Harold Tufte

Harold Conrad Tufte was born May 28, 1906 in Hazel Run, Minnesota the son of Anund and Selma (Carlson) Tufte. He passed away on April 18, 2009 at the Clarkfield Care Center in Clarkfield, Minnesota. He was 102 years old. Harold was baptized and confirmed into the Lutheran faith at Hazel Run Lutheran Church. He grew up in the Hazel Run area attending grade school in Hazel Run. He graduated from Granite Falls High School with the class of 1924. He went on to attend Minnesota College of Business in Minneapolis.Harold worked in the Granite Falls and Hazel Run area as a grain buyer before enlisting in the National Guard. He served with the Battery A, 151st Field Artillery, receiving his honorable discharge on May 10, 1933.In 1942, he moved to Minneapolis and joined the Pipefitters Local #539, where he worked in Savage Minnesota at the Cardle Ship Yards. Upon completion of that project, Harold was sent by the union to Portsmouth, Ohio to install boilers and heating plants at the first atomic energy plant. In 1954 he moved back to Minneapolis and was elected business manager of the Pipefitters local #539, a position he held until he retired in 1968.He was a member of good standing with the Masons, Scottish Rite, and the Zuhrah Shrine Temple of Minneapolis. He enjoyed traveling, hunting, and fishing in northern Minnesota. He especially enjoyed trout fishing in Montana. He settled in Granite Falls where he married Stella Nesberg in 1976.Harold is survived by nephews: Roger (Connie) Tufte of Watertown, South Dakota; David Tufte of Cushing, Minnesota; R. William Tufte of Anandale, Virginia; nieces: Janice Anderson of Little Falls, Minnesota; Karen (Victor) Sussin of Algonquin, Illinois.He was preceded in death by his parents, wife Stella, brothers Ralph and Andy and a sister Thrina Halvorson.