On Sunday evening, December 3, 2017, our beloved husband, father, brother and friend slipped peacefully from this life to meet his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Dad was a gentle, loving Christian man and an inspiration in all our lives.
Arnold Gravesen Dige was born April 13, 1926, the second of fourteen children born to Danish immigrants Otto and Emma (Gravesen) Dige in Sidney, MT. During his childhood and youth, he lived on the family farm just south of town and attended local schools. He was unable to graduate, however, as he and his brother Paul were needed to work the farm after their father suffered a heart attack. So began his career as a hard working farmer, raising sugar beets for more than 60 years.
Arnold married his friend and love, Adeline Hansen on Sunday, May 22, 1949 at Pella Lutheran Church. Over the next 17 years, they were blessed by the arrival of six children. As his family grew, Dad expanded his farm acreage and purchased cattle so there was steady income and work aplenty for his growing crew. He and Mom taught us the value of hard work – paying us 10 cents per row to hoe beans for example – and the reward for the morning’s labor was a quick nap after lunch, on to the next chore and some of Mom’s delicious treats at coffee time. When the weather cooperated, there were weekend trips to Brush Lake for water skiing and picnics with family and friends. On rare occasions even 3-day getaways to the Black Hills, which had been a favorite spot since Mom and Dad’s honeymoon.
When the farming season ended, winter months were spent tending cattle and working on major home remodeling projects. Dad constantly strived to improve our lives. Even though farming was his passion and calling, Dad recognized the value of education and offered each of us kids the higher education of our choice.
Arnold was a life-long member of Pella Lutheran Church in Sidney and enjoyed participating in bible studies, Kogudus retreats and served on the council several times. He also enjoyed his long affiliations with the Montana Dakota Beet Growers Association and Richland Farm Mutual Insurance Company. As a couple, he and Adeline completed the Dale Carnegy course on public speaking, enjoyed Square dancing and in later years travelled to California and Arizona each winter to visit extended family and bask in the warm weather.
Throughout the years, one of Dad’s favorite sayings was “If a little bit is good, a lot is better!” For him, this applied equally to hard work, time spent with family and friends, enjoying Adeline’s home cooking and one’s faith in God; those were his greatest joys.
With great sorrow, we watched this loving and generous soul slowly fade to only a faint shadow of the man we’d known due to the terrible effects of dementia. However, even in this journey, God bestowed blessings in the form of golden-hearted caregivers, first at the Country House in Dickinson and more recently at SHC’s Angel Avenue. We cannot aptly express our gratitude to you all for the love and kindnesses shown to Arnold and our family these past 6 years.
Forever loving and missing him are his wife of 68 years, Adeline, their children, Russell (Janice) Dige, Rosalynn Stegmaier, Patricia (Dale) Powell, Marilyn (Steve) Pust, Rebbecca (David) Reidle; thirteen beloved grandchildren, Shirley, Amanda, Paul, Jan, Robyn, Katie, Christy, Mark, Jonathan, Trevor, Erick, Shelby and Shanyn and ten dear great-grandchildren, Joe, Paul, Sara, Anna, Jack, Henry, Elizabeth, Greyson, Alexis & Shawn. Surviving siblings include Selma Nealson, Victor Dige, Betty Cholewinski, Robert Dige and Clara Jo Dige.
We are certain that Arnold is now reunited in Heaven with his son Anthony, his parents and siblings, Paul, Nels, an infant sister, Leon, Gerda, Gordon, Alvin and Shirley Dige, and son-in-law Robert Stegmaier.

Memorial Contribution