Joris O. Wigen

Judge Wigen was born near Austin, Minnesota on August 9, 1883. He received his early education in the Mower County schools and Jewel Academy at Jewel, Iowa, and later attended the Red Wing Seminary, Red Wing, Minnesota, where he received a B. A. degree in 1907. The following years he spent at the University of Minnesota, where he graduated with a law degree in 1910. Admitted to the Minnesota State Bar, June, 1910 and North Dakota State Bar, December, 1910. Shortly thereafter he moved to Bucyrus, North Dakota, where he engaged in the practice of law. He moved to Hettinger, North Dakota, where he served as Mayor and entered into the banking business, which he continued until 1931. He was a member of the North Dakota House of Representatives in 1929 and 1931. On July 1, 1946 he was appointed Judge of the Sixth Judicial District by Governor Fred G. Aandahl, he served in that capacity until 1958. Judge Wigen died in Phoenix, Arizona, on March 26, 1958, as a result of a traffic accident.