Henry J. SORLIEN ca 1883-1974

SORLIEN, KOPPANG, STEENSTRUP, ZWARYCH, LORGE

Posted By: Ruth Tower (email)
Date: 11/15/2005 at 21:46:22

Henry J. Sorlien, 91, of Minot, N.D., formerly of Bode died April 7 (1974), in Minot, where services were held. Burial was in Bremerton, Wash.

Survivors include two daughters, Mrs. Thomas (Beverly) Steenstrup, Minot, and Mrs. William (Dorothy) Zwarych, Mandan, N.D.; five grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; a brother, Leon Sorlien, Moorhead, Minn.; and a sister Nelle Lorge, St. Cloud, Minn.

Henry Sorlien was born, one of 16 children, to John and Bertha Sorlien on the home farm north of Bode. He attended Luther College, Decorah, and then moved to North Dakota in 1905. He was employed over the years in banks and was engaged in farming as well as being associated with an automobile dealership. In 1933 he worked as a receiver with the state banking department.

He was an inspector with the Regional Agricultural Credit Corporation until becoming general manager of the Minot Production Credit Association in 1934. He retired in 1961.

His wife, the former Anna Koppang, died in 1966.

Henry Sorlien and eight of his brothers had a baseball team. An account of a game was given with Luther College team in 1915 by the Decorah Republican.

"Opportunity to see nine brothers playing ball on one team was not to be missed, and a good sized crowd gathered at Luther College Park Monday afternoon to see the Sorlien brothers from Bode in a contest against Luther. Three of the brothers - Henry, Carl and Oscar - were valuable members of former teams at Luther College, and their three kid brothers - Arne, Olvin and Leon - are following in their footsteps.

"Jim, Albert and Magnus completed the lineup and helped make things interesting in a game that went for full 11 innings with a three to two score at the end.

"The families that can present nine good ball players are few and far between, and with its youngest members enrolled at Luther, the school looks forward to the time when a Sorlien battery will be the nemesis of visiting teams.

"The Sorliens came naturally to their baseball-mindedness. Their father had played in the days of no glove, mask and chest protector. He encouraged his boys and often would stop his threshing rig to see the Bode town team play on a week day.

"The boys, while on the farm, would use the noon rest period to toss the ball around. Arne and Olvin would tuck a ball and glove in their back pockets before cultivating corn--then they'd give the horses "Occasional" rests to they could play catch.

"For many years the Bode baseball diamond was located on the Sorlien farm. The boys could hardly wait until the chores were completed and supper eaten to get to the diamond where they would play until dark."

The game with Luther was played two days before the wedding of Oscar Sorlien at Decorah, where the family gathered there for the occasion.

(Unnamed, undated newspaper clipping)