Samuel E. Samuelson

Samuel Edvin Samuelson was born September 2, 1932 on the family farm south of Hamar ND to Samuel and Petra (Gunderson) Samuelson.  Sam met Bernice Trostad at a barn dance in Aneta ND and they were united in marriage on February 18, 1955.  They made their home on the Samuelson family farm until Petra sold the farm.  They then moved to his in-law’s farm, the Trostad farm, and lived and worked the farm. 

Sam and Bernice lived, worked, and raised their family through the years in many different places.  From 1957 to 1963 they lived in Hamar; 1963 to 1964 they lived in Lakota; 1964 to 1973 they called Devils Lake home; in 1973 they moved to a farm by St. Michael ND where Sam ran the day-to-day farming operations; in 1975 they moved back to Devils Lake; from 1987 to 2002 Mojave CA was home. 

Sam worked various jobs while living in the Lake Region.  He was an over-the-road truck driver, hauling mobile homes from the factory in Minnesota to Devils Lake.  He also was a dozer operator on many road construction projects in North Dakota, Eastern Montana and Western Minnesota while employed with Hulstrand Construction, Apollo Construction, Clairmont Construction and Bechtold Excavating.  When road construction was at a stand still during the winter months, Sam would travel south to work for Brown & Root Mining Company in Colorado and Arizona. In 1987 after part time work with Brown & Root for the past 6 years, Sam and Bernice moved to Mojave CA and Sam worked full-time for the company as a dozer operator in many gold mine operations and a few road construction projects.  This employment meant many moves for Sam and Bernice including living in California, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Florida, Arkansas, and Arizona.

In 2002 when Sam semi-retired, they moved back to Devils Lake and he worked odd jobs on area farms until he fully retired in 2005. 

Sam worked hard his entire life to provide for his family.  He also knew the importance of spending quality time with family and friends on the lake, fishing, ice fishing, water skiing, snowmobiling and he even raced snowmobiles for a time around the Devils Lake area and when you could not be outdoors then card playing was the next best thing, especially playing Pinochle.   In his later years, he enjoyed watching his grandkids play sports, attending their activities, taking them out on the boat and teaching them to fish. 

With the help of family, Sam mastered the computer and spent many hours searching his family history in Norway and playing computer card games.  Going out for morning coffee with friends was always a nice way to start the day. 

After Bernice died in 2014, Sam moved to Minot ND to live with his daughter Deb until failing health forced a move to the Maple View Memory Care facility in Minot. Sam Samuelson passed away on January 17, 2021 at Trinity Medical Center in Minot at the age of 88 years.

Sam’s loving family include his children Deb Morin, Minot, Mark Samuelson, Monroe LA, Todd (Gwen) Samuelson, Battle Mountain NV, Scott Samuelson also of Minot, Tricia (Danny) Eback, Fargo ND; son-in-law Mike Crouch, Belle Fourche SD; 15 grandkids and 18 great grandkids.

He was preceded in death by his wife Bernice, a son in infancy, daughter Lora Crouch, son-in-law Steve Morin, two brothers and five sisters.

Funeral Services and Time of Sharing will be held on June 26, 2021 at 10:30 a.m. at the Gilbertson Funeral Home, Devils Lake ND with burial to follow in the Gethsemane Cemetery, Tolna ND.