{"id":35700,"date":"2021-06-03T05:01:30","date_gmt":"2021-06-03T11:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uswps02.newsmemory.com\/northernplainsindependent\/news\/?p=35700?destination=northern-plains-independent"},"modified":"2021-06-03T05:17:01","modified_gmt":"2023-11-20T05:17:01","slug":"melvin-torgerson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.northernplainsindependent.com\/2021\/06\/03\/melvin-torgerson\/?destination=northern-plains-independent","title":{"rendered":"Melvin Torgerson"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\n\t Melvin Harry \u201cMel\u201d Torgerson,  91, of Beulah, N.D., formerly  of Bainville and Sidney, died May 21, 2021. He was residing  at the Knife River Care Center in Beulah at the time of his death.<br \/>\n\t  He was born on March 3, 1930, in Williston, N.D., the son of Sophie and Harry  Torgerson. He grew up in Bainville, but did some traveling  with his dad\u2019s construction company, attending his freshman  year of high school in Oklahoma. He graduated from Bainville High School in 1948.<br \/>\n\t  He met Margaret Halvorson  and they were wed on Nov. 10, 1949. Their union was blessed with five children. They made their life in Bainville  with Melvin managing the grain elevator and Margaret  keeping things running smoothly at home. He, along with a group of investors, eventually purchased the elevator  and he continued to run it until he retired.<br \/>\n\t  With an almost empty nest, they purchased the Tastee Freeze in Culbertson and renamed  it M&amp; M\u2019s Place. They built and ran this business, a business known for their smiling  faces, hometown feel, exceptional  service and locally famous broasted chicken until they retired in 2004 and moved to Sidney. This is where they made their home until Margaret\u2019s  death in 2006. He continued  to reside in Sidney until he moved to Beulah, N.D., in 2014.<br \/>\n\t  Family, faith, friends, sports, puzzles and cards were a few of the things that fulfilled his life. Whether it was playing football in his younger years with his cardboard  and leather helmet, reffing basketball, attending his children\u2019s and grandchildren\u2019s  events or watching his beloved Vikings on TV, sports were one of his favorite  ways to spend his time.<br \/>\n\t  Anyone that knew him knew he loved to do puzzles. He was proud to have a gallery  showing at the museum and an article in the newspaper  showcasing the talent of \u201cThe Puzzler\u201d in 2008. Pinochle and cribbage have been pastimes his whole life.<br \/>\n\t  However, it wasn\u2019t always about competition with him, some of the best memories of playing cards with him were the witty comments and colorful  stories mixed into the card game. If he wasn\u2019t at home, you could find him playing cards at the senior center or socializing with coffee and donuts.<br \/>\n\t  The family values that Margaret  and Melvin instilled on their children and grandchildren  is unmatched. Torgerson  family get-togethers are always a loud, happy crowd. Faith was his foundation. He was a very active Catholic in every community he lived: Bainville, Sidney and Beulah.<br \/>\n\t  He is survived by his children,  Billie Lou Giese, Howard  Torgerson, Brent Torgerson,  Brian Torgerson and Doug Torgerson; 11 grandchildren;  and 13 great-grandchildren.<br \/>\n\t  Mass of the Christian Burial is Friday, June 4, at 10 a.m. at Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in Bainville with Fr. Anietie \u201cAkama\u201d Ukanide presiding.  Interment will be in the Bainville Cemetery. Visitation  will be Thursday, June 3, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the funeral home and one hour before services at the church. Rosary will be recited at 6 p.m. Thursday, June 3, at the funeral home. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35698,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4],"tags":[],"news-destination":[14],"news-source":[11],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northernplainsindependent.com\/northernplainsindependent\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35700"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northernplainsindependent.com\/northernplainsindependent\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northernplainsindependent.com\/northernplainsindependent\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northernplainsindependent.com\/northernplainsindependent\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northernplainsindependent.com\/northernplainsindependent\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35700"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.northernplainsindependent.com\/northernplainsindependent\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35700\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northernplainsindependent.com\/northernplainsindependent\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35698"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.northernplainsindependent.com\/northernplainsindependent\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35700"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northernplainsindependent.com\/northernplainsindependent\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35700"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northernplainsindependent.com\/northernplainsindependent\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35700"},{"taxonomy":"news-destination","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northernplainsindependent.com\/northernplainsindependent\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-destination?post=35700"},{"taxonomy":"news-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.northernplainsindependent.com\/northernplainsindependent\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-source?post=35700"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}