John Hager

John Hager, 95, passed

away peacefully with fam-

ily at his side on January

31, 2022.

Funeral services will be

held at 10:30 a.m. on Sa-

turday, Feb. 5, 2022 at St.

Anthony’s Catholic

Church, Selz, ND. Visita-

tion will be Friday from 4

p.m. to 5 p.m. with a

rosary and prayer service

following at 5:00 p.m. at

the Hertz Funeral Home

in Harvey. Burial will be

in the spring in the

church cemetery.

John was born Sep-

tember 14, 1926, the son

of Joseph and Johanna

(Scheet) Hager in rural Es-

mond. John was the

second of ten children.

He grew up and attended

country school in Es-

mond.

On October 11, 1949, he

married Eleanor Wentz at

Little Flower Catholic

Church in Rugby. John

and Eleanor farmed in the

Wolford area until 1964

when they moved to their

farm northwest of Selz.

They owned and operated

their family farms in both

the Selz and Rugby areas

for more than 50 years.

They raised their five

children on the farm.

John’s greatest passions

were family and farming.

He valued hard work. He

woke early and was out

late in the fields or in the

shop, tinkering or fixing

something. The farm was

the place he and Eleanor

gathered with family and

friends. He loved the

land and sharing the farm

experience with his

grandkids and great

grandkids, always making

time for them. They

adored Grandpa.

When John chose to cut

back his farming opera-

tion, he rented his land to

neighbors who cared for it

the way he did. He then

spent his mornings with

friends around the break-

fast table in Harvey.

Following the death of

Eleanor in 2014, John

moved to Grand Forks to

live with family. He

spent the last three years

of his life at Valley Senior

Living where he enjoyed

daily visits from family

and challenged many visi-

tors to card games.

John was preceded in

death by Eleanor, his

parents and son, Mark,

who passed away in 1974,

brother William, sisters

Katherina Ripplinger, Phi-

lipina Bertsch, Mary Carl-

son, Julia Arrowood,

Delores Dutenhafer and

Rose Weigel.

John will be remem-

bered and missed by

many. He is survived by

four daughters, Donna

(Roger) Altepeter of East

Grand Forks, MN, Lenora

(Greg) Bottum, Granite

Bay, CA, Bonnie (Donald)

Jundt, Grand Forks, ND,

Linda (Rick) Lessard,

West Fargo, ND. He had

twelve grandchildren,

Kristopher Altepeter in

Bismarck, ND, Adam (Jen-

na) Altepeter, Plymouth,

MN, Lindsey (Ryan) Mar-

tens, St. Andrews, Cana-

da, Carolynne Bottum,

Davis, CA, Katharine

(Rick) Harrison, Albu-

querque, NM, Genevieve

Bottum, Roseville, CA,

Jeremy (Rebecca) Jundt,

East Grand Forks, MN,

Ryan (Tasha) Jundt,

Grand Forks, ND, Tarrah

(Jeff) Baars, Mosinee, WI,

Jennifer, Andrea and Scott

Lessard in West Fargo,

ND. They have eighteen

great grandchildren; Ade-

lyn, Eliana, Presley (Adam

Altepeter), Blakely, Kyla

(Lindsey Martens), James,

Matthew (Katharine

Harrison), Alexis, Benja-

min (Genevieve Bottum),

Christian, Nicholas, Leah

(Jeremy Jundt), Harper,

Hadley, Hayden (Ryan

Jundt), Hannah, Julia,

Griffin (Tarrah Baars).

He is survived by two sis-

ters, Helen Miller, Buf-

falo, MN and Tina Breng-

man, Parish, FL.