew and Betty (Hanson) Nygaard. He attended county school in Cottonwood Township near Bradley and also at Butler. At an early age he helped on the farm and also began shearing sheep for Peter Finstad. On February 28, 1934 he was united in marriage to Emma Solberg at Aberdeen. The couple lived and farmed for some 20 years in northern Clark County before moving to Bismarck, ND where he worked at Trinity Lutheran Church. They then returned to the Lily-Butler area and farmed before moving to Sioux Falls where he worked at Augustana College. Later they moved to Green Isle, MN where he worked at Green Isle Manufacturing, which became Farmland Industries. In the early 1980's they returned to Butler. The couple also owned and operated restaurants in the Lily and Bristol communities. Mrs. Nygaard died on July 7, 1989. Carl later moved into Lily and lived in the former Lutheran parsonage until at the age of 98, when he moved to the Bethesda Home in Webster. He was the first baby to be baptized in the Lily Lutheran Community, prior to the church being built and served as a sponsor for the last baby being baptized in the Church before its closing. He was confirmed at Our Savior's Lutheran Church near Bradley. One could write endless stories and memories of Carl's life, however in the space we have, we will highlight on a few that were most special to him. In the 1940's he and others in the Butler/Bristol/Lily area put together a basketball team, only dressed as a women's basketball team, and went to area schools and played against school boards and other organizations raising money for the March of Dimes in fighting polio. As mentioned earlier, he began shearing sheep at the age of about 13, something he continued well into his 80's. When he was 85, he went to California and helped with the rebuilding of bridges and other structures after a large earthquake, while there suffered chest pains, when to the hospital had a pacemaker put in and was back out shortly helping rebuild. He will long be remembered for his love of painting, especially Churches. At the age of 93 he painted the Lily Church and at age 96, the Lutheran Church at Butler, and then there was the time of the painting the Church at DeSmet, starting on the wrong one! One of his concerns of going to the Bethesda Home to live at the age of 98, was, who was going to take care of the mowing of the area cemeteries' Something he had been taking care of for many years. He enjoyed watching the Minnesota Twins, the trips he had made to Oslo, Norway to visit family and the St. Paul Lutheran Church in Clark ' annual Lutefisk supper. These are just a few of the many memories we have of Carl. Grateful for having shared his life is his son, Clifford Nygaard and wife Lynne of Bristol, a sister, Esther Barton of Torrington, WY, 13 grandchildren, 32 great-grandchildren and 8 great-great grandchildren. He also leaves daughters-in-law, Barbara Nygaard of Chandler, AZ and Jennifer Nygaard of Cheyenne, WY, sisters-in-law, Hazel Solberg of Clark, Delores, Elaine and Vivian Solberg all of Webster and close friend, brother-in-law, Elmer 'Bud' Solberg of Webster. Preceding him in death were his parents Andrew and Betty, wife Emma, son David and Gene, brothers John, Edwin, Raymond, Bert, Albert, Melvin and O