For most of his lifetime, he and some of his children rode quarter horses with his local horse clubs, including Garrison Wagon Train for his Clydesdale teams.
In 1984, as a breeder, he sold a young Clydesdale named King of Glanord to Anheuser-Busch in St. He drove his Clydesdale teams, who pulled large wagons and at times, his brother’s stage coach at local small town celebration parades, including North Dakota’s State Centennial Parade in Mandan, ND. His experience of farming with draft horses as a young man prepared him for a hobby during his retirement years of strong health that developed into his pride and joy: purchasing, breeding, raising, training, parading, trading, and selling a small herd of Clydesdale horses. Lester had a lifelong love of horses, especially quarter horses and mules. He had a shop reserved for his woodworking hobby. At the time of his death, he was serving on the Board of Ingersoll-Veeder Cemetery Association. He was a member of Farmers Union and Farm Bureau. He was 4-H co-leader with Jack Luithle one year. He served as Clerk of his children’s Veeder District rural school for many years. Lester and Leone joined Washburn Baptist Church in 1958, where he served as a Deacon and a Trustee. In spite of his disability problems, he became a successful farmer and rancher. He felt that overall life had been good to him. In his latter years of life, he developed prostate cancer, which eventually metastasized he told his M.D.’s and his family that he was at peace with the fact medicine or surgery could no longer help him heal his body. He memorized many Bible verses and loved to quote them. Daily, he did Bible Study and prayer, especially in his active retirement years, reading the Bible from cover to cover many times. Lester, a teetotaler, was a devout Christian who dearly loved Jesus Christ. Lester was a small grain farmer/rancher for many years. In March 1950, they purchased and then resided on the farm that had been homesteaded by Leone’s deceased father, Charles Nordquist. They made their first home on the former Oscar Nordquist farm for 11 years. He married Leone Beatrice Nordquist on Januat First Lutheran church, Washburn. He was an 8th grade graduate of Sverdrup District local rural school. He grew up on this farm with his parents and brothers. He was baptized and confirmed at First Lutheran Church, Washburn. Lester was born in his parent’s rural farmhouse north of Washburn to John B.
Visitation will continue 1 hour prior to time of church service on Wednesday. CDT Tuesday at Goetz Funeral Home, Washburn, with an 8:00 PM private family service. Public visitation will be held from 4 to 8 P.M. Burial will be in Riverview Cemetery, Washburn. Funeral services will be held 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, June 24, at Washburn Baptist Church, with Rev. Lester Vern Tweeten, 95, rural Turtle Lake, died peacefully in his sleep Thursday, Jat the Community Memorial Hospital in Turtle Lake.