Dustin Monke

Missing the ‘life of the party’: Dickinson businessman DJ Charbonneau remembered after cancer claims his life at 42

The happy hour crowd at Liquid Assets bar in Dickinson had a solemn tone for a few moments on Wednesday evening before giving way to laughter, backslapping and storytelling.

The atmosphere was just the way DJ Charbonneau would have liked it.

Charbonneau, the Dickinson businessman who co-owned both Charbonneau Car Center and Liquid Assets, died Wednesday morning at just 42 years old following a 15-month battle with cancer.

“There’ll never be another one like him,” said Brent Haugland, one of Charbonneau’s oldest friends.

Charbonneau, one of Dickinson’s most energetic and bombastic personalities, was diagnosed with appendix cancer in January 2015.

The extremely rare form of cancer initially affected Charbonneau’s appendix before spreading to his liver, colon and peritoneum — the thin layer of tissue covering abdominal organs and the abdominal cavity. Eventually, it reached his lungs and bones, his wife, Michelle, said on Wednesday.

“He was a fighter,” she said. “He was trying to beat it. He did everything he could. Everything. He kept saying, ‘I’m going to beat this.’”

In his final months, Michelle and many of DJ’s friends said he rarely revealed that his health was failing.

“As close as I was with him, he never really let on how he was feeling,” said Jason Fridrich, who co-owned Liquid Assets with Charbonneau. “… He never complained about it. You’d never know. He’d always still have a big smile on his face and we’d chat just like old times.”

Fridrich said one of his best memories happened last November when Charbonneau surprised him at his wedding in Arizona.

“He told me he wasn’t going to be able to make it,” Fridrich said, his voice breaking. “He ended up showing up in Arizona. He had a blast that night. It was so fun.”

Michelle laughed and said DJ was often the “life of the party,” even playing off his cancer for jokes.

She said he’d always tell her “Fireball kills cancer,” referring to the popular cinnamon-flavored whiskey and DJ’s drink of choice.

“When he went to Houston, they told him he couldn’t drink anymore,” she said. “And when things got worse, he said, ‘See, I told you, Fireball fights cancer.’”

Community leader

DJ and Terry Dvorak bought Charbonneau Car Center from DJ’s father, Don Charbonneau, in 2009. Dvorak said Friday that the dealership will remain in the Charbonneau family name “as long as I’m affiliated with it.”

“Don trusted (DJ) and I to carry on the legacy,” Dvorak said.

He said the dealership had seen “a lot of sadness” it the past few days, including from customers who he said would often come in just to see DJ and chat.

“He’s going to be missed,” Dvorak said.

That was made obvious online throughout the week as hundreds of condolence messages were posted to DJ’s Caring Bridge website, and throughout Dickinson’s Facebook community.

Fridrich’s post, “Heaven just became a better place. I am gonna miss you my friend,” was shared by more than 150 people.

“He was just loved by so many,” Michelle said. “The outpouring of people, it’s just crazy. Everybody just loved him. He loved life. He loved to enjoy life.”

DJ was heavily involved in the Dickinson community outside of his businesses.

He was a past exalted rule of the Dickinson Elks Lodge No. 1137 and remained president of the St. Joseph’s Hospital Foundation Board throughout his battle with cancer.

His legacy of giving back to his community will carry on through the Team DJ Memorial Fund, which is being set up to help cancer patients and families in the community.

Lasting memories

Friends and family said DJ lived life to the fullest in his final months.

He took several trips, including a family honeymoon trip to the Dominican Republic a year ago — which was initially supposed to be he and Michelle’s wedding trip. While doctoring in Houston in April, he was even able to watch the North Carolina Tar Heels — his favorite team — play in the NCAA men’s basketball national championship game.

“He always kept saying, ‘I’m going to keep fighting until there was no fight left,’” Fridrich recalled. “He knew he had the odds stacked against him, but he was stubborn. Until the last day, he said, I’m not going to quit.”

That stubborn streak was balanced out by DJ’s willingness to help others, his friends and family said.

Matty Lyons, who for several years was the manager of Liquid Assets, said he’ll never forget how DJ “took a chance” on him.

“He believed in you before you believed in yourself,” Lyons said Wednesday.

Lyons, sitting at the bar, pointed behind it and laughed about the time DJ — who Lyons said rarely meddled with the bar’s staff — jumped behind the bar to help on a night when a Liquid Assets customer bought more than 200 shots.

“It’s little things like that you don’t forget,” he said.

Haugland, who said he became better friends with DJ after they both moved back to Dickinson following college, sat next to the bar at Liquid Assets on Wednesday surrounded by friends and colleagues, all remembering DJ’s life.

Just a few feet away, the usual spot at the far end of the bar where DJ often perched sat empty.

Haugland looked ahead quietly and did his best to hold his feelings together.

“He’s one of those people who could always make you laugh, no matter what,” he said. “Always there to cheer you up when you needed him. Always there to laugh and joke. I had a lot of fun times with him. I’ll never forget him.”

DJ Charbonneau’s funeral is at noon Monday at Stevenson Funeral Home with a prayer service at 4 p.m. Sunday. Visitation at the funeral home will be held from 1-7 p.m. Sunday and from 9 a.m to noon Monday.

Hoeven, fertilizer dealers oppose anhydrous restrictions

North Dakota politicians and agriculture leaders say a “reinterpretation” of U.S. Department of Labor rules may lead to one-third of North Dakota’s fertilizer retailers eliminating anhydrous ammonia sales.

U.S. Sen. John Hoeven said he is working with the state’s Department of Agriculture, producer organizations and fertilizer sales dealers to kill the proposed change that would hold 275 small fertilizer retailers in the state and around 3,800 nationwide to the same standards as much larger warehouse wholesalers, thereby raising costs for the retailers and, in turn, farmers.

Hoeven said around 90 North Dakota fertilizer retailers have stated they’d be likely to eliminate anhydrous ammonia sales if the new standards are put in place. Anhydrous ammonia is the primary nitrogen fertilizer used by North Dakota farmers.

Ron Kessel, a sales representative at Helena Chemical in New England, said while his company wouldn’t have to eliminate anhydrous sales, “it would change how we do business.”

Last July, the Occupational Safety & Health Administration released a memorandum titled “Process Safety Management of Highly Hazardous Chemicals and Application of the Retail Exemption,” detailing its revised interpretation of rules for exempting retail fertilizer facilities from the same standards larger fertilizer warehouses are held to. According to the memorandum, the change is tied to President Barack Obama’s executive order to improve chemical facility safety and security following the West, Texas, explosion in April 2013.

“You’ve got people out here trying to farm — it’s a tough time for farmers because of low commodity prices — and they come out with these rules and regulations and say it’ll cost a couple thousands, and that’s not true at all,” Hoeven said.

Gary Knutson, executive director of the North Dakota Agricultural Association, said he’s still waiting for answers for why the changes are necessary, as well as a breakdown of costs associated with the proposed changes.

“Bottom line is, we’re looking for answers yet,” Knutson said.

Hoeven said OSHA and the Department of Labor haven’t been transparent with the costs that would be associated with storage improvements southwest North Dakota retailers would need to make to be in compliance with the reinterpreted rules.

OSHA documents state the cost, on average, would only be around $2,100 per facility. But Hoeven and others vehemently dispute that.

The senator said OSHA denied a freedom of information request sent by state Agriculture Commissioner Doug Goehring’s office asking about details for how it came to the $2,100 figure.

“That’s not right,” Hoeven said. “It’s going to cost them more than 10 times that.”

Delane Thom, the general manager for CHS Southwest Grain near Taylor, said he figures his company would have to spend more than $100,000 to upgrade its nine anhydrous ammonia distribution sites, and that’s “just the tip of the iceberg.” He added he’ll have a more concrete idea of how much his company would be spending after a third-party assesses its locations for compliance changes.

Should the regulations go through, Thom said Southwest Grain would have no choice but to pass the costs on to farmers, and said discussions would be had about closing some of its satellite anhydrous locations.

“That’s not our intent, but we’ve just got to make a business decision at that point and see if it feasibly makes any sense,” Thom said.

Kessel and other North Dakota’s fertilizer retailers say they already have strict regulations on how they must store and distribute hazardous materials, and the new regulations would force them to pass additional costs along to farmers and producers.

“We want all of employees and our farmers in our local communities to be safe,” he said. “We’re very concerned and cognitive of that. We don’t know that these additional regulations are going to make it any safer without adding a bunch of additional costs to it.”

Kessel said another area of safety concern being raised by retailers is that if some satellite anhydrous retail sites around the state were to close because of the new regulations, it’d create a more direct hazard because many farmers would be putting anhydrous tanks on the road for longer periods of time.

Under North Dakota law, the heavy anhydrous tanks cannot be hauled at more than 25 mph.

“If you actually have nurse tanks being pulled that much further and through that much traffic, I think it’s going to add some safety concerns,” he said.

Thom said he could foresee farmers — some of whom have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into purchasing their own anhydrous tanks — moving away from anhydrous ammonia and toward urea as their primary nitrogen fertilizer. However, he said, farmers need to use twice as much urea for it to have the same effect as anhydrous ammonia, which could add more costs to his and other businesses.

Hoeven wrote a letter to U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez on April 28 addressing his concerns. North Dakota Rep. Kevin Cramer in March was part of a bipartisan group of 41 members of Congress who requested the 2017 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education appropriations bill prevent using federal funds to implement new regulations on anhydrous ammonia facilities throughout the nation.

Hoeven said he’s likely to put a provision preventing the anhydrous ammonia regulations from being implemented in the Department of Labor’s 2017 funding bill.

“I’ll put legislation in to stop it if I have to,” he said.

Rural Stark County Development’s Gravel Roads a Concern

Stark County’s road superintendent and a homeowner at a rural development north of Gladstone told county commissioners Tuesday during their regular meeting at the county courthouse that something must be done to alleviate gravel road problems in the seven-home community.

Al Heiser stood beside rural resident Mathew Rothstein as they spoke about road concerns in the Bakken Estates development located off Highway 10 about 10 miles east of Dickinson.

Rothstein showed the commission several photos he took of deep washouts — some as deep as 5 feet — alongside gravel roads within the development.

“It keeps on wearing out and washing back in, wearing out and washing back in,” Rothstein said.

Continue reading “Rural Stark County Development’s Gravel Roads a Concern”

City Sales Tax Income Weighs Heavy in Stark Development’s Request for Funding

A body the city of Dickinson helps fund through sales tax dollars got a cool response to its scheduled funding request during Monday’s City Commission meeting at City Hall.

Stark Development Corp. Executive Vice President Gaylon Baker gave a 35-minute presentation on the benefits his organization has had on the area before, during and after the oil boom.

However, Dickinson city commissioners had a tempered response when Baker asked for two more years of continued funding of $750,000 in city sales tax dollars — which is how the city currently helps fund Stark Development — with increases of $50,000 in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Baker’s figures, which culminated in a request of $900,000 for 2021, came with the caveat that sales tax income allows the city to do that.

Continue reading “City Sales Tax Income Weighs Heavy in Stark Development’s Request for Funding”

Coaches: It’s cool to be like Carson

Dickinson Trinity football coach John Odermann watches Carson Wentz and sees a professional football player he has no problem with his players emulating.

Odermann is one of many North Dakota high school coaches who appreciate the former North Dakota State quarterback’s humility, and the way he carries himself publically and wears his religious views on his sleeve. Most of all, he hopes his players and others throughout the state are paying close attention to Wentz’s character as he begins his NFL career with the Philadelphia Eagles.

In an age where professional athletes are under a microscope with character flaws exposed and amplified through both social and traditional media, Wentz has shown the ability to rise above and stand apart from all that.

The Eagles selected Wentz second overall in the NFL Draft Thursday night in Chicago — the highest pick ever for both an FCS-level player and a North Dakotan.

Even if he doesn’t turn out to be an NFL star, Odermann and others are hopeful Wentz can become someone the youngest generation of football fans — particularly those in North Dakota — want to emulate.

Why? Because it’s cool to be like Carson.

“Carson Wentz stands for a lot of things that I really encourage a lot of my kids to stand for,” Odermann said. “He’s a good man, first and foremost. Being a good man is more important than being a good football player. From all accounts, Carson Wentz is a good football player and a good man.”

It’s likely that if Wentz indeed does become a star, many of the North Dakota’s youngest generation will grow up as Eagles fans in Vikings, Packers and Broncos households. At the very least, a lot of people across the state now have a second-favorite team.

Though he’s not an Eagles fan, that sits just fine with Mandan High School football coach Todd Sheldon, a Regent native who coached against Wentz’s Century High School teams. Sheldon said he already uses Wentz as an example of how players should carry themselves on and off the field.

“When you see guys in the NFL making mistakes and doing things they shouldn’t do, trying to bring attention to themselves … he’s been an athlete that’s about the team, being a part of the team, what it means to be a part of a team, how you carry yourself as part of a team — all of things are qualities that are hard to instill in kids without being a positive role model,” Sheldon said.

NFL Network draft analyst Mike Mayock went even further than that a week ago during a conference call, saying Wentz has “folk hero” potential should he find success in the league. He’s not worried about Wentz going to the play in front of notoriously harsh Eagles fans and media, either.

“If you’re talking about having a passion and being the face of a franchise, this is the kid,” Mayock said. “I do believe he’ll handle Philadelphia, because he’ll work so hard and be so humble. I think the blue-collar Philly fans are going to love him.”

Wentz’s story — going from being a once-undersized and then overlooked high school player to a college backup before finally growing into the national star — will likely be used by coaches throughout North Dakota as inspirational fodder for years to come.

“There’s just so many great, phenomenal layers you can take and apply as a coach to the Carson Wentz story,” Odermann said. “It’s just great that we have that ability to do that here in North Dakota. And I think it adds a couple dimensions to it, the fact that is he from North Dakota.”

Then there are those who believe the spotlight placed on Wentz throughout the leadup to the draft may also eventually lead to college coaches from across the nation paying closer attention to North Dakota’s often overlooked top high school football players, who like Wentz, typically end up at NDSU or the University of North Dakota. A rare few leave the state for bigger opportunities.

“He’ll help raise the level of play of football and caliber of football in North Dakota,” Odermann said. “I think that’s one of the reasons people are so excited about Carson Wentz. It does so many things for us as a state, in terms of being taken seriously on an athletic level, on a sports level. When you have a guy like that come from a small state that hasn’t had any real stars … I hope it all pans out. Even if it doesn’t, the fact that this happens shines a good light on the things going on in North Dakota.”

Nate Moody, a Dickinson native who was one of Wentz’s receivers for the Bison the past five years, said he thinks there’s a chance — however slim — that something like this can happen again. Someday.

“I don’t know how far into the future,” Moody said with a laugh. “Probably a long ways. Just to be a high school kid playing in North Dakota, first of all, is really tough to get any kind of exposure. Carson is a prime example of that. … Fargo was his best solid offer.”

Now that the draft hype is over, North Dakotans will start following his NFL journey.

One of them is state Rep. Mike Schatz, who coached New England-Regent to four 9-man state football championships before retiring. Schatz said he foresees households across the state following Wentz throughout his NFL career. His included, he said. Every week. Regardless of if Wentz is starting for the Eagles or not.

“It’s going to be huge for the entire state, because every time he puts on the helmet and plays, we’re going to be watching,” Schatz said.