My grandmother, Sylvia Hatlie, died yesterday two days shy of her 96th birthday.

Here is the text of the obituary at the Jamestown Sun and the Fargo Forum:


Sylvia L. Hatlie, 95, of Fargo, ND, former long-time resident of Jamestown, ND, died Tuesday, February 12, 2008 at 2:00AM at Elim Care Center, Fargo. Sylvia Louise Hauser was born on February 14, 1912 in Fargo, the daughter of John C. Hauser, Jr. and Hulda Isabel (Grohmann) Hauser. Her grandfather established the Hauser Pickling Co. in the 1880’s and, as a little girl, Sylvia picked cucumbers for her grandfather’s business. Later, while growing up in the Fargo/Moorhead area, her father and uncle, Charles Hauser, transitioned from pickle production to meat processing, establishing Hauser’s Market - Fargo’s oldest meat market on the corner of old Front St. and 8th Street So. Sylvia graduated from Moorhead High School in 1930, a member of the National Honor Society.

She attended Dakota Business College in Fargo and worked as a bookkeeper and stenographer for Ford Motor Co., Fargo Glass & Paint, and Fargo Motor Supply. Sylvia married Lyell N. “Speed” Hatlie on February 14, 1941 in Seattle, WA. They moved to Jamestown in 1946 where her husband was proprietor of Jamestown Motor Supply until his death on February 29, 1964 and Sylvia was the bookkeeper. Sylvia was the Ladies’ City Golf Champion in 1953 and the Jamestown Country Club Ladies’ Champion in 1964. She was a life member of the American Legion Auxiliary, and a member of the Trinity Lutheran Church and Sons of Norway.

Sylvia is survived by one son, Guy (Judy) Hatlie, Manhattan Beach, CA; one grandson, Mark (Susanne) Hatlie, Tuebingen, Germany; one granddaughter, Erica (Greg) Shankle, Redondo Beach, CA; four great grandchildren, Katharina & Niklas Hatlie, Tuebingen, Germany and Ivy & Bryn Shankle, Redondo Beach, CA. She was preceded in death by her husband; parents; and one sister, Carmen Johnson.

Memorial Service: To be held at a later date at Trinity Lutheran Church, Jamestown, ND.

Arrangements by Eddy Funeral Home, Jamestown. Share memories or sign online guestbook at www.eddyfuneralhome.com.


My earliest memories of her go back to our family visits to Jamestown, North Dakota in about 1970 and later and her visits to our home. Visit dates to Jamestown I am sure of start later: the summers of 1973 and 1975, winter 77, and the summers 79, 81, and 83. I also lived with her and my mom during 1967-1968 while my father was in Vietnam.

Sylvia travelled to visit relatives in Norway in 1939 and was in Europe when World War Two broke out, but returned to the United States before Norway was invaded. She visited again in the late 1960s. In 1976 or 1977 she took a tour of the Far East. Souvenirs from these trips decorated her small home in Jamestown for decades after.

I remember trips to the Country Club to play golf or swim in the pool, going up to see the "Buffalo" at Frontier Village, playing with my father's ancient toys in her basement, eating orange slices with sugar on them, riding a little scooter out on her driveway, getting money to walk down to the Blue Jay Inn for ice cream, visiting her friends the Murphys across the street, playing with the Grabinger kids who lived nearby and tried to teach me to ride a bike, planting a tree in her back yard (later moved to the front). Later, in 2000, her home on Fifth Ave SE is where Katharina took some of her first steps.

Until about three years ago, about the time she moved to the home in Fargo, she kept in touch regularly with type-written letters.

The last time I saw her was at the Elim Home in Fargo in June of 2006 and at my parent's summer home in nearby Detroit Lakes. She got to meet Niklas then as well.

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