It’s not uncommon for a newspaper to highlight a local citizen turning 100 years old. But the centenarian featured in The Fargo Forum on this date in 1994 held a special place in the hearts of people across North Dakota. Mable Leet Guy was the mother of William L. Guy Jr., North Dakota's longest-serving governor.
Mable Leet was born in 1894 in Webster, North Dakota, to Norwegian immigrant homesteaders. In high school, she played basketball in a knee-length bloomer dress, and in 1915 she graduated from the North Dakota Agricultural College, now NDSU, with a degree in home economics. After teaching in her hometown of Webster, she married William Guy Sr. in 1918. The couple had met while attending college.
William Sr. worked as an extension agent in Devils Lake and Fargo before managing the 26,000-acre Chaffee Bonanza Farm near Amenia. There, Mable raised their three sons: William Jr., James, and John.
Farm life ended abruptly when William Sr. died in 1942 at just 51. It was an agonizing time for Mable. Just months before her husband's death, her middle son, James, had been reported missing while serving in the Navy in the Pacific. He had, in fact, survived the sinking of his ship, but tragically died in 1943 in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp. Her other two sons also joined the Navy and, fortunately, both returned home safely from the war.
Widowed, Mable moved to Grand Forks. Though never particularly drawn to politics, she threw herself into her son's career after he was elected to the state legislature in 1958. Two years later, William Guy Jr. was elected governor, ultimately serving four terms and 12 years in office. Mable worked tirelessly on his behalf and for the Democratic-NPL Party, making thousands of campaign phone calls, attending every state party convention, serving on election boards, and volunteering hundreds of hours with the United Hospital Auxiliary in Grand Forks.
When Mable reflected on her first century of life in that 1994 interview, she was living with her son William in Fargo, marveling at her own longevity. At 80, she had hoped for just 10 more years. She would live 26 more. Mable died in 2001 at age 106, having lived in parts of three centuries.
Sources:
Author Unknown. “John Leet Guy,” https://www.hofffuneral.com/obituaries/john-leet-guy, accessed July 24, 2026.
Author Unknown. “Mable Guy,” https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/bismarcktribune/name/mable-guy-obituary?id=51223755, accessed July 24, 2026.
Author Unknown. “William Guy of Amenia, Agricultural Leader, Dies,” The Fargo Forum, May 7, 1942, pg. 1.
Eriksmoen, Curt. “Battle-Test WWII Officer Served Longer than Anyone Else as Governor of ND,” The Fargo Forum, October 21, 2023, pg. D2.
Eriksmoen, Curt. “The Election of this Democratic Governor Changed the Political Color of North Dakota from Bright Red to Pink,” The Fargo Forum, November 1, 2023, pg. C9.
Von Pinnon, Matthew. “Mother Knows Best,” The Fargo Forum, July 29, 1994, pg. C1.