Arnold Nygaard, age 80, resident of Lakota, ND, died Thursday, October 22, 2009 at Altru Hospital in Grand Forks, ND.

Arnold Theodore Palmer Nygaard was born August 23, 1929 on his parent's farm near Brocket, ND. He is the son of Theodore and Pauline (Sandbakken) Nygaard. He was raised there, attended the Newbre School and Brocket High School. Arnold married LuEll Johnson on October 2, 1951. They lived for a short time in East Grand Forks, MN, and moved to Devils Lake, ND, in the middle 1950's. He worked as a truck driver for Cenex. He then became the parts manager for Farmers Union and sold Oliver equipment. Arnold married Betsy Muhlhauser on May 1, 1965 at St. Olaf Lutheran Church, Devils Lake. He also worked as a gunsmith at Gerrell's in Devils Lake. He then worked at the Cenex station in Fairdale, ND, as the manager until his retirement in 1999. During his retirement he returned to Gerrell's as a gunsmith, which was a great joy for him. Arnold was the ultimate outdoorsman. He enjoyed motorcycles, hunting, fishing, camping; practically any outdoor activity.

Arnold will be greatly missed by his wife, Betsy Nygaard of Lakota; 2 children, Cheryl (Larry) Ballard of Forney, TX, and Steve Nygaard of Watertown, SD; 7 grandchildren, Amber Wright, Katie Ballard, Branden Ballard, Trent Ballard, Tristan Nygaard, Matthew (Nygaard) Warman, and Heather (Nygaard) Warman; 6 great grandchildren, Maggie Wiggins, Britten Ballard, Trinity Wright, Johnathon Wright, Iris Warman, and Charlotte (Nygaard) Warman; a sister, Genevieve Perkuhn of East Grand Forks, MN; a sister-in-law, Marge Muhlhauser; a brother-in-law, Ben Muhlhauser; and several nieces, nephews, and cousins.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his son, Jeffery Nygaard; and his brother-in-law, Gus Perkuhn.