Kenneth Wallace Tastad

Kenneth Wallace Tastad was born August 12, 1925 in Rolette, ND. He was the second to the youngest of 10 children in the Andrew and Anna (Haugstad) Tastad family. He died June 17, 2026 in Minot, ND, following a brief hospitalization.

Kenneth lived nearly his entire life on the farm where his father, Andrew Tastad, homesteaded. Kenneth farmed and raised cattle until his retirement from farming in 1999. He moved to the Haaland Manor in Rugby in 2015. Kenneth was baptized by Pastor Eikenes and confirmed in 1940 by Pastor Paulson at Valle Lutheran Church in Rolette. Pedar and Malene Knudson were his baptismal sponsors. He was a faithful member of the church and lived out his faith as a steward of the earth, always attending worship and honoring God’s Day by only doing the minimal necessary to care for the livestock on Sundays. He attended Rolette School, where he played basketball and graduated in 1944.

If times and circumstances had been different, Kenneth may have gone on to be an engineer. Kenneth was an excellent mechanic. As a young man (1940s) he built a snow plane using a Flathead engine, following instructions in a Popular Mechanics magazine. Later in life he built a shortwave radio, put up a tower on his house and enjoyed hours interacting on the waves. His interest in mechanics and science remained to the end, especially opportunities to visit about aviation and space travel.

Kenneth’s 20 nieces and nephews, as well as subsequent generations, all held a special place in Kenneth’s heart. He knew what each of them were doing and enjoyed time spent with them. He taught some of them to drive on the prairie trails prior to taking to the road. While growing up, his niece, Cynthia Smith, liked nothing better than going out on the tractor with Uncle Kenneth.

In 2004, Kenneth and his brother, Irvin took a trip to Norway to visit the ancestral land of their parents. They enjoyed meeting with Tastad family in Stavanger and their mother’s family in Hallingdal. It was a trip of a lifetime for the 2 youngest Tastad brothers.

Kenneth was preceded in death by all his siblings – Myrtle Tastad, Selmer Tastad (Edith), Bernice Tastad, Gladys Sorensen (Rev. Victor), Rev. Albert Tastad, Tilford Tastad (Iola), Harold Tastad (Olive), Irvin Tastad, and Esther Smith (Loren). He was also preceded in death by nephews, Harold Sorensen and Robert Tastad and niece, Cynthia Smith Granger. He is survived by his sister-in-law, Margaret Tastad (Irvin) of Fertile, MN, as well as 17 nieces and nephews and their families.

A memorial service is planned for Monday, July 13, 10:00 a.m. at Valle Lutheran Church, Rolette, ND.