Allen Joseph Thull, 87, longtime resident of Tioga, passed away at the Trinity Medical Center in Minot on Sunday, Sep. 15th, 2019.

He was born at home in Meire Grove Minnesota on March 19, 1932, the oldest child of 8 to Hilda (Moening) and Alois Thull. He attended school in Meire Grove until the 8th grade, leaving school to work on the family farm.

Al left Minnesota in 1948 when he was 16 and worked as a farmhand traveling from Wisconsin to California. He was drafted into the Army in 1953 and attended basic training at Fort Leonardwood, Missouri where he was trained to become a wheeled-vehicle mechanic. Al was deployed to the 38th parallel during the Korean War with H&S company with the 76th Engineers Construction Company. Awards include the Korean Service Medal, the United Nation’s Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Meritorious Unit Commendation, and the Good Conduct Medal. He was honorably discharged from the Army in 1954 in Fort Carson, Colorado.

After being discharged from the Army, Al worked as a farmhand in Colorado and then at a steel foundry in Milwaukee. After oil was discovered south of Tioga in 1951, Al went to work for National Tank in Williston in 1956. In 1957, he went to work for KBM Well Service in Tioga as a rig hand and then as a mechanic. He worked as a mechanic at KBM for the next 38 years.

Al married Sharon Joynes in Sidney, MT on April 21, 1956 and they lived in Tioga. In 1975 Al and Sharon started Al’s Repair after purchasing a small engine and electrical repair business from Shorty Olds. Al worked in the oil field during the day and repaired magnetos, starters, alternators, lawn mowers and snow blowers in the evenings. Sharon was the book keeper for Al’s repair until she passed away in 2009.

Al and Sharon were parents to three children; Doug, Linda and Dawn Kay.

Al was well-known for his ability to repair almost anything. Everybody in Tioga and the surrounding area knew they could take their lawn mowers or snow blowers to Al’s Repair. Several oil companies counted on Al to repair their starting engines and magnetos for Ajax pump engines.

Al enjoyed racing, first with pinewood derby cars when Doug was in Boy Scouts, then snow mobile racing and finally stock car racing. He didn’t care to drive the cars, but the cars he worked on were well prepared and usually finished near the front. One of Al’s racing related highlights was going to Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1994 and getting Dale Earnhardt to sign his cap. During that same trip to Charlotte, Al got to meet Jeff Gordon who went on to win his first Winston Cup race that weekend.

Al was an avid hunter, going to Canada to hunt moose, to Montana for geese, to McKenzie County for wild turkeys or hunting ducks all over western North Dakota. Sharon found many ways to prepare the wild game that Al brought home. He believed that a good hunter should consume the game that was harvested and stopped hunting after Sharon passed away.

Al loved to fish and especially liked to teach his grandchildren how to fish. He looked forward to the annual fishing trip to Lake Sakakawea in July with family and friends and to Kenny’s fish fry in Minnesota in the fall with siblings, cousins, extended family and friends. Al kept his freezer well stocked with fillets and enjoyed sharing the results of his many successful fishing trips.

Family connections were important to Al and in 2018, he traveled to Germany with his cousin Richard Thull. In Germany, Al got to meet several cousins and stayed with relatives in a house that had been in the Thull family for 5 or 6 generations.

Al is survived by his children; Doug (Kim), Tioga; Linda (Sheldon) Trowbridge, Joshua Tree, CA and Dawn (Dan) Krieger, Bismarck; his sisters, Leora Haugen, Karen Hoppe, Myrna Kuechle and Mary Sue Galetak; and brothers, Jerry, Arnie and Kenny. Also surviving him are 11 grandchildren, and 11 great-grandchildren.

Al was preceded in death by his parents, Alois and Hilda; wife, Sharon and granddaughter Elizabeth Krieger.