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Submitted: 11/10/10 • Approved: 6/3/13 • Last Updated: 8/13/15 • R83370-G0-S3
1890 - 1961
Henry Theodore Aker was born to Gertrude and George Aker in their pioneer homestead home near Colton, SD. He was the third of their seven children. Grace and Henry Aker moved to Canton, SD where they were to reside for the next 45 years on their wedding day Oct. 12, 1916. The wedding ceremony was in the home of the bride's parents, Knute and Emma Thoreson, near Soldier, Iowa where Knute had homesteaded in the year 1868. Ida Grace, the youngest of 11 children, was born in their farm home on July 17, 1893. Grace and Henry met as students at Augustana College which was then located in Canton, SD. They graduated in 1911. Grace from the Normal School Course and Henry from the Academic Course. Henry taught in a country school in Minehaha County for one year after which he attended and graduated from the Northwestern University College of Dentistry in Chicago. In 1917 Dr. Aker was called into military service. He served in the U.S. Army until Armistice Day 1918. While in the service at Fort Dodge, Iowa he received considerable experience doing X-ray work at the Fort Dodge Hospital. X-ray was very primitive by today's standards but was then a miraculous development in diagnostic procedure. Upon returning to Canton he purchased an X-ray machine and for many years did the X-ray work for patients of the local doctors and dentists. Dr. Aker served on the Canton School Board for 12 years. He was appointed by Governor Sigurd Anderson to the State Board of Dental Examiners in 1951 and in 1955 was reappointed to the dental board by Governor Joe Foss. Always an enthusiastic booster of Canton and the Lincoln County area he was an active member of many community organizations. He enjoyed golfing and promoted the development of the present Hiawatha Golf Course. In the mid-thirties he served as president of the Sioux Valley Ski Association.
Henry and Grace's daughter Eloise was born in 1920 in the home at 208 E. 2nd St. where they lived for over 40 years.
Contributed on 11/10/10 by revilo
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Record #: 83370