Philip Tron

1946 - 2025

Philip Tron

November 16, 1946 - November 23, 2025

MOORHEAD, MN - Philip Tron, 79, Moorhead, MN died Sunday, November 23, 2025 at his home. Phil was born to Philip L. Tron and Clara (Branvold) in Devils Lake, ND on November 16, 1946. He grew up in Maddock, ND where he was known as "Butch," graduating from Benson County Agricultural and Training School in 1964.

Phil attended North Dakota State University majoring in Zoology and minoring in English and Chemistry and was a member of the Army ROTC program. He claims he held a shooting record at NDSU for many years, but no proof has been found. He met his future wife, Mary, at a party at Moorhead State in the fall of 1967. After his graduation from NDSU in 1969, he entered his service in the Army and was stationed at Ft. Benning, GA where he completed basic training.

Sadly, his military career was not to happen. He was medically and honorably discharged after just a few months of active service. He headed back to North Dakota and began working on his Masters in the fall of 1970. He also taught high school science in Rock Lake, ND for a year.

He married Mary in May of 1971 and followed her first to Texas and then to West Germany as she served in the US Army Nurse Corps. While living in Europe they were able to travel around Germany, to Denmark and the Netherlands. He also took a trip to Norway with his parents. It was when they lived in Europe that they faced their biggest adventure: parenthood. While Mary worked, Phil was a stay-at-home father to Sarah. His mother once expressed alarm that he was allowed to be home alone with the baby.

After Mary's discharge in 1975, they returned to Fargo, and he continued to work on his Masters in Zoology until its completion in 1978. After that he took a teaching job in Portland, ND and the family moved to Mayville. Their second daughter, Emily, was born in 1979.

Phil took a teaching job in Sheyenne, ND in 1980 and the family moved to Devils Lake, ND. Shortly thereafter he acquired his first fishing boat, a little red and white thing that barely held two people and a thermos of coffee. He taught in Sheyenne for two years, but left teaching in the fall of 1982. At that time he again served as a stay-at-home dad, this time for Emily.

In 1983 Phil took a job at Dakota Gasification north of Beulah, ND and the family moved to nearby Hazen. His daughters never really understood what he did there nor how the gasification process worked, but they do know he almost never called in sick and won several awards from the plant for his attendance. He retired in 2012.

While they lived in Hazen, Phil enjoyed fishing for freshwater salmon and anything else he could find in his now bigger, fancier fishing boat. He hunted for pheasants, grouse, and turkeys. He was a deer hunter his whole life and returned to the family farm every fall where

he would sit quietly eating M&Ms and drinking coffee while waiting for a deer to walk by. It seemed to be more about being outside on the family farm than getting a deer.

Phil and Mary moved to Moorhead, MN in 2013 to be closer to family. Phil volunteered at the Red River Range in West Fargo and served as a safety officer in the rifle range. He was their volunteer of the year in 2018. In 2015 he got his first license for a black bear and traveled to Canada for the experience. His name was drawn for the bear lottery in Minnesota twice and he got a bear on each of those trips.

Phil and Mary enjoyed traveling in their retirement and took trips to Alaska (twice), around Lake Superior, southern Minnesota, and to New Orleans.

After Mary's death he continued to volunteer/work at the range and was a member of First Lutheran Church in Fargo. If you visited with him in the last four years, we're sure he talked at you about one of his four favorite topics: mom, their trips to Alaska, guns/shooting, and the Army. We did briefly add a fifth topic of conversation: His 1973 GMC truck which he'd had restored. He even took it to a local outdoor car show once or twice.

Phil was preceded in death by his parents and his wife of just over 50 years, Mary. He is survived by his daughters, Sarah and Emily, his dog Rosie, and his cat Spunky, all of Moorhead.

A memorial service will take place 10:00 AM Friday, December 5, 2025 at Boulger Funeral Home and Celebration of Life Center, Fargo. Visitation will take place one hour prior to services. Burial will take place at Fargo National Cemetery, Fargo. Arrangements entrusted to Boulger Funeral Home and Celebration of Life Center, Fargo. To view the livestream and sign the online guestbook, please visit: www.Boulgerfuneralhome.com.