Alfred Tweidt

Alfred Tweidt, son of Maria (Urdahl) and Martin Tweidt, was born on
August 17, 1914 in Plaza,
North Dakota
. His family moved to a farm east of Hendon in 1924. The whole family traveled
over 400 miles in a 1917 Model Ford Touring Car which took about 4.5 days.
Alfred laughs as he recalls, the trip
went fine, although a little slow, until they hit the Que’pelle Valley. Going
down the Valley wasn’t the problem; it was getting back up the other side! He
and his siblings had to put rocks behind the tires of the Touring Car every so
often to let the car cool down a bit before inching off again up the steep
slope.
Both Alfred’s parents were born in
Stavanger
,
Norway
. They met in
Norway
and then Martin immigrated to the States. Maria emigrated a year later and the
two were married shortly after. Alfred has seven siblings: Della, Carl, Mable,
Melvin, Bennie, Selmer, and Donald.
Alfred married Dorthy (Hardy), a teacher in the
area, in 1951. After her passing, Alfred remarried in 2000 to Helen (Lee).
Alfred started out as a farmer during the 1940’s
but he was a business man at heart and moved on from farming into the motor
industry. He and his partners started the “Patron Motors” which used to be
located across from the Hall. Patron Motors sold Ford cars, farm implements, and
even gas. Eventually Alfred sold out his part in the business and became the
manager of the Credit Union. For many years he ran an insurance company, “A.
J. Tweidt Agencies”, out of his office at the Credit Union until he got a new
office built.
Alfred was a member of the Kinsmen Club and the
Lions Club. He is presently a member of the Elfros Masonic Lodge. He also spent
one to two terms on town council until life got too busy.
Alfred enjoys curling in the winter and golfing in
the summer. Currently he resides in Waneeda Park Lodge.