North Dakota
A small-town waitress in North Dakota recalled the night she served steak to Al Capone
Editor’s notice: That is half two of a three-part particular report “The Capones in North Dakota.” Half one examined how Al Capone’s oldest brother Vincenzo grew to become a legislation enforcement officer at Standing Rock.
Stella Hildre was being an excellent daughter that evening. Her mother and father ran the cafe in Petersburg, North Dakota. To provide her busy mother the evening off, she volunteered to cook dinner and wait tables that evening. Her good pal Agnes Asleson, a pair years older than Stella, agreed to assist.
“I bear in mind it was a gorgeous day and night,” Hildre advised Mysteries Journal in 2002.
Contributed / Household of Stella O’Neil
She definitely wasn’t afraid to be within the cafe alone that evening. It was her residence away from residence. Her mother and father had bought the cafe in 1925, and she or he helped when she may. Fairly mundane stuff, actually. Serve the purchasers a sizzling roast beef sandwich, a cup of espresso, and a chunk of pie, they usually’d be on their approach.
However the younger girls had no thought what they have been in for that evening — what would change into probably the most memorable nights of their life — a narrative Hildre would inform nicely into her 90s of the time she served supper to Al “Scarface” Capone.
Contributed / Library of Congress
The story begins when an uncommon automotive (or perhaps two) — black and fancy, with tinted home windows — drove ever so slowly down Petersburg’s quiet downtown streets.
The automotive(s) pulled up exterior the Hildre Cafe.
Contributed / New York World-Telegram and the Solar Newspaper {Photograph} Assortment / Library of Congress
Then, “they got here in sporting effective garments to have dinner,” Hildre advised William Jackson for his e book,
“Extra Dakota Mysteries and Oddities”.
The occupants of the automotive then instructed Hildre and Asleson to inform anybody else who got here to the cafe that it was closed, they usually requested the kids to lock the door.
Hildre stated they weren’t scared, as a result of oftentimes individuals having non-public events on the cafe needed to have the doorways locked.
However then the boys drew the shades.
“That appeared actually odd to me,” Hildre stated.
To make it even odder, among the males stood guard exterior with Tommy weapons, whereas others climbed the steps between the cafe and the ironmongery shop subsequent door to perch themselves on the diner’s roof, additionally with weapons in hand. On the time, Petersburg had a inhabitants of simply round 300, so the younger waitresses have been in all probability puzzled, questioning what was so regarding to the boys.
Contributed / NDSU Archives
A piano-playing social gathering in Petersburg
However what may they do? They wanted to make meals for these males who clearly weren’t locals. However have been they big-city mobsters? Was it Al Capone? They weren’t fairly positive, however that they had their suspicions. Regardless of who they have been, all of them ordered steak and the younger waitresses began cooking.
“They have been all very good trying and well mannered,” Hildre advised the journal.
They took up two tables, and one man even went as much as play a couple of in style tunes on the piano.
“We by no means heard it performed that good earlier than,” Hildre advised Jackson.
Contributed / Library of Congress
Better of all, Hildre recalled that Capone and his males preferred their meals.
“They loved our cooking. They couldn’t recover from how we two ladies may cook dinner the steaks,” Hildre stated in Jackson’s e book. “They have been all very good. This one, particularly. I’m positive it was him (Capone). He was very good to us. They only appeared like a gaggle of people that got here in for an excellent time.”
The mobsters didn’t keep lengthy. Once they left, the person believed to be Capone left every of them a $5 tip. In as we speak’s cash, that may equal about $87. The women have been thrilled.
With small-town gossip being what it’s, phrase acquired across the subsequent day that it was Capone’s crew driving via Petersburg that evening. Hildre stated individuals requested them, “Weren’t you scared?”
She stated they weren’t positive whether or not they need to have been “scared” or “thrilled.”
Karen O’Neil, who’s married to Stella’s son Marty, stated she remembers her mouth being “agape” when her mother-in-law talked about her brush with gangster greatness. Karen additionally requested Stella if she wasn’t simply “just a little bit afraid” that evening.
“I bear in mind she stated, ‘Effectively, I assume we did not have time to consider it. We have been too busy cooking their steaks,’ ” Karen stated.
And even when they have been scared, no less than that had a heck of a narrative to inform.
What grew to become of Stella and Agnes?
No matter occurred to Stella Hildre and Agnes Asleson?
Stella ultimately married a widower named John Leland O’Neil. Collectively, they raised his two kids from his late spouse and 6 of their very own. Agnes married George Goodrie and had two kids. Each girls remained within the area till their deaths.
Contributed / Stella O’Neil household
Agnes died in 1991 and Stella in 2007, giving them a long time to inform a tremendous story of serving steak to Scarface.
“She talked about it lots. At one time, she did a handwritten story of her life and included it,” stated Jo O’Neil, who’s married to Stella’s son Bob. “A few years in the past, earlier than she handed away, she took us to Petersburg and confirmed us the place the cafe was.”
It did not shock Bob O’Neil in any respect to listen to that his then-teenaged mom wasn’t rattled by the presence of gangsters in her household cafe.
“My mother was the oldest of six children. She was so mature as a result of she type of needed to take cost,” stated Bob.
Contributed / Household of Stella O’Neil
It additionally would not shock Stella’s sons and daughters-in-law that Stella would say that the gangsters have been “good” and “well mannered.”
“She would all the time assume that. She was like that,” stated Jo.
“My mother taught us that if you did not have something good to say, do not say something,” Bob stated.
At this level, there is no such thing as a definitive proof that it was Al Capone and his crew driving via Petersburg that evening. However given the secrecy of the mob boss and his efforts to put low when he traveled, proof (and definitely photographs) can be laborious to return by. However via the years, he had been noticed by many individuals touring alongside a route that included what’s now North Dakota’s Freeway 2 that goes via Petersburg. His bootlegging pursuits in smuggling whiskey in from Canada would give him purpose to be close to the border.
Graphic by Troy Becker
To have any hope of verifying that Capone and his males have been in Petersburg, it would assist to know precisely when it occurred.
It is not clear precisely what 12 months Hildre and Asleson’s dinner with Capone occurred. Stella’s son, Marty O’Neil, believes his mom was about 16. Printed tales merely point out Stella and Agnes as “teenagers” and “excessive schoolers,” so given the lady’s birthdates, it more than likely occurred between 1926 and 1929.
It’s attention-grabbing to notice that in accordance with Capone’s biography, he went into hiding for 3 months in 1926 after he and a few of his gunmen inadvertently killed a prosecutor in Chicago.
Was North Dakota thought-about distant sufficient to be his hideout spot for these three months? Or was he right here for an additional purpose?
As talked about in
Half One in all “The Capones in North Dakota,”
Al Capone’s older brother, Vincenzo, was working as a federal agent in North Dakota throughout this time. Is there an off-chance he was stopping by to say “hello” to his massive brother and even discuss enterprise?
Contributed / Library of Congress
That’s in all probability not going, because the brothers, from opposing sides of the booze battle, had informally agreed to remain out of one another’s territories. Additionally, whereas Vincenzo was working in North Dakota, he was stationed on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, greater than 4 hours south of Petersburg.
And eventually, Capone was recognized to go north from Chicago to trip
close by in Minnesota and Wisconsin
, so a visit to japanese North Dakota is inside the realm of chance.
In actual fact, rumors have swirled within the Grand Forks space for years, about shut relationships between Capone and a few bar house owners in East Grand Forks. It was additionally rumored that he visited and even had houses on lakes together with Lake Melissa, Bass Lake, Little Bemidji and Fish Hook Lake, simply to call a couple of.
We’ll deal with Al Capone on the lake partly three of “The Capones in North Dakota.”
BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – Bismarck High Wrestlers win a lot of titles.
“We’re striving for a state championship, that’s where the bar is set,” said Bismarck High Wrestling head coach Mark Lardy.
Three of said titles belong to the top-ranked 133-pound wrestler in North Dakota, Ben DeForest.
Now, Ben’s going for number four.
“It would mean everything to me,” said Ben DeForest. “There have been some great wrestlers from BHS that have been four-timers it would just mean a lot for me to add my name to that list.”
”He led a lot by example in the past,” said Lardy. “Now he leads not only by example but his voice in the room is heard.“
Even when his BHS days are over, Ben has another chapter to write in his story: He’s committed to Wrestle at UMary.
“We pride ourselves on trying to keep and retain as many local North Dakota kids here at U-Mary and we’re just very thankful that Ben chose to come here and wrestle for us as well,” said U-Mary Wrestling head coach Adam Aho.
The state champ has a bigger goal in mind.
“His goal is way beyond what our room is going to give him. This is just a stepping stone,” said Lardy.
Ben wants a national championship.
“We need every guy to have that type of mentality,” said Aho. “Without it, we will never be relevant on the national scene.”
”Once you get your hand raised you realize, all those morning practices you didn’t want to go to and all those lifts that you were like, uh I don’t know, it’s worth it. It’s worth it,” said DeForest.
Copyright 2024 KFYR. All rights reserved.
My Heartfelt Christmas Wish To You North Dakota.
Not a “catchy-clicky” title and I doubt many of my listeners or readers will probably even read this article.
However, I wanted to share something with you that is on my heart. This is so not me, as I’m more the guy who writes about “North Dakota’s 10 most quirky this and that”.
It’s not that I’m not a sensitive guy, because when I was growing up, I was probably too sensitive. I would avoid sad movies, songs, or anything that would spark too much of an emotion.
Yes, you could say my heart has become a bit jaded and cold over the years. It’s not something I’m proud of but more of a defense mechanism.
2024 has probably been one of the most challenging years for my family.
From losing loved ones to family issues to health issues to very challenging financial times, it’s been one of those years where you just can’t catch a break. I’m sure many of you can relate.
As we were attending a Christmas Eve candlelight service last night a young child caught my eye.
She was a cute little toddler who was starting to act up. Something I remember oh so well at church with my little now 20-year-old son.
As her father took her outside the sanctuary to attend to her, I couldn’t help but notice this child’s extremely unfair situation. She had a disability at a year or so old, that none of us could ever imagine. It broke my heart.
This poor child and her family no doubt have a long road ahead of them. As we lit our candles later in the service, I caught the wonder in her eyes, and it couldn’t help but melt my cold heart at the time.
She was perfect and I found myself saying a prayer for this little blonde girl with curly locks and her family.
Her situation also reminded me that I should be thankful for what I have and not what I don’t this Christmas. This is my Christmas wish for you North Dakota, that you will realize the same thing.
Be thankful for who you have around the tree today, not what’s under it.
Merry Christmas to all my listeners and readers. I hope at least a few of you get to read this and it will touch you the same way this little girl touched me on Christmas Eve.
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BISMARCK — Christmas Day marks the ninth anniversary of 31-year-old Michelle Duppong’s death. While her family and friends will feel her absence on this day, they also feel the love, kindness and faith she demonstrated during her short life, along with abundant hope that she not only shared while alive but continues to share in death, which is one of the reasons she is slated to become the first person from North Dakota to become a Catholic saint.
Contributed
In June 2022, Bismarck Bishop David D. Kagan announced the opening of a diocesan investigation into Duppong’s “holiness of life and love for God,” officially starting the long and arduous process of canonization to a saint. On Nov. 1, 2022, Kagan deemed Duppong a servant of god.
Duppong is on track to be the first North Dakotan and one of few around the world to be canonized, said Father Tom Grafsgaard, of Hazen, North Dakota. According to Catholic publications, only 11 people from the U.S. have become canonized saints.
“It’s never happened in the history of North Dakota in either (the Bismarck or Fargo) Diocese,” Grafsgaard said. “It’s quite exceedingly rare for this to be happening.”
In the process of canonization, the Catholic Church declares people “saints.” There are three paths to sainthood: to have died as a martyr for Catholicism; if one lived an expression of love and died a rather quick and unexpected death; or if they gave a heroic example of living all the Christian virtues.
The process of canonization is governed by a strict canonical or juridical procedure established by St. John Paul II in 1983.
After Kagan began the process, Duppong’s cause entered the diocesan phase of investigation into her life. The Michelle Duppong Guild was created — a group tasked with promoting an awareness of her life. Officials are poring over Duppong’s writings, work, demonstrations of faith and the great number of lives she touched while alive, which are illustrated through interviews with those who knew her, Grafsgaard said.
Her case will be built up and eventually sent to the Dicastery for the Causes of the Saints in Rome for the Roman Phase of canonization. A Vatican panel will also investigate and determine if Duppong lived a heroically virtuous life. The Dicastery can then issue a “decree of heroic virtue” in which Duppong would be given the new title of “Venerable Servant of God.”
The third step, beatification, then begins. During this phase, it must be proven that one miracle has been granted by God through Duppong’s intercession. If the Pope declares a true miracle occurred, then Duppong would be declared “Blessed.” Last, a ceremony of canonization would take place where the church declares her a Saint in heaven with God.
“The process is very long,” Grafsgaard said. “I often say, ‘It takes as long as it takes.’ ”
Contributed by michelleduppong.org
Michelle Christine Duppong was born Jan. 25, 1984, the fourth of six children to parents Ken and Mary Ann Duppong. She grew up on the family farm in Haymarsh, North Dakota, where her parents said she loved to help with chores, including caring for sheep but especially gardening, mowing, pruning, weeding, harvesting and canning, according to her mother.
Duppong was named valedictorian and president of her senior class and later attended North Dakota State University, where she earned a degree in horticulture.
After earning her degree, she became a FOCUS missionary at four college campuses, including the inaugural year at the University of Mary, mentoring college students to draw them deeper into the faith. FOCUS is an apostolate dedicated to evangelizing college and university students.
In 2012, she became the director of faith formation for the Bismarck Diocese, where she led parish missions, launched a podcast and spearheaded a three-day Eucharistic conference that drew thousands to the Bismarck Civic Center in 2013.
In the fall of 2014, Duppong was experiencing sharp abdominal pains that doctors initially thought were ovarian cysts, a common but painful issue for women that will sometimes dissolve and go away without major medical treatment. But by December, the pain was unrelenting, and an outpatient surgery was scheduled that month to remove the cysts.
According to Mary Ann Duppong, surgeons were “shocked to find” Michelle Duppong’s abdomen was “full of stage four cancer.”
Doctors expected the young woman to die within months, and hospice care was recommended.
“Michelle was not one to blame anyone for anything,” Mary Ann Duppong said. “Her attitude was, ‘If God wants me to go through this, I will go through this.’ “
Despite the diagnosis, Michelle Duppong continued her life for nearly a full year.
According to the website that outlines the canonization process for Michelle Duppong and its status, she told one of the sisters providing hospice care that she believed she would pass on Christmas Day. Michelle Duppong died at 11:23 p.m. on Dec. 25, 2015.
Shortly after Bishop Kagan initiated the process for Michelle Duppong’s canonization, U.S. bishops affirmed their support for the cause’s advancement.
In this first stage, the primary focus is to raise awareness of Michelle Duppong and the push for her sainthood by spreading as much information about her and her life as possible, which is done through the creation of a guild and much of which can be found at
www.michelleduppongcause.org.
Contributed.
In January, a FOCUS-produced documentary titled “Thirst for Souls: The Michelle Duppong Story,” was screened at a FOCUS convention in St. Louis. Afterward, Michelle Duppong’s parents were inundated for hours with comments about how much the movie and Michelle had influenced viewers.
While one cannot necessarily predict when or if Michelle Duppong will become a saint, Grafsgaard said a bishop must believe canonization is likely to begin the process.
“For a bishop to initiate a cause, there should be a well-founded hope for its success,” he said. “There certainly was reputation in her life, and she continues to have it in her death.”
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