Fifty-one years ago Stan Rolfsrud sat as still as he could on a stool in Aunt Agnes' bright and cheery North Dakota farm kitchen while Cousin Larry Veeder drew this portrait with pencils, chalk and charcoal. Larry's mother was very proud of what her young Minnesota art school student could so easily create. All of Nils and Rebecca Rolfsrud's children appreciated creative work. 
Last week the subject and artist were gathered at the Watford City Roosevelt Inn, along with Larry's wife, Carolyn, and daughter, Julia Crozier. Carolyn was Larry's high school sweetheart. While getting ready to drive out to the Rolfsrud Reunion, a pick up truck roared up and out jumped... Carolyn's favorite high school dance partner, who had just happened to hear a rumor that Carolyn was back in town. Larry never was much of a dancer, Carolyn explained later. Veeders and Rolfsruds just never have been much when it comes to moving around a dance floor, she laughed.Larry says he was sort of a dreamer back then and didn't take much to farming either. He was a lot more interested in hunting, fishing and drawing. In 1955 he went to art school in Minnesota, then married Carolyn.
He worked in commercial art for about 13 years while living in Red Wing, Minnesota, where they had two daughters. Eventually Larry quit commercial art to become a fulltime painter, and he and Carolyn have done a lot of traveling, marketing his paintings all over the country.
Photo: Rosalie Veeder (Larry's sister), Larry, Carolyn, his brother, David, and his wife, Linnea. Agnes and Sidney Veeder's fourth child, LeRoy, died in 2003.
Their oldest is Kathy, a registered dietician, with two daughters, Lauren (1982) and Andrea (1986). She is married to Dennis Boos.
Their youngest is Julia, an artist who works in watercolor and oil pastel. She and Bill Crozier have three daughters, Alice (1983); Bridgette (1986) and Theresa (1989). Theresa accompanied her mother and grandparents to the reunion. She plans on attending Mankato University in the fall. She is interested in history. (photo at left, with her mother).Carolyn and Larry spend winters at their home in Arizona.
Below, brother and sister, Larry and Rosalie -- she lives at Johnson Corners, very near the old Veeder family farm -- had a chat during the field trip. Rosalie was a principal organizer of the reunion.
