The First Presbyterian Church in Fargo is remarkable for its Scottish Gothic Revival architecture. Lining the sanctuary are numerous stained-glass windows depicting Biblical figures and scenes. The first window, installed in the chancel in 1939, is a bit different from the others. Its symbolic design and personal motifs are in memory of Helen Huntoon and her newborn son.
Helen died on this date in 1932 in Fargo following childbirth. She was 32. Her infant son, Homer Lee, died soon after. Helen’s husband, Homer B. Huntoon, was head of the Architecture Department at the North Dakota Agricultural College in Fargo. He donated the window in their memory. The window depicts David in its central panel, with figures representing music and art in the two side panels. Words in one small pane read: “Dearest new angel up in heaven, it was sweet to give you birth even if you could not linger longer.”
The window symbolizes Helen Huntoon’s love of faith, family, music and art. She was a commercial artist who specialized in etchings. She received statewide recognition for her craft in Texas, and she exhibited in Fargo. Homer and Helen Huntoon had married in 1930 in Des Moines, Iowa, and they honeymooned in Detroit Lakes, Minnesota.
The funeral for mother and child was held in Des Moines, where Helen had lived as a girl. Homer Huntoon also was from Des Moines. He had joined the college’s Architectural Department in 1928. He was a leader in the school’s theater, music and arts programs. He was also among a group of college instructors who toured the new North Dakota Capitol with engineering students in 1934. Homer Huntoon said the Capitol “is one of the most outstanding buildings in this time and nowhere has it been duplicated.”
He remarried in 1937 at his Detroit Lake cabin, and left North Dakota soon afterward for the University of Southern California School of Architecture in Los Angeles. He died in 1962 at age 61.
Dakota Datebook by Jack Dura
Sources:
- The Des Moines Register. 1928, June 21. Page 11: Personals
- The Spectrum. 1928, October 5. Page 1: Thirty changes made in faculty during summer
- The Spectrum. 1928, October 16. Page 1: ‘Old grad’ band to be featured at homecoming
- The Spectrum. 1929, January 25. Page 1: Architects drawings to be shown here
- The Spectrum. 1930, January 28. Page 1: Huntoon chooses state glee club
- Fort Worth Record-Telegram. 1930, May 7. Page 12: Miss Wheatley is to be wed
- Fort Worth Record-Telegram. 1930, June 27. Page 8: Huntoons at lake retreat
- The Spectrum. 1931, December 8. Page 2: Sixteenth annual Christmas pageant presented Sunday
- The Spectrum. 1932, February 19. Page 1: Student commission gives colonial ball Saturday in festival
- The Spectrum. 1932, June 3. Page 1: College instructors continue education at home and abroad
- The Bismarck Tribune. 1932, July 21. Page 3: Wife of professor succumbs at Fargo
- The Des Moines Register. 1932, July 23. Page 3; Helen Huntoon rites to be Monday
- The Des Moines Register. 1932, July 25. Page 2: Huntoon rites set for today
- The Bismarck Tribune. 1934, November 20. Page 2: Architects praise Capitol structure
- The Des Moines Register. 1937, November 23. Page 12: Ceremony took place Oct. 17 in Minnesota
- News-Pilot. 1938, June 27. Page 5: Students’ work astonishes
- Los Angeles Evening Citizen News. 1939, October 17. Page 6: Designer chosen for Reinhardt production
- Reno Evening Gazette. 1962, May 9. Page 15: Homer Huntoon Reno architect designer passes away
- Email correspondence with Mary Holtey
- https://library.ndsu.edu/fargo-history/?q=content/first-presbyterian-church
- https://www.firstpresfargo.org/our-story
- https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/143522425/homer-brown-huntoon
- https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/70031421/helen-margaret-huntoon
- https://library.ndsu.edu/fargo-history/?q=content/north-dakota-agricultural-college-ndsu
