Cliff Nygard

Cliff Nygard, 89, Bismarck, died February 16, 2009, in Madison, WI. Funeral services will be held on Monday, February 23, at 1:00 PM at Trinity Lutheran Church in Bismarck with Rev. Steve Sathre officiating. Burial will be at Sunset Memorial Gardens. Visitation will be held on Sunday from 1:00 - 5:00 PM and 7:00 - 9:00 PM at Parkway Funeral Service, 2330 Tyler Parkway, Bismarck. Visitation will continue on Monday one hour prior to the service at the church. Clifford Nygard was born on August 15, 1919, on the family farm in Edinburg, ND, to Andrew and Anna Thoreson Nygard, the youngest of 11 children. Cliff attended a rural school and was taught by his elder sister Alice Rustan. He and his brother, Lloyd, attended the Walsh County Agricultural Training School in Park River during the week, returning to the farm on weekends. He made a name for himself in athletics and agriculture pursuits, particularly in the Future Farmers of America FFA. A scholarship to North Dakota State University NDSU, then North Dakota Agricultural College, took him to Fargo. He bicycled to Oak Grove Lutheran Academy during 1938 to run their physical education program and coach the basketball team in exchange for his room and board. During college he played on three championship NDSU Bison basketball teams. Those teams compiled the longest home game winning streak in the school’s history and were North Central Conference Champs each of those years. Cliff was selected All Conference Guard in 1942. He also lettered in track as a sprinter. Cliff was elected President of the student body his senior year, was a member of Kappa Sigma Chi fraternity, and was actively involved in the FFA, serving as State Secretary, and then State President. Cliff received the highest award, the American Farmer Degree, at the National FFA convention in Kansas City. During college he met an attractive young woman from Mayville, Doris Marie Larson, in the chemistry lab. After the first five cent coke that they shared after class, the relationship grew. Upon graduation from NDSU in 1942, he signed a contract to teach Vocational Agriculture in Walhalla, ND, spending only six weeks on the job before being called to active duty in the U.S. Navy during WWII. He received a special order discharge in December of 1942 and married Doris on December 19 in Fargo. He began teaching Vo-Ag in Northwood, ND, until he was reclassified in June 1944 and re-entered the US Armed Forces, this time in the US Army, serving in the Special Services Physical Reconditioning Program physical therapy until his discharge in August 1945 after V-J Day. Cliff resumed his teaching position in Northwood and coached the high school basketball team. He was elected Commander of American Legion Post #92 where he began his 60 plus year involvement with American Legion Baseball, having organized Northwood’s first Legion Baseball team. He moved to Park River in July 1947 to set up the Veteran’s Farm Training Program. He held that position until he was invited to join the Bismarck Phantoms Semi-Pro Basketball Team, sponsored by Neil Churchill, then Mayor of Bismarck. He and his family moved to Bismarck in 1948. The Phantoms played many top teams from around the region even claiming a victory against the famed Harlem Globetrotters. That team played two games against the then world champion Minneapolis Lakers, led by George Mikan. Apart from playing basketball, Cliff taught at the Veteran’s Farm Training Program at Bismarck Junior College. Cliff also coached their basketball team, the Mystics, from 1952-1958. His 1953-54 team won the North Dakota Intercollegiate Championship, the Region #13 Championship, and a place in the National Junior College Tournament at Hutchinson, KS. He was honored to be part of the induction of his entire team into the Bismarck State College Hall of Fame in 2007. At BJC, he also started the baseball program and coached. Cliff taught vocational agriculture at Bismarck High School, where he spent 23 years, retiring in 1972 after 28 years of teaching. He loved every minute of his teaching career and being a part of the lives of his students and their families. All four of his children have followed the example of their parents’ strong educational values and obtained degrees in education. Following his retirement from teaching, he opened Cliff’s Sales and Service, a Case Implement Dealership. After 13 years, he sold the business to concentrate on his farming operations. His farm became known as Yankee Ranch, complete with the Yankee logo on the barn visible from I-94. His passion for the New York Yankees began at age six and continued throughout his life. He later became an associate scout for the Yankees. Cliff was quite a player himself, playing for the Bismarck Legionnaires amateur baseball team. He played for and managed the Covered Wagon team, winning a central league championship with them. A special highlight of his playing career was hitting a double off the wall in one of his at- bats against the legendary Satchel Paige. For nearly 25 years, Cliff ran the North Dakota American Legion Athletic Program, increasing the number of participants in Legion ball to over 107 teams. He organized and ran every state tournament, and 6 regional tournaments during his tenure. Cliff not only was elected Commander of Lloyd Spetz Post #1 in 1997, but was still serving on the Baseball Committee for the Bismarck Post, until his untimely death on February 16, 2009. Cliff began to work as the Burleigh County Weed Officer from 1990-1997, giving him an opportunity to walk the by-roads of Burleigh County, visiting farmers, many of them former students, educating them about leafy spurge and other noxious weeds. He cared deeply about North Dakota farmlands. He cared about the quality of life for those less fortunate. He would give the shirt off his back if someone else needed it more. In 1977 he received the Bismarck Sertoma Club’s 1977 Service to Mankind Award. He served a stint in the ND State Legislature as an Assistant Sergeant-at-Arms during one session and was closely watching the current legislation regarding teachers’ pensions. Over the years, Cliff refereed for 33 years in basketball and 25 years in football, logging over 2000 basketball games and over 600 football games. He dabbled in sports broadcasting with KFYR Radio. Cliff has been widely recognized for his contributions to North Dakota athletics: he was elected to the North Dakota Officials Association Hall Fame in 1971, the North Dakota State University Bison Athletic Hall of Fame in 1984, the North Dakota American Legion Baseball Hall of Fame in 1990, the Bismarck State College Hall of Fame in 1993 in honor of his coaching skills, and named an Honorary Marauder by the University of Mary. Cliff, a member of the Teammakers Club at NDSU, rarely missed a football game, and made every basketball game that was possible. He even managed to persuade a doctor to give him a day pass from the hospital to allow him to be in the Kohl Center in Madison and root his Bison on to victory over the University of Wisconsin in 2006! Cliff was a member of the Bismarck Elks and also of Trinity Lutheran Church since 1949. Above all else, Cliff was a man who loved his God, family, and country. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Doris; his children, Virginia Nygard Wood of Port of Spain, Trinidad, Gordon Donna of Phoenix, AZ, Judy Mike Broekemeier of Mora, MN, and Joni Tim Heggestad of Madison, WI; his grandchildren, MarieBuon Nguyen, Stephanie and Bryan Nygard all of Phoenix, AZ, Sadie Broekemeier of Minneapolis, MN, and Daniela Heggestad of Madison, WI; his great-grandchild, Tyler Nguyen of Phoenix; his sister, Alice Rustan; his sisters-in-law, Martha Nygard and Aris Larson; and many loving nieces and nephews. Cliff’s family wish to acknowledge the many special friends who were also proud to call him uncle, dad or grandpa throughout the years! Cliff was preceded in death by 9 of his 10 siblings together with his parents. Memorials will be used for charitable projects begun in Cliff’s honor for his work in education, agriculture and athletics.

Cliff Nygard

August 15, 1919 - February 16, 2009