Levon "John" Bjertness

Levon "John" Bjertness, 76, of Hatton, North Dakota died Friday, October 1, 2010 at the Sanford Health Center in Fargo, North Dakota.

Private Family Services will be held.

John was born in Hatton, ND on January 27th, 1934 the son of Gilman Bjertness and Constance (Solberg) Bjertness, who were born in Mo Rogen, Norway and came to America in 1914. He was baptized at the Zoar Church in Hatton and later confirmed at the First American Lutheran Church in Mayville, ND. He was united in marriage to Jean Bond of Reading, England on April 28th, 1969 in Grand Forks, ND. They have one son Ryan living in East Grand Forks, MN. Except for short periods, John lived most of his life in Hatton. He attended school in Hatton graduating in 1953. During his teen years he enjoyed participating in the Boy Scout program and earned the Eagle Scouts award and is a member of the Order of the Arrow. Upon completion of high school he entered the U S Army. During his two years of military service he was a radio operator assigned to the 516th Signal Co. at Camp Roeder in Salzberg, Austria. Upon his discharge from the military he entered Mayville State College under the GI bill. He graduated from Mayville State in 1960 with a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration. He was employed by the Department of Interior until April 1962 when he transferred to the Department of Defense at the Grand Forks Air Fore Base. He spent the next 27 years of his career as a civilian employee of the Strategic Air command. For 20 of those 27 years he was a Contracting Officer and Deputy Chief of the Base Contracting Division. He was also the GFAFB Small Business Specialist and the advocate for minority and women owned businesses. In 1985 the Small Business Administration selected him as the Minority Advocate of the Year for the state of ND. He retired from government service in 1989.

He was a member of the Hatton American Legion Post #70 and also the Mavville VFW Post #4221. He enjoyed reading, crossword puzzles, and trivia.

He is survived by his wife Jean of 41 years, son Ryan, sister, Irene, step daughters Karen and Linda, and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents and sister, Mary Ann.

The Bilden Funeral Home of Hatton is assisting the family with arrangements.