Service of Remembrance for Bill Luckow, 90, of Hettinger, ND will be Monday, July 21, 2008 at 10:30 a.m. at the Hettinger Lutheran Church. Rev. Kathleen Dettmann will officiate and burial will follow at the Hettinger Cemetery. Visitations will be from 1:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, July 20, 2008 with a gathering of Family and Friends at 7:00 p.m. all at the Evanson Jensen Funeral Home in Hettinger.



Born August Wilhelm Luckow on the family farm in Duck Creek Township, County of Adams, outside Hettinger, North Dakota on June 27, 1918 – Bill was tiny enough to fit in a shoebox, which his mother lined with cotton and placed on the oven door, a successful substitute for a hospital incubator. He was the eighth of ten children born to August and Emma (Beckman) Luckow, and came to be known early on as Willy.


He spent his childhood doing chores on the family farm, developing a love for music (playing accordion at age 6), attending country school through the 8th Grade, and when time permitted, playing baseball in the fields nearby. Barely a teen at the onset of the Great Depression, Bill experienced first hand the art of sacrifice and survival. In 1937 with job opportunities scarce, Bill enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC's), a program of the Work Projects Association (WPA), created by government to help preserve and improve our nation's parks while reducing unemployment. Bill's group built the roads in Theodore Roosevelt National Park around Medora, an achievement he was always proud of.


Returning from the CCC's in 1938, Bill took work at the Hettinger Produce company, and while picking turkey feathers, met and fell in love with a beautiful Norwegian coworker Minnie Annette Kvanvig. Minnie and Bill were married on January 6, 1941, and began life together in a two room house on the Luckow farmstead. After several crop failures, they moved to Hettinger in 1942, where they have lived for all but two of their 67 years of marriage. Larry, their first of three sons was born in 1942, followed by Loren in 1946, and Lynn in 1949.


In addition to farming, CCC's, and picking turkey feathers, Bill's work history includes owning Bill's Produce in New England, ND, for several years, and in Hettinger: 11 years at the Adams County Creamery, 14 years at Gambles Hardware and Furniture, and 28 years at Halvorson's Super Valu, where he greeted friends, neighbors, and perfect strangers with kind words and his trademark inviting smile and twinkling blue eyes. Outside work, Bill enjoyed his family and church, following baseball, playing the accordion, and after retiring at age 76, reading widely from his easy chair. He was a kind and gentle soul who saw something good in everyone.


Bill passed away at the Western Horizons Care Center in Hettinger, ND on July 17, 2008. He is survived by his wife Minnie Luckow, Hettinger, ND; children, Larry Luckow and MaryAnn, Cody, WY; Loren Luckow, Hettinger, ND; and Lynn Luckow, San Francisco, CA; grandchildren, Lucinda Luckow Baker, Boise, ID; Lance Luckow and wife Karla, Casper, WY; Layne Luckow and wife Michele, Casper, WY; Trever Bergman, St. Paul, MN; and Joe Bergman, St. Paul, MN; 11 great grandchildren, and one great, great granddaughter; sister-in-laws, Julie Kvanvig, Hettinger and Wilma Wyant, Lincoln, ND and numerous nephews, nieces, and others who knew him fondly as Uncle Bill.


Of Bill's nine siblings, he is survived by Emma Riedl, Hettinger, ND, and preceded in death by his parents August and Emma Luckow, and eight siblings: Fritz, Ernest, Reiny, Erna, Rosie, Marie, Bob, and Wally.


Memorials can be directed to the Hettinger Lutheran Church for the elevator project, or to the West River Health Services Foundation for the Western Horizons Care Center.