Royal Olender Hovland, 86 of Powers Lake, ND passed away at his home on Sunday, March 15th. Springan Stevenson Funeral Home in Stanley, ND is assisting the family.
He was born in Lignite, ND to Cora and Norman Hovland Sr. on March 12, 1934. He graduated from Lignite High School in 1952. In December 1953, he entered the army. He married Felipa Machica on November 6, 1956 at the Soldiers Chapel Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. They moved to Minot where Royal was getting his BS in Music Education at Minot State College.

Royal taught in Berthold and Plaza before moving in the Fall of 1960 to Powers Lake to start teaching music where he remained for the rest of his life.
They raised their four daughters, Renette, Roberta, Rochelle, and Rosalani in Powers Lake and also their son, Randall who passed away in 1972.
Royal was a member of Holy Cross Lutheran Church where he served as Parish President from 1972-1978. He was very crucial to his church at that time as they needed his leadership to get them through some tough times finding a Pastor and staying on top of our finances. But what most people will remember most fondly about Royal and Holy Cross is the impromptu choir that he assembled and directed every Christmas Eve at the Candlelight Service. Many will remember that if you were a former student, he would pull you from the congregation up to the front to sing whether you wanted to or not.

He was also a member of our local Legion Auxiliary. He played taps for many Memorial Day ceremonies plus playing taps for any Veterans when they had passed away.
Royal was very proud of the music program that he had built and some of the awards and recognition he received throughout the years included:

• Outstanding Young Educator Award 1967
• State Governor Leadership Award 1968
• Stage Band 1974 Expo
• Disney World 1977
• Governor’s Band 1978
• ND Music Educator of the Year 1986
• Vocal and Instrumental Representative for MENC 1964-1966 and 1979-1981


After retiring from teaching, he remained dedicated to education and the education process by becoming a School Board Member in 2005 and was a member for 15 years.
Teaching music was not his only love however; Royal enjoyed performing music and his vocal group “The Generation Gap” performed widely and entertained many crowds all around our area. The group consisted of Royal, Pete Weist, Doug Eckert, and Kayo Grubb.

After the singing years came the brass years, he joined the Brass Band of Minot and enjoyed going to Minot to practice every Sunday and performing several times throughout the year. He enjoyed this activity because it also involved his fellow music teacher and brother Tilman.

The military is another huge influence in Royal’s life. He fought in the Korean War, where he received the purple heart, and joined the Army Reserve after being honorably discharged. He achieved the rank of Command Sargeant Major which is the highest rank you can achieve by a noncommissioned officer. It was during this time that he became an LPN to assist in his military career. He worked with the 311 General Hospital Medical Unit until he retired after 35 years of service.

In later years, the things that brought Royal the most joy, were when students stopped in to visit and reminisce, or when his boxers stopped in to talk about the time he took them to compete and they all left beating their opponents by TKO (technical knockouts). Also, he loved having his grandchildren and great grandchildren around him.

He is survived by his wife, Felipa (Faye) Hovland of Powers Lake; his daughter’s, Renette (Scott) Nordloef of Williston, ND, Roberta (Roger) Helseth of Powers Lake, ND, Rochelle (Cody) Irons of Halliday, ND and Lani (Tom) Lucy also of Powers Lake, ND; grandchildren, Ashley, Brittany, Chandell, Courtney, Nicholas, Keilani, Destiny, Konnor, Kalea and Liam; great grandchildren, Jadelyn, Tiegen, Kaegan, Koben, Kymbree, Cutter, Keiana, Aria, Huntlei, Paxton and Dekker; his brother, Tilman(Kay) Hovland of Rugby, ND, Beverly (Rodney) Hudson of Eau Claire, WI, and Cheryl Malkowski of Belfield, ND, numerous nephews and nieces, cousins and friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, his son, Randall; his daughter, Faith; his son-in-law, Craig; his brother, “Bud” Norman Hovland Jr., his father-in-law, Casiano Machica; his mother-in-law, Cipriana Machica and his sister-in-law, Rose Siarot.