Elden Sigurdson Obituary

POWELL, Wyo. - A memorial service will be conducted Thursday, Sept. 16, at 10:30 a.m., at Hope Lutheran Church in Powell, for Elden Arlo Sigurdson, 81, who died Friday, Sept. 10, 2004, at the Powell Nursing Home.
He was born March 23, 1923, on a farm near Minneota, Minn. He was the oldest of seven brothers and four sisters born to Otto and Anna Sigurdson. The family moved to Balaton, Minn., during the Great Depression.
He graduated from Balaton High School in June of 1942 and joined the U.S. Army Air Force cadet program. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. and assigned as the navigator on a B-17 with the Eighth Air Force, 303 Bomb Group in England. His plane was shot down over Berlin during its 24th mission on June 21, 1944. He was taken prisoner of war and sent to Stalag Luft 3 near Sagen, Germany. He was awarded a Purple Heart.
Upon his discharge from the military, he returned to the U.S. and entered college, using the GI Bill of Rights. He graduated from Wisconsin Institute of Technology and then completed his education by earning a degree in Petroleum Engineering from the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy at Rolla, Mo., in January 1951.
He and Margaret McFall of Platteville, Wis., were married June 1, 1947, at the Whig Methodist Church at Platteville. They celebrated 57 years of marriage. Three sons were born to Elden and Margaret: Randolph Arlo, Kent Otto and Jeffrey Garth.
Following his college graduation, he accepted employment with the Sohio (Standard Oil of Ohio) Petroleum Company. He remained an employee of Sohio until his retirement in 1983. Over the years, he and his family followed the oil fields to various communities in four states and two Canadian provinces. The family moved to Powell in 1965. They moved to the West Willwood community in 1974. Elden and Margaret raised Arabian horses and were active in the Northern Division of the Wyoming Arabian Horse Association. The family enjoyed showing the Arabians at the Park County Fair and riding in local parades. Elden was an avid hunter and fisherman and enjoyed camping. He especially enjoyed spending time in the Sunlight Basin and in family activities.
He was a longtime member of Hope Lutheran Church in Powell.
Survivors include his wife Margaret of Powell; their sons and families, Randy and Dawna of Kearney, Neb., and their children, Audrey Sigurdson, Alicia Epping and her husband Mike, and Asher Sigurdson; Kent and Laurie of Powell and their children, Sara Sigurdson and Mike and his wife Melissa and their children, Simon and Derek; and Jeff and Teri of Burnsville, Minn., and their children, Ryan and Julia. He is also survived by his brother, Leonard and wife Sylvia, Dennis and wife Barbara and Stuart and wife Renja; and sisters Laura Brue and Elaine Zacrepand; and numerous nieces and nephews.
He was preceded in death by his parents, three brothers and two sisters.