Egil Edgar (Ed) Tangsrud of Minot, North Dakota, formerly of Williston, died October 6, 2016, in Minot, North Dakota.

Ed was born September 10, 1923, near McGregor, Divide County, North Dakota. He was the sixth of seven children born to Nicolai and Charlotte Tangsrud, Norwegian immigrants. The family homesteaded in Stoneview Township.

Ed attended Merrifield Consolidated School through eighth grade, where he learned English as a second language, and then worked with the Civilian Conservation Corp at the National Wildlife Refuge in Medicine Lake, Montana, during the Great Depression as a teenager. After the death of his father when Ed was seventeen, he worked on the family farm. He also bought a farm of his own near McGregor in 1949, which was one of his proudest achievements.

He graduated from Moler Barber College in Fargo in 1951, and began his career as a barber throughout western North Dakota and eastern Montana, eventually settling in Williston. Ed walked to and from work every day, regardless of the weather. He loved telling stories, meeting people, working hard, and being his own boss. The profession was a perfect fit for him, and he wanted everyone to know that he would do it all over again.

On June 8, 1963, Ed married Eula Vaughn Forthun in Williston, where they made their home until 1997, before retiring to Minot. Eula Vaughn preceded him in death on December 26, 2010.

Ed was a barber, a farmer, a gifted amateur photographer, a family historian, a true autodidact, a raconteur extraordinaire, and a passionate outdoorsman. He loved to fish and hunt, and was a contributing writer to Varmint Hunter magazine. He was a lifelong member of the Sons of Norway, and enjoyed traveling to Norway. But above all else, he was a devoted husband and father.

Edgar is survived by his daughters, Sonya (Jim) Dwyer of Garner, North Carolina, and Rebecca (Darren) Brown of Burlington, North Dakota, and a very special cousin, John (Renee) Tangsrud of McGregor, North Dakota. He is also survived by his grandchildren, Caitlin (Josh) Rutherford, Kersten Brown (Trey Pelton), and Liam Dwyer, and a great-granddaughter, Lili Fitzpatrick. He is also survived by a brother, Robert Raymond Tangsrud, Sr., and a sister-in-law, Edna Forthun, along with numerous nieces, nephews, and cousins.

In addition to his wife, Ed was preceded in death by his parents, and his siblings: Astrid Nelson, Amy Anderson, Norbert Tangsrud, Elsie Anderson, and Raymond Edgar Tangsrud.

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