Growing up on OTC area family farm

By Tom Hintgen

Otter Tail County Correspondent

Curt Pederson, a member of the Fergus Falls High School Class of 1965, and his brother Les, a member of the FFHS Class of 1966, have good memories of growing up on two farms in Buse Township, south of Fergus Falls.

Their parents were LeRoy and Corinne (Vore). There were six children: Larry, Carol, Curt, Les, Linda and Cay.

LeRoy, Corinne and their children enjoyed living on the two family farmsteads in Buse Township. LeRoy farmed until 1965 when he went to work for the Fergus Bus Company. He was 79 when he died in 2004.

Don Pederson, uncle of Curt and Les Pederson, enjoyed living on the first Pederson farmstead in Buse Township. This site was the first homestead for Curt and Les Pederson  before moving to the second farmstead two miles from Dayton Hollow School.

Their father LeRoy’s parents were Henry and Nettie (Forde) Pederson. Henry, Curt Pederson’s grandfather, was born in 1894 in Buse Township, the son of Hans and Mary (Anderson) Pederson. 

Henry lived and farmed there his entire life. He died at the age of 85 in 1979. He served on the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service (ASCS) and Otter Tail Co-op Oil board for several years,

Curt Pederson’s family ties include not only the Pederson family but also the Forde-Botts families. The families have ties to Norway and Sweden from the old country.

Another family farm was located in Tordenskjold Township (Underwood) where Hans and Mary Pederson are buried.