John & Elaine Andrist

Little Johnny Andrist said he always liked girls.

Trouble is, he would write in a memoir many years later, they rarely returned the affection.

“Late in my sophomore year I set my sights on a red haired girl who was a transfer from country school.

“She spurned me at first, as most girls did, but I persisted. The last two years of high school we became pretty constant companions, somewhat to the chagrin of my mother, who liked Elaine, but felt I was too young to be so smitten.

“Elaine’s mother probably felt the same way, particularly the time when three of us on the varsity basketball team were dating the three Thvedt sisters. Sometimes all three couples would arrive at the back door of the Thvedt home about the same time. On one occasion we checked the refrigerator, found and devoured a whole plate full of sandwiches which had carefully been prepared for the church circle meeting Elaine’s mom would be hosting the next day. She had amazing restraint not to kill us on the spot, but she went to her grave 60 years later, still retelling the story.”

By the time they graduated from Crosby High School in 1949, they were making plans for marriage, thinking he would get drafted into the Army and they’d say their vows during his first furlough back home. The draft didn’t come, so they moved on without it, getting married June 17, 1951 at Skabo Lutheran Church not far from the Thvedt family farm in Frederick Township.

It was the start of a life together that would span 57 years, all of them in their beloved home town of Crosby, where they would raise five children and take on countless community leadership roles.

Elaine started the marriage as an elementary school teacher, but that role lasted less than a year, cut short by the start of a family. For the next 30-plus years it was her job to tend to the children and the household, which she did with skill and lovingkindness.

But there was much more to her life of giving. For many years she taught piano playing to budding musicians. For nearly 50 years she was an organist at First Presbyterian Church. She served on the local school board, volunteered for the local hospital auxiliary and the school music boosters program, was active in a study club, and participated as an accompanist and vocalist with the international Northwest Chorus and Orchestra. Along with her dedication to family, church and community, Elaine’s beautifully manicured flower gardens became legendary.

John, meanwhile, worked just a few years at his father’s newspaper, The Divide County Journal, before leasing and subsequently purchasing the business. He quickly became an innovator in the newspaper industry, winning countless awards and becoming president of the North Dakota Newspaper Association. Before long he became the first – and only – North Dakotan to rise to the presidency of the National Newspaper Association. He was inducted into the NDNA Hall of Fame, and received, the Amos Award, the highest honor bestowed by NNA.

Along the way, John’s leadership in the Jaycees, the Kiwanis Club, the Crosby Business Builders and the St. Luke’s Hospital and foundation put him at the forefront of dozens of community improvement projects. Further afield, he took on leadership roles with Prairie Public Broadcasting and the Theodore Roosevelt Medora Foundation. Later he developed a passion for philanthropy, finding great joy in using his personal resources for the benefit of others.

When he sold the newspaper business to his son in 1991, John embarked on 21 years of service in the North Dakota State Senate, where he developed a reputation as a thoughtful gentleman statesman skilled at finding common ground among opposing sides.

His legislative service was interrupted for a short time in the early 2000s when his beloved Elaine was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and was given less than a year to live. She battled the disease through surgeries, chemotherapy and radiation before it claimed her life Oct. 7, 2008 at St. Luke’s Hospital in Crosby.

“I have always known what a blessing Elaine was,” John wrote. “My dad reminded me frequently that I out-married myself. He was as smitten as I was. But it has taken her death for me to fully understand and appreciate the depths of her love and devotion to our family.”

Now separated from the love of his life for the first time in nearly 60 years, John refocused his energy on legislative service. He was elected for the sixth time in 2012 while still recovering from a stroke that ended his lifelong practice of jogging and his long-time love of bicycle riding.

He served out the 2013 legislative session before giving up his seat and eventually moving to an assisted living apartment in Fargo to be closer to family.

In January of 2018 another stroke hit, this one so severe that there could be no recovery. He died Jan. 17, 2008. He and Elaine are buried side by side in the Crosby Cemetery.

Through their estate planning they provided for the formation of the John and Elaine Andrist Charitable Trust and designated that its endowment be used for quality of life enhancements in their home community for at least 50 years.

Their lives of love and service are best summarized in John’s reply in an oral history interview to a question about how he would like to be remembered:

“I’d like to be remembered as one who gave more than he got.”