Archie “Orville” Bakken, known as an expert on the history of Norwegian immigrants, has died at age 91.
Bakken died Saturday at the Northwood Deaconess Health Center.
“He was a professional Norwegian,” said Playford Thorson, retired history professor and friend. “It was the biggest thing in his life.”
For decades, Bakken clipped and filed obituaries from North Dakota newspapers of Norwegian-Americans. The clippings are part of an obituary data base of 600,000 names collected by the Norwegian-American Historical Association, aid Odd Lovoll, a St. Olaf College professor and author of Norwegian-American histories.
“Orville was an eccentric person in some ways, but not in any negative way,” Lovoll said. “He was his own person all the time.”
Bakken was recognizable in his usual outfit of bib overalls, flannel shirt, tie and a suit coat at coffee shops in Northwood, Hatton, and across the state.
He didn’t get to Norway until he was nearly 60. But the story of Bakken’s return is famous among his friends. Always a little sentimental, he decided to bring back stones for his friends from their ancestral homes in Norway.
He filled a duffel bag with the stones and an old horseshoe from one farm, barely making it through the airport in Oslo. Bakken could hardly lift the bag.
“They sort of thought he was so interesting, they allowed him to take all the rocks,” Lovoll said.
He became a celebrity in Norway after his first visit, and returned four more times. The Norwegian Broadcasting Co. once came to his farm home on the Goose River near Northwood to interview him—in part, Thorson said, because Bakken spoke the Norwegian of the 19th century immigrants.
“They had him on national TV over there, because they could hear the Hallingdal dialect they no longer could hear in Norway,” Thorson said.
Bakken, born on a family farm near Northwood, also was an inventor. His family was one of the first farms to have electric lights because he built his own generator in the 1930s.
“When people came from Norway, some would let him know, but others would just knock on the door,” said Lois Gibson of Regina, Saskatchewan, who went to Bakken in the 1970s when she was tracing her family tree. “They knew they were always welcome, and they knew they would get a lot of information from Orville.”
Funeral services are scheduled at 2 p.m. Friday, at Northwood Evangelical Lutheran Church. Survivors include a daughter, a son, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Published in the Forum, Fargo, Fargo, North Dakota, July 15, 2001.
Bakken died Saturday at the Northwood Deaconess Health Center.
“He was a professional Norwegian,” said Playford Thorson, retired history professor and friend. “It was the biggest thing in his life.”
For decades, Bakken clipped and filed obituaries from North Dakota newspapers of Norwegian-Americans. The clippings are part of an obituary data base of 600,000 names collected by the Norwegian-American Historical Association, aid Odd Lovoll, a St. Olaf College professor and author of Norwegian-American histories.
“Orville was an eccentric person in some ways, but not in any negative way,” Lovoll said. “He was his own person all the time.”
Bakken was recognizable in his usual outfit of bib overalls, flannel shirt, tie and a suit coat at coffee shops in Northwood, Hatton, and across the state.
He didn’t get to Norway until he was nearly 60. But the story of Bakken’s return is famous among his friends. Always a little sentimental, he decided to bring back stones for his friends from their ancestral homes in Norway.
He filled a duffel bag with the stones and an old horseshoe from one farm, barely making it through the airport in Oslo. Bakken could hardly lift the bag.
“They sort of thought he was so interesting, they allowed him to take all the rocks,” Lovoll said.
He became a celebrity in Norway after his first visit, and returned four more times. The Norwegian Broadcasting Co. once came to his farm home on the Goose River near Northwood to interview him—in part, Thorson said, because Bakken spoke the Norwegian of the 19th century immigrants.
“They had him on national TV over there, because they could hear the Hallingdal dialect they no longer could hear in Norway,” Thorson said.
Bakken, born on a family farm near Northwood, also was an inventor. His family was one of the first farms to have electric lights because he built his own generator in the 1930s.
“When people came from Norway, some would let him know, but others would just knock on the door,” said Lois Gibson of Regina, Saskatchewan, who went to Bakken in the 1970s when she was tracing her family tree. “They knew they were always welcome, and they knew they would get a lot of information from Orville.”
Funeral services are scheduled at 2 p.m. Friday, at Northwood Evangelical Lutheran Church. Survivors include a daughter, a son, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Published in the Forum, Fargo, Fargo, North Dakota, July 15, 2001.
Archie “Orville” Bakken, known as an expert on the history of Norwegian immigrants, has died at age 91.
Bakken died Saturday at the Northwood Deaconess Health Center.
“He was a professional Norwegian,” said Playford Thorson, retired history professor and friend. “It was the biggest thing in his life.”
For decades, Bakken clipped and filed obituaries from North Dakota newspapers of Norwegian-Americans. The clippings are part of an obituary data base of 600,000 names collected by the Norwegian-American Historical Association, aid Odd Lovoll, a St. Olaf College professor and author of Norwegian-American histories.
“Orville was an eccentric person in some ways, but not in any negative way,” Lovoll said. “He was his own person all the time.”
Bakken was recognizable in his usual outfit of bib overalls, flannel shirt, tie and a suit coat at coffee shops in Northwood, Hatton, and across the state.
He didn’t get to Norway until he was nearly 60. But the story of Bakken’s return is famous among his friends. Always a little sentimental, he decided to bring back stones for his friends from their ancestral homes in Norway.
He filled a duffel bag with the stones and an old horseshoe from one farm, barely making it through the airport in Oslo. Bakken could hardly lift the bag.
“They sort of thought he was so interesting, they allowed him to take all the rocks,” Lovoll said.
He became a celebrity in Norway after his first visit, and returned four more times. The Norwegian Broadcasting Co. once came to his farm home on the Goose River near Northwood to interview him—in part, Thorson said, because Bakken spoke the Norwegian of the 19th century immigrants.
“They had him on national TV over there, because they could hear the Hallingdal dialect they no longer could hear in Norway,” Thorson said.
Bakken, born on a family farm near Northwood, also was an inventor. His family was one of the first farms to have electric lights because he built his own generator in the 1930s.
“When people came from Norway, some would let him know, but others would just knock on the door,” said Lois Gibson of Regina, Saskatchewan, who went to Bakken in the 1970s when she was tracing her family tree. “They knew they were always welcome, and they knew they would get a lot of information from Orville.”
Funeral services are scheduled at 2 p.m. Friday, at Northwood Evangelical Lutheran Church. Survivors include a daughter, a son, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Published in the Forum, Fargo, Fargo, North Dakota, July 15, 2001.
Bakken died Saturday at the Northwood Deaconess Health Center.
“He was a professional Norwegian,” said Playford Thorson, retired history professor and friend. “It was the biggest thing in his life.”
For decades, Bakken clipped and filed obituaries from North Dakota newspapers of Norwegian-Americans. The clippings are part of an obituary data base of 600,000 names collected by the Norwegian-American Historical Association, aid Odd Lovoll, a St. Olaf College professor and author of Norwegian-American histories.
“Orville was an eccentric person in some ways, but not in any negative way,” Lovoll said. “He was his own person all the time.”
Bakken was recognizable in his usual outfit of bib overalls, flannel shirt, tie and a suit coat at coffee shops in Northwood, Hatton, and across the state.
He didn’t get to Norway until he was nearly 60. But the story of Bakken’s return is famous among his friends. Always a little sentimental, he decided to bring back stones for his friends from their ancestral homes in Norway.
He filled a duffel bag with the stones and an old horseshoe from one farm, barely making it through the airport in Oslo. Bakken could hardly lift the bag.
“They sort of thought he was so interesting, they allowed him to take all the rocks,” Lovoll said.
He became a celebrity in Norway after his first visit, and returned four more times. The Norwegian Broadcasting Co. once came to his farm home on the Goose River near Northwood to interview him—in part, Thorson said, because Bakken spoke the Norwegian of the 19th century immigrants.
“They had him on national TV over there, because they could hear the Hallingdal dialect they no longer could hear in Norway,” Thorson said.
Bakken, born on a family farm near Northwood, also was an inventor. His family was one of the first farms to have electric lights because he built his own generator in the 1930s.
“When people came from Norway, some would let him know, but others would just knock on the door,” said Lois Gibson of Regina, Saskatchewan, who went to Bakken in the 1970s when she was tracing her family tree. “They knew they were always welcome, and they knew they would get a lot of information from Orville.”
Funeral services are scheduled at 2 p.m. Friday, at Northwood Evangelical Lutheran Church. Survivors include a daughter, a son, five grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Published in the Forum, Fargo, Fargo, North Dakota, July 15, 2001.
Family Members
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
