Anton (Tony) Hegland 1899-1989
Back row: DJ, Wanda, Les Front row: Gert, Tony, Marilyn
Anton Hegland was born on February 12, 1899, in Brandsvold Township outside Fosston MN. He was Thor and Lina's first child, named in honor of his maternal grandfather Aanun Olsen (Berge). He was baptized and confirmed in the Poplar River Congregation in rural Fosston. He grew up on his father's farms in Brandsvold and Lessor Township in Polk County. He worked on the farm with his father and brothers, and began farming on his own in the late 1910's. By the mid-1920's he had decided farming was not for him.
He married his hometown sweetheart Gertrude Polley on March 24, 1920. They settled in Fargo ND in 1922. Tony found he had a real talent for sign painting and, after working for Cook Sign Company in Fargo for many years, established Hegland Sign Company in Moorhead. He owned and operated his business until the 1980's. One of his great joys was putting the names of his nephews - Roger, Ray, and Jerry - on their farm trucks. He did it freehand, and his work was absolutely perfect!
Tony and Gert carried on a life-long love affair and had five children. After Gert's death in May of 1973, Tony moved to an apartment in Moorhead. He enjoyed the huge 90th birthday party engineered by his children in February, 1989.
Tony died on September 3, 1989. He was buried next to Gert in Riverside Cemetery, rural Moorhead.
