Sydney H. Haakenstad

NORFOLK -- Services for Sydney H. Haakenstad, 91, of Norfolk will be at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Stonacek Funeral Chapel here with burial in the Laurel City Cemetery and military rites by American Legion Post 54, VFW Post 4504 and U.S. Army Honor Guard. Visitation will be 4-8 p.m. Friday. The Rev. Dr. James Brewer will officiate. He died Tuesday, July 23, 2013, at Faith Regional Health Services. He was born May 29, 1922, on a farm near Souris, N.D., to Sivert and Anne (Hanson) Haakenstad. He was raised on the family homestead and attended rural school prior to graduating from Souris High School in 1940. He joined the U.S. Army Air Corps on Nov. 20, 1942, and served overseas in the China, Burma, India war theater and was discharged on Jan. 29, 1946. Sydney graduated from North Dakota State University in Fargo in 1952 with a degree in agricultural engineering. After graduation he went to work for the U.S.D.A. Soil Conservation Service on the Salt, Wahoo and Brownell Creek pilot watershed projects, headquartered at Lincoln. He was transferred to Albion in 1956 as area engineer and relocated to Norfolk in 1972. Some of the projects he worked on as area engineer were the Farwell Irrigation Project in Sherman and Howard Counties, Aowa Creek Watershed Project, Skyview Lake (Corporation Gulch Flood Control Project), Maskenthine, Tekamah Mud Watershed Project, Willow Creek in Pierce and many others. He retired from the Soil Conservation Service in 1984 after more than 30 years of federal service.\r\n\r\nHe was married to Bonnie Schroeder in 1958 in Laurel. He was a member of United Methodist Church, Norfolk, Methodist Men's Group and Keystone, a life member of the VFW, the American Legion and Albion Masonic Lodge. His loving family include his wife of 55 years, Bonnie Haakenstad of Norfolk; son Timothy George and wife Kiki and grandchildren Ellana, Alexandra, Sam and Victoria of Lincoln; son Jon Stewart and his wife, Sandra and grandchildren Zoe and Hana with Kira and Christopher (stepgrandchildren) of Boise, Idaho; daughter Salle Ann Robinson and her husband, Corby and grandchildren Sydney and C.J. of Boise; sister Marilyn Klebe of Bottineau, N.D., and many nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by parents Sivert and Anne; brothers Henry, Maurice, Alf and Duane; one sister, Adeline Haakenstad. Soloist will be Cindy Booth with hymns "In the Garden", "Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling" and "Lord's Prayer." Casket bearers will be Tim Haakenstad, Jon Haakenstad, Sam Haakenstad, Corby Robinson, David Schutte, Dan Harrison.

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Sydney H. Haakenstad

May 29, 1922 - July 23, 2013