| Vol. 3, No. 49 | Page 5 | Dec. 3, 1954 |
(EDITORS NOTE: This story is the first of a series which will be published from time to time about people living at Igloo who THE WALRUS believes you should know better. If you have someone to suggest who has an interesting hobby, held unusual jobs or has experienced incidents in their life which you believe would be of interest to others why not call Mrs. Torkelson, who is writing these features.)
FOUND: A contented man! A man who is completely satisfied with his lot in life. He is happy in his work, likes his associates and his surroundings and thinks Igloo is an ideal place to live. "The government owes me nothing - it has been good to me" are the words of Daniel Van Goodman, well-known local policeman.
This jolly man with the rotund, Santa Claus-like shape has earned his life of contentment through his service for others. He has lived for boys - not just his own four sons, but literally hundreds of others. As disciplinarian and athletic director at Flandreau, Waupeton and Standing Rock Indian schools, he was responsible for up to three hundred boys at one time. He was their counselor and guide on anything ranging from washing their ears to big moral issues. He can feel that he had a great part in developing character and manhood in these many young men. More than thirty years later he still wistfully thinks of individual youngsters and wonders if there might not have been a better way of handling some of their problems.
It is hard to determine if Van's greatest love is boys or athletics. Both have featured throughout his entire life. He has participated in baseball, football and track, and has been semi-professional. He attended coaching school at Notre Dame with Knute Rockne. He has managed the Igloo Junior Junior baseball team for nine years. His athletic prowess has been handed down to his sons who have been great assets to the local team. As Scout Master for 12 years, he again worked with boys.
His mother, a Chippewa, and his father of the Ottiwa tribe, Van is "all American" and justifiably proud of his heritage. He attended the University of Minnesota where he majored in athletics, and he also attended a Detective Training School in Washington, D. C. His greatest wish is that his sons may graduate for the U as professional majors.
This patriotic citizen enlisted in both the Mexican War and World War I where he served in the infantry in Germany and France.
He has over thirty-five years of service for Uncle Sam, including army time, work at Indian schools, hospital administration, grave registration and as a probation officer, in addition to his 13 years here with the guard force.
As a commissioned prohibition officer at Standing Rock, he worked with James Capone, the famous Two Gun Hart, brother of notorious Al Capone.
For thirty-one years Van has been a member of the Masonic Lodge. He also belongs to the United Mexican Border Veterans, the American Legion, the National Congress of American Indians of both South and North America, and is at present the commander of the local VFW post.
A recent hobby is golf. As his wife tells him, when a man gets too old to chase women, he chases a little ball across the grass!
| Vol. 3, No. 7 | Page 3 | Feb. 12, 1954 |
Veteran Igloo Police Captain, Daniel Van Goodman, a member of BHOD's Guard Force since its inception, was honored this week by the Depot's Veteran of Foreign Wars for his work with kids' baseball teams. The father of three athletic-minded sons, Dan, Jr., 17; Herbert, 15; and Cedric, 12, all of whom are outstanding young athletes, Dan Senior has been interested in promoting kids' sports for years. For the past six years he has managed the VFW-sponsored Junior-Junior baseball teams and is shown receiving a bronze plaque from Wilfred LaPlante, Commander of Igloo's Patrick Varvel Post, No. 3530, VFW, in appreciation of his unstinted efforts on behalf of the community's kids. At far left is John B. Sweeney, BHOD Civilian Executive assistant, and at right is Frank Vermillion, the VFW Post Adjutant.
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