Alfred Kankelfitz

**PLEASE NOTE: FUNERAL AND VISITATION HAVE BEEN RESCHEDULED DUE TO WEATHER** NEW TIMES: Visitation: 5-7PM, Sunday, January 2, 2011 at Olivet Lutheran Church, Fargo, ND. Funeral Service: 10:00AM, Monday, January 3, 2011, at Olivet Lutheran Church. Prayer Service: 7PM, Sunday, at church. Alfred E. Kankelfitz, 88, of Fargo, ND, died Monday, December 27, 2010, at Villa Maria, Fargo. Alfred was born June 19, 1922, in Casselton, North Dakota, son of Gustav and Harriet (Hartsdorff) Kankelfitz. The family of eight moved to Marion, North Dakota in 1926, where Alfred was raised and educated. Alfred was baptized at Martin’s Lutheran Church in Casselton, North Dakota, on October 15, 1922, and confirmed on Palm Sunday, 1939, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Valley City, North Dakota. The family farmed in Marion, using five or seven horses for plowing. After the Depression years, 1930 – 1938, his parents and three brothers moved to Valley City. Alfred joined the C.C. Camp in Custer, South Dakota. This was a government program to train young men on flood control, forestry and soil conservation. Returning to Valley City, he began working for Northern Pacific Railroad in September of 1938. Alfred bought his first house in 1941. Alfred along with his parents, Gustav and Harriet, his brother, Rhinehard and sister, Agnes Peterson and her two children, Mary and LeRoy came to live with him. Alfred later supported Mary and LeRoy through their school years. LeRoy joined the U.S. Air Force right after high school and Mary graduated with a college degree. Alfred and Rose Brown were married in 1948. Rose died in 1965. Alfred married Elizabeth “Betty” Nielsen October 6, 1967. Together, they had one son, David Alfred. Alfred transferred to Fargo in 1959, continuing his work with NPRR. NPRR merged with Burlington Northern Railroad in 1970. He retired from BNRR in June of 1983. Alfred was an active member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Valley City and Olivet Lutheran Church in Fargo, serving as an usher for 35 years. He thoroughly liked watching the Minnesota Twins. He enjoyed playing pinochle at the Fargo Senior Citizen’s Centers and many other card games with family and friends. Alfred is survived by his wife, Betty, Fargo, ND; son, David (Pennie), Fargo, ND; grandson, Nathan Garrett, of whom Alfred was so very proud. He attended all of his sporting events; along with several brothers-in-laws and sisters-in-law; numerous nieces and nephews; great-nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Gustav at the age of two; Walter at the age of four; William, Max, Arthur, Charles, Rudolph, Reinhardt and Robert; an infant sister and sisters, Margaret Cameron, Myrtle Smith and Agnes Grothberg. Funeral Service: Monday, January 3, 2011, at 10:00 AM at Olivet Lutheran Church, Fargo, ND. Visitation: Sunday, January 2, 2011, from 5-7 PM, at the church with a prayer service at 7:00 PM, and one hour prior to the service at the church. Burial: Sunset Memorial Gardens, Fargo, ND.