Brought to America by his father, Johann Lager, at the age of eleven, Arvid spent his early years in Watertown, Minnesota. Arvid's mother, Kjersten, had passed away in 1897.

Arvid, as he grew to manhood, secured a job with the Russell Miller Milling Company and learned mechanical engineering on the job and thru a correspondence course. In 1909 he was offered a position as assistant engineer at the Valley City Mill. With this prospect, he married Mabel Anderson, a descendent of one of the first families to settle in the Chicago Lake area. They were married on December 24, 1909 at Range, Wisconsin. Her parents were John W. and Josephine Anderson.

In January of 1912 a daughter, Lorena Gertrude, was born. In 1914 Arvid was transferred to Grand Forks as Chief Engineer of the Mill there. Many visits were made to Valley City in their Oakland car to visit their many friends here.

Arvid Alexions Lager, born in October 1886, died in June 1943. Mabel, his wife, born April 1888, passed away in August 1972. Lorena Lager Thompson remembers the many friends the family made in Valley City.

Source: Barnes County History 1976 Page 134