Aloander (A.L.) was born June 14, 1898, west of Hannaford in Bartley Township. He attended school in Bartley and the Concordia Academy at Moorhead, Minnesota. At this time, the school term was only six months long each year. In the summer Al would stay with his Uncle and Aunt, the P. A. Thoresons, and attend parochial school with the cousins for one month.
In 1920, A. L. and his parents Ludvig and Bertha, moved to Fargo. Al was employed as a manager of the Leebe Grocery Store. While in Fargo, he met Dena Wick from Underwood, Minnesota. She was employed as a telephone operator. They were married May 22, 1922, at Trinity Lutheran in Moorhead by his uncle, Pastor P. A. Thoreson. Their only child, Leslie, was born in Fargo on August 23, 1923. The family moved back to farm at Hannaford in 1924. Al and his family lived on several different farms in the area before purchasing the present farm in Dover Township.
Al was active in community affairs. He served as the Eidfjord Church treasurer for 30 years, was on the school board in Dover Township, and was a Griggs County Commissioner for several years. Dianne (Peterson) Hetland recalls going for many Sunday afternoon drives with her Grandpa just looking at road conditions and bridges. She also remembers going on Griggs County Historical jaunts with him as he was interested in preserving history.
Dena was active in church activities but became confined to her home as cancer slowly took her life. She passed away in 1961, after having been ill for many years.
After Dena died, Al spent the summers in North Dakota with Leslie and his family and winters in Santa Ana, California, with his sisters and their families.
Al and Dena had one son, Leslie, but they also raised a foster son. Al's sister, Mildred Richardson, died at childbirth and her son, Myron, was taken into the Peterson home. He lived with them in the Hannaford area until he was 16. He then went to stay with his aunt, Hazel Falstad, in Devils Lake to finish his high school education. He joined the Navy but was later given a medical discharge. He then went to Bremerton, Washington, to work in a defense plant. Later he moved to Moorhead, Minnesota, to work. He married Ann Coons, moved to California and lived there until the time of his death.
In 1975, Al had an accident while doing what he loved, helping during harvest. He never regained his health and became a resident at the Griggs County Nursing Home in 1976. He lived there until his death on January 23, 1982.
Source: Hannaford Area History North Dakota Centennial 1889 - 1989 Page 220