Harold Sakkestad

SAKKESTAD HAROLD SAKKESTAD (Age 88) Harold Sakkestad, born on December 21, 1919, in New York City, died on May 1, 2008, at Shady Grove Hospital, following complications from surgery. His daughter, Barbara, of Gaithersburg, MD; his son, Harold of Okechobee, FL; and his grandson, Lawrence Edward Sakkestad of Gaithersburg, MD, survive him. He worked for over 30 years as an engineer for Western Electric and retired in 1979. He served in the Pacific Theater in World War II, and in the New York Army National Guard, retiring as a Master Sergeant in 1979. He earned the American Defense Service Medal; the Asiatic Pacific Service Medal and a Good Conduct Medal. He particularly enjoyed participation in the annual gatherings of the 102nd and 152nd Combat Engineers Veterans‘ Association. In 1948 he married Mary Rose Stanislof; and they had two children. He was preceded in death by Mrs. Sakkestad who died in 1964, and his twin brother, Norman, who died in 2006. He lived for many years on Candlewood Lake in New Milford, Connecticut, before retiring to Boynton Beach, FL. He was an active member of the Son Life Lutheran Church there. He moved to Gaithersburg in 2003 to be with his daughter. He later married Ingrid Martine Johnson Brown who also preceded him in death. His sisters also preceded him in death: Agnes Sakkestad, Sigfriede Evje, Camilla McNeill, Anna Stuberg, and Beatrice Riddell, as did his brother, Louis Sakkestad. Numerous nieces and nephews survive him. A funeral Mass will be celebrated on Thursday, May 15 at 5 p.m. at St. Rose of Lima Church in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Following that his remains will be interred with his first wife at Long Island National Cemetery in Farmington, New York.