Full name: Helene Louise Sandvig (nee Sprunk)
Lifespan: Nov. 25, 1911 – Dec. 05, 2023
Age: 112 years, 10 days
Birthplace: Chaffee, Cass County, North Dakota, USA
Last residence: Fargo, Cass County, North Dakota, USA
Validation date: May 19, 2023
Validation source: Waclaw Jan Kroczek/Oliver Trim/Robert Young

Helene Sandvig was born on a farm near Chaffee in Cass County, North Dakota, USA, on November 25, 1911. She was the youngest of Gottlieb and Augusta Strunk’s children, who were German immigrants. Helene had three older brothers named Elmer, Harvey, and Edward, as well as a younger brother named Earl, who sadly passed away in infancy. Additionally, she had three half brothers and a half sister from her father’s previous marriage. She remembered attending and teaching school in rural school houses without indoor toilets or running water. As a child, she would have to take turns with her siblings staying home from school on Mondays to help her mother wash clothes. They used a hand washer, a wringer they turned by hand and a wash board for the clothes that might be too hard on the hand washer. She could recall influenza pandemic and World War I.

Sandvig started teaching when she was 19 years old. “At that time, young girls became a teacher or a nurse,” she said. Her first job was in a rural school near Lehr. She made $75 a month and paid $15 for room and board. She had 28 students in first through eighth grades. She sent home the first check she received teaching to help buy her mother a washing machine. She also later bought a radio for her family. Sandvig bought her piano after she started teaching and received lessons through the mail. Her family had an organ when she was a child, but she was too busy during to learn to play. During her second year of teaching, she started working at a rural school near Leonard. She taught in a few different country schools, mostly in Cass County, for eight years. One winter she got mumps and was told after a week off if she didn’t get back to work, they’d hire someone else, so she went back to work. She would pick up her students in a horse and buggy and when they got to the school building, there was a barn there, and the oldest boy would put the horse in the barn and she would start the fire.

On June 8, 1938, Helene married Edwin Hjelmer Sandvig. While she stopped teaching regularly to help him farm, she served as a 4-H leader for a while and as Sunday school superintendent for Leonard Lutheran Church for 10 years. She was also a Homemakers Club member for 50 years. Helene and her husband farmed south of Embden before moving near Leonard, where they raised cattle, turkeys, chickens, pigs and grain. Sandvig did everything from driving tractor to raising the chickens and turkeys and milking the cows by hand-something she had also done on her family’s farm as a child. After her husband became sick in 1974, they sold the farm and moved into an apartment in Leonard, where Sandvig lived until she moved into Bethany Retirement Living in Fargo in September of 2014. Edwin Sandvig died in 1991-just before his 80th birthday. They didn’t have children of their own, but they fostered a number of kids, including one boy who lived with them through his high school years. Of the many changes the world has seen over the past century or so, Sandvig said one thing that continues to amaze her is how much things cost today compared to yesteryear. When she and Edwin first started to rent farmland, she said the cost was nominal when viewed by today’s prices.

Sandvig and her husband enjoyed traveling throughout their marriage. After Edwin died, Helene continued to travel and has been to Europe, Alaska, Hawaii and New York.

In November 2021, Helene celebrated her remarkable 110th birthday, marking another milestone in her long and fulfilling life, becoming a supercentenarian. Her family has a history of longevity, with her father living to the age of 94, her mother to 92, her brother Elmer to 94, and her brother Edward passing away in 2007 at the age of 97.

When she turned 100, Sandvig wrote a seven-and-a-half page story of her life. At 104 years old, Helene Sandvig still played her piano every day, met her friends for bingo and crocheted covers for hangers. She would also attend Bible studies and church services. Religion has always been an important part of her life. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Sandvig occupied her time with embroidery, making quilts, and playing piano.

As of her 111th birthday, Helene Sandvig resided at Bethany Homes in Fargo, North Dakota, USA. She held then the title of the second-oldest known living person in North Dakota, with Clarabell Demers being the only person ahead of her in age.

Helene Sandvig’s age was verified by Waclaw Jan Kroczek, Oliver Trim, and Robert Young, and validated by the Gerontology Research Group as of May 19, 2023.

Helene died in Fargo, North Dakota, USA, at age 112 years, 10 days.

Quotes:

“I’ve seen a bit of the world and enjoyed every minute of it,”

“The most important lesson is to be thankful.”

“We have so many things that we take for granted.”

“God is good to me, I have to be so thankful,”

“I am just thankful to be here,”

Interview with Helene Sandvig.

Validation

The age of Helene Sandvig was verified by Waclaw Jan Kroczek, Oliver Trim, and Robert Young, and validated by the Gerontology Research Group (GRG) on May 19, 2023.

Obituary

Helene (Sprunk) Sandvig

November 25, 1911 ~ December 5, 2023 (age 112)

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Helene Sandvig Obituary

Helene Sandvig, 112, of Fargo, died on Tuesday, December 5, 2023 at Bethany on University. Helene, widely recognized as Fargo’s oldest resident and the second oldest North Dakota resident, has been celebrated on many occasions.

Helene Louise Sprunk was born November 25, 1911 on the farm home near Chaffee, ND. Her parents were Gottlieb and Augusta (Nienas) Sprunk. She was confirmed in Chaffee Evangelical Church. She attended school in Walburg School District 55 through the 10th grade and graduated from Chaffee High School in 1928. She received a teaching certificate from Valley City Teachers College and taught school one year in Logan County and seven years at the Bandy School near Leonard. It was there that she met Edwin Sandvig.

She married Edwin in the Chaffee Evangelical Church in June of 1938. They farmed south of Embden five years, then bought and moved to a farm west of Leonard. They joined the Lutheran Church in Leonard. Helene was Sunday school superintendent for ten years, 4-H leader of the Leonard Starlets 4-H Club for twelve years and was a member of the Hollyhock Homemakers for over fifty years.

Edwin developed bronchial asthma in 1973 and they decided to sell their farm in 1974 and moved into the John Heuer apartment. For fifteen years they spent their winters in Texas and Arizona. Edwin passed away in 1991. Helene continued living in the apartment. She enjoyed reading, sewing, crafts, her family and friends and working in her church in her younger years. She loved poetry and many times was called upon to give a reading at various occasions. She enjoyed traveling, making three trips to Germany, two to Hawaii and two to Alaska. She spent time with her nephew Wes at their lake home in Montana and at their home in Phoenix.

She moved to Bethany Homes Assisted Living at the age of 103. There she enjoyed meals with her table-mates, playing bingo, attending chapel and Bible study. Helene liked being the center of attention, her Bethany birthday parties and being interviewed by Kevin Wallevand for WDAY TV. Covid brought its challenges to Helene’s doorstep with isolation in her room, no group activities or Sunday afternoon domino games with her Leonard friends. Throughout the years, Helene’s hearing began to fade, her eyesight weakened, and she wouldn’t turn down a hand to hold for support. She still enjoyed playing the piano beautifully, without a sheet of music. She fought the fight with dignity and respect having lived a long and good life.

A sincere thank you to the Bethany staff for their care and compassion; and to Jane and Walter, Jeanie and John for their friendship, love and support throughout the years.

Having no children of their own, Helene and Edwin enjoyed sharing in the achievements of the children of their relatives and friends and would say “we have been truly blessed!” Helene is survived by several nieces; nephews; and great nieces and nephews and was preceded in death by her husband Edwin, her parents, Gottlieb and Augusta Sprunk; brothers, Elmer, Harvey and Edward “Eddie”; step brothers, Herman, Walter and Ralph; and step sister Elvira Sprunk Roeder.

Funeral: Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023 at 11 AM at New Hope Lutheran Church, Leonard, ND with visitation one hour prior.

Burial: Leonard Cemetery.

West Funeral Home & Life Tribute Center

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