Ted and Hazel Didier…Rock hounds and history buffs

By Eva Hallam Solberg

Published in PCN September 17, 1981

Hazel met Ted Didier when she was “just a kid.” They became romantically involved only after she had been away to Wyoming, taught a year, and came back to Saco to visit friends. They celebrated their 55^th wedding anniversary on the first of July 1981.

Frenchman born in Norwegian town

Theodore Didier was born in Olga, N.D., on Aug. 3, 1893. He was one of eight boys born to French parents, Antoine and Febronnie Lederoute Didier, in Olga, N.D”., the town with the Norwegian name. Ted spoke nothing but French until he learned English in school.

His knowledge of French came in handy during World War I. He had joined the National Guard, then signed over to the Regular Army in 1917. Being ill at the time his outfit was sent overseas, he was left behind until later. He became the interpreter to find housing for the troops in France, and also guarded prisoners behind the front lines. He didn’t see action at the front, but went up there to “see what was going on.” While on leave he visited the birthplace of his father at Chambre, Savoire, France, but could find no relatives.

After nineteen months in France, he returned to North Dakota. With other young men, he came to Montana in 1919 and looked for a homestead. One fellow was too young to homestead, so Ted bought his relinquishment of 320 acres near where the town of Whitewater now stands.

Read the rest of the story in "Looking Back Again: Life Stories from the Prairies of Montana"
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