Services for Lugene “Gene” Ordell Lange

On Monday, Nov. 8, 2021, Lugene “Gene” Ordell Lange passed away, with his wife by his side, at the Bemidji Sanford Medical Center. He was 94 years old.

Gene was born on Aug. 4, 1927 in Clarkfield, Minn., to Otto and Lilie (Anderson) Lange. When he was a child, his family moved to a farm north of Clearbrook. As a young man, he worked for a custom combining company, harvesting crops from Texas to Montana.

A lifelong Jehovah’s Witness, he symbolized his dedication through baptism at an International Convention held at Yankee Stadium in New York City in 1953.

On June 3, 1956 in Thief River Falls, Gene was united in marriage to Beryl Westgaard of Bemidji, where they made their home. He was employed as a mechanic for Ernie Paul IH Implement. In 1960, he moved his family to Crookston, which had grown by two children: David and Jolayne. For 10 years, he was the shop foreman at the Crookston IH dealership. During this time, two more children were added to the family: Daral and Melanie.

In the early 70s, Evert Anderson from Gonvick encouraged him to take over his school bus business. In 1973, the family moved to Gonvick and Gene and Beryl worked for several decades building a bus business. They provided transportation for the Gonvick-Trail School District and in 1983 the charter bus company, Lange Transport, was born.

Lugene loved to travel… as long as he had 40 passengers traveling with him. He traveled extensively throughout the United States and Canada. His passengers included BSU athletes to Hostfest and Folklorama enthusiasts to adventure seekers going to Churchill, Manitoba to see the polar bear migration. For almost 10 years, Gene and Beryl arranged trips, often twice a year, to the World Headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses in New York. Those trips grew to include Washington, D.C., New England and the Canadian branch of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Gene drove the bus for most of those trips, thoroughly enjoying meeting hundreds of his “brothers and sisters in the faith.” 

Throughout his life, Gene was a fan of Red Power, as International Harvester tractors are known. He collected many antique Farmall tractors and Cub Cadets, restoring some of them to mint condition.

In 2015, Gene and Beryl moved back to Bemidji, closed the circle and settled into retirement.

Gene was known to be a hardworking, kind and honest man. He enjoyed gardening, going to auction sales, tinkering with his old tractors and having coffee with old friends. He especially enjoyed spending time with his granddaughter, Alaina, when she would spend her summers in Gonvick. Lugene will be missed by his family and friends.

Gene had strong faith in the promise made at John 5:28. He was comfortable with the fact that he may have to sleep in God’s memory until the promise of the resurrection is fulfilled.

Lugene is survived by his wife of 65 years, Beryl; daughter, Jolayne (Gary Corder) of Richland, Wash.,; son, Daral, of Duluth; daughter, Melanie (Carlos) Mendez of Bemidji; granddaughter, Alaina (Max) Morgan, of Richland, Wash.; three great grandchildren: Aiden, Kya and Cambria; numerous nieces and nephews; and his cat Dander.

He was preceded in death by his son, David; his parents; and sisters, Vernice Bartos and Lois Bonik.

A virtual memorial service will be held via Zoom on Saturday, Dec. 11 at 2:00 p.m. Meeting ID: 823 0216 9017/Passcode: 8427