James Thomas Hegland was born on May 19, 1927 in Kragero Township, Chippewa County to Nels T. and Thelma S. Mikkelson Hegland. He attended country school through eighth grade and graduated Appleton High School in 1945.James attended the University of Minnesota and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Soil Science in 1950. He was part of a group of young men who initiated the Farm House Fraternity Chapter on the University of Minnesota Campus.James taught Veterans Agriculture in Trimont, MN until he was drafted into the Army in January of 1951, and served until 1953. In 1954, James married Phyllis Haskell. The couple moved to Ortonville where James was the first US Soil Conservation Representative assigned to Big Stone County to assist the Soil Conservation District. Starting in January 1957, the couple spent three years in Tehran, Iran where James was an advisor to the Shah of Iran in an agricultural community development project.James and Phyllis returned to the USA in 1960, and he completed a Master of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from the University of Minnesota in 1962. They moved back to rural Appleton and James took over the family farm - and loved every day of farm life.James was a life-long member of Minnesota Valley Lutheran Church and served on the Boards of Directors for Pioneer Public Television, the Minnesota Corn Growers Association, the Minnesota Soy Bean Growers Association, and the Irrigators Association of Minnesota. He enjoyed his family, his friends, and the wildlife in his neighborhood.James died on November 8, 2009, at the age of 82 years and 5 months. He is survived by his wife Phyllis, four children - Jon of Minneapolis, Jane (and Steve Will) of Brookings SD, Mary (and Dan Gusaas) of Alexandria, and Ed (and Dawn) of Appleton, and six grandchildren - Anna, Dalton, and Lydia Gusaas and Grace, Evan, and Elias Hegland, one sister - Verna (and Cecil) Bahl of Faribault, one brother-in-law, Verner E. Johnson, of Benson, and seven nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his sister, Alfrieda Johnson.
