Hamilton "Ham" Granlund

August 30, 1934 – January 9, 2016

81 years

Hamilton "Ham" David Granlund, 81 years old, passed away from natural causes at his residence on January 9, 2016. He was born August 30, 1934 in De Lamere, ND to Mildred (Snellman) and Walter Granlund. He was the second of seven children (ValRae, Walter Jr., Marilyn, Sharon, Royce and Ronald) and is survived by his brother Royce.

Ham grew up on the family farm and attended school in De Lamere. After graduation, he joined the US Army in 1953 and served during the Korean War. After discharge, he returned to North Dakota and entered Interstate Business College in Fargo. He worked as an accountant and taught ballroom dancing at Arthur Murray Dance Studio. He used David Hamilton, as his professional name.

Ham soon met his future wife Carol Lunos and they married August 9, 1957. He was a talented handyman and could build just about anything. Along with his father-in-law Ben, and wife Carol, they built their first home in Moorhead, MN. They were the only ones on their block with their own "snowblower". He made a small tractor, similar to a riding lawn mower, with an attached snow shovel. No snow shoveling for Ham!

Ham's job eventually brought them and their family to Minneapolis, MN and Dallas, TX. Ham and Carol raised four children (Lynn, Tami, Michael, and David). He worked in accounting and business for over thirty-five years. He was a hard worker and was very proud of his children. Sadly, he was preceded in death by his son, Michael (1976). He is survived by Lynn (granddaughter Josie), Tami (Earl), and David.

Ham was always working on handmade projects and tinkering with cars. He enjoyed road trips and camping with his family in homemade trailers and converted school buses. They traveled throughout the United States and Canada. Much of those trips were viewed through the eye of a camera. Ham loved to take pictures, particularly movie pictures. He rigged up a brace on the car dashboard to keep the movie camera still, so that he could film while driving. Amazingly, it worked! He was a man before his time. Ham advanced from splicing together 8mm movie tapes to using modern-day cameras with computer editing.

He was active in the Norwegian Society of Dallas and was videographer at his church. Ham was interested in anything having to do with airplanes and enjoyed traveling with family and friends. They traveled throughout Europe and visited family in Norway. He had an extensive collection of Air Force and Flying magazines.

Ham was an accomplished dancer. He enjoyed square dancing, ballroom and swing dancing and won several awards. He was an active member of the Texas Reelers Square Dancing Club, where he held the office of president and he was also editor of the newsletter.

Ham moved to Seattle, WA and proudly worked at the Hearing, Speech & Deafness Center, finally retiring in 2010 at 75 years old. He was active in the ballroom and swing dancing community. He enjoyed watching "Dancing with the Stars" and recalled dancing with some of the professional dancers. He was a long time West Coast Swing dancer and frequented the club and China Harbor. He put together a lot of the club and Easter Swing photo albums. Ham was editor of the Seattle Swing Dance Club newsletter and the club photographer. He was known as "Ham the Dancing Man".

A stroke and other health problems six and a half years ago, slowed him down a bit, but he attributed his recovery to the good muscle tone he had from years of dancing. He wanted to teach dance to people in wheelchairs to help in their recovery. He had heart valve surgery in 2010 and the doctor asked him if he wanted a bovine or porcine heart valve and Ham said, " With a name like Ham, a pig valve of course".

In the last two and a half years, as his health declined, he moved to Laguna Hills, CA to be near his daughter Lynn, and granddaughter Josie. Ham enjoyed being near his family. Whatever difficulties or disappointments life brought, he never complained. He always had a smile and a hug for Josie, who called him, "Papa". He is loved and will be missed by his family and friends.

Thank you to the medical staff and caregivers of Laguna Hills Health and Rehabilitation Center and Saddleback Hospital for their wonderful care.

Ham will be laid to rest at Immanuel Cemetery south of De Lamere, ND.

Memorial services to be announced.

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