Tosten Boe and his wife Mildred, of Minot, had a bit of luck after a lot of bad luck in 1947. Boe was a longtime resident of the area, having homesteaded in 1886. The original land he homesteaded became part of the state fairgrounds. His first wife, Barbara, died in 1922. He subsequently married Mildred Olson, who was quite a bit younger than he was.
By 1947, the two lived in a house in Minot, and unfortunately for them, some coal gas started filtering into their house. It would not take long for this to affect them. Tosten fell onto the ground, and Mildred passed out on their bed. Both were unconscious.
That was nearly the end of the Boes, and they would have died on this date except for a little luck.
Mildred Boe’s brother was Anton Olson, an electrician. He happened to have a birthday on the 22nd, and he received a felicitous call on that day from their brother, who lived in Minneapolis. The brother requested that Anton Olson pass on greetings to their sister.
Anton tried. He called her the next day, but no one picked up. This raised concerns, so he called the Boes’ neighbor and asked him to check on his sister and her husband. The neighbor called back when he couldn't get a response despite pounding on the doors and windows.
Anton called the police, who broke down the back door and found the terrible scene inside. They called an ambulance and took the couple to Trinity Hospital. Tosten, age 90, revived quickly. Mildred, age 65, had to be placed in an oxygen tent. She didn’t regain consciousness for several hours.
The two Boes were lucky; and the Ward County Independent noted that when they were finally able to return home, they were “thankful that Anton had a birthday on February 22nd, not February 24th.”
Dakota Datebook by Sarah Walker
Sources:
Ward County Independent, February 27, 1947, p1
Minot Daily News, November 11, 1948
https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/discoveryui-content/view/155251931:60525
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/167832488/barbara-boe
https://www.ancestrylibrary.com/discoveryui-content/view/563:62067
