Sondre Norheim's wife Rannei

From the Minot Daily News, October 1, 2008, page 1

DENBIGH - During a perfect autumn morning to remember, about 80 people gathered in historic Norway Cemetery Tuesday to honor the lives of Sondre Norheim and Rannei Aamundsdatter.

Under beautiful blue skies and with a backdrop of the changing colors of autumn, a faint wind carried with it the smell of morning dew as the gathering witnessed the dedication of a memorial plaque placed beneath Norheim's gravemarker. The plaque honors Aamundsdatter, Norheim's wife and mother of their eight children.

Telelaget member David Gunderson, Fergus Falls, Minn., attended Tuesday's ceremony to dedicate the memorial plaque. Aamundsdatter was Gunderson's great-great aunt. Gunderson had thoroughly researched Aamundsdatter's life and was instrumental in raising funds for the plaque. Roses were placed at the site.

Aamundsdatter was born in Norway in 1824 and came to the United States with Norheim in 1884. Norheim died in McHenry County in 1897. She died Nov. 1, 1913, in Salem, Oregon.

At the time of their arrival in the U.S., the couple had five children. Norheim, who was born in Morgedal in Telemark County, Norway, in 1825, was one of the most well known citizens of Norway when he departed that country with the hopes of better living in America. Norheim had invented a ski binding made from birch roots that, for the first time, allowed skiers to make turns as never before. In a ski-crazy country, Norheim introduced the Telemark and Christiania turns and was widely proclaimed as the "Father of Modern Skiing."

In North Dakota, few knew of Norheim's stature in Norway. He is said to have died a virtual unknown. His grave was unmarked for many years with the exception of a simple notation in the Norway Cemetery record book. It wasn't until June 12, 1966, that a plaque was dedicated at his gravesite located approximately five miles west of his Dakota prairie homestead.

Tuesday's ceremony moved from the gravesite into the adjacent Norway Lutheran Church, a quaint building that was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. The crowd that nearly filled the tiny church listened to a short program that included remarks made by Gunderson and Geir Arild Tonnesen, vice-mayor of Minot's sister city, Skien, Norway. Rev. Luther Hanson, chaplain at Trinity Homes in Minot, directed the program.

The Norway Lutheran Church remains today a beacon atop a high hill south of Denbigh. Its white outline and unmistakable steeple can be seen for miles in all directions, something that must have been somewhat reassuring for early day residents of the area.

The first Norway Lutheran Church was a log structure, built in 1886. By 1890 it was deemed too small and was dismantled. The brick church that still stands today was erected in 1907, a lasting symbol of the Norwegian immigrants who were common to the area and the principle reason behind Minot's annual Norsk Hostfest.

Following the ceremony, the church bell rang loud and clear, a sound that carried for miles across the prairie as it often did in years gone by. When the bell fell silent, all that could be heard were leaves rustling in the breeze, the creaking of the cemetery's iron gate and the sounds of fellowship being exchanged over cups of coffee in the church basement.