Ansten "Ole" Tretten

In 1950, when Ansten was four, his father drowned. Ansten’s mother remarried in 1955 and moved to Clatskanie, Oregon. Ansten and his brother Einar stayed behind in Norway and rejoined the family in 1958. Ansten was about 12 years old when he moved to Clatskanie and enrolled in school not knowing English.

Ansten attended Clatskanie High School and set the national record for Javelin in 1965 at 231 feet and 7 inches. He also excelled in football and basketball. In 1964, the family moved to Brazil (and later to Florida), but Ansten stayed behind in Clatskanie living with the Multanen family. He graduated in 1965 and received a full athletic scholarship to Oregon State University. However, he felt God calling him in a different direction and he left college to join the US Army in 1966 where he became a veterinary specialist. He rejoined his family in Florida after his two-year enlistment was completed.

Ansten first met Roberta Fyhrie in 1968 in Evanston, Illinois while traveling from Florida to Michigan for the ALC convention. They began dating and were married on April 5, 1969, at the Apostolic Lutheran Church of Lake Worth. They raised their 5 children in the Lake Worth area before moving to Katy Texas in 2020. Ansten and Roberta were married for 53 years.

In the mid 70’s, Ansten was called into the ministry and served as a lay preacher. He was called into full time minister and served the Lake Worth Apostolic Lutheran Church from 1999 to 2013. He was also a Central Board member of the ALCA for many years and went on mission trips to Africa, India, Haiti, and Guatemala. Ansten also spend many years ministering to recovering addicts around the Lake Worth area.

Ansten was preceded in death by his father Erling Tretten, mother Avilde Inget, brother Einar Tretten, daughter Christine Farley and grandson Timmy Sjolund. He is survived by his wife Roberta Tretten, his children Phillip Tretten of Lulea, Sweden, Rebecca Sjolund of Katy, Texas, Julie Rotegard of Kongsberg, Norway and Jeffrey Tretten of Omaha, Nebraska.

Ansten will be interred with military honors at the National Veterans Cemetery in Lake Worth, Florida on April 17, 2023.