Keith Edward Snortland

Keith Edward Snortland was born on November 25, 1949, in McVille, ND the son of Edward and Aleda Snortland. Keith attended Tolna High School and graduated in 1967. He was involved in all the sports offered with the highlight being the starting catcher on the 1966 Class B High School Baseball Championship team. He was able to fit his participation in high school sports and summer baseball in between working on his father’s farm. After high school Keith attended NDSU where he lettered in baseball (the Bison were NCC Champions and NCAA Regional Runners up in 1969) and he was a member of the Theta Chi Fraternity. After graduation he served as House Father for one year. Keith graduated from NDSU in 1972 after student teaching at the John F Kennedy International School in Berlin Germany. Keith traveled in Europe and visited his roots at Snortland Norway. While in college Keith was grooming himself for a lifelong opportunity to teach and coach by coaching and teaching at Warwick, Chaffee, Enderlin, F/M Parochial Schools ((St. Mary’s, St Francis, and St Anthony’s) and the West Fargo Legion Team.

The rest of the story…..Keith spent the majority of his teaching and coaching career at Warwick. He coached boys and girls basketball and boys baseball. He was the District 16 boys Coach of the Year in 1986, 87, and 88. In1996 Warwick’s Cinderella basketball team won the Region 4 title that earned them a trip to the state tournament. Keith coached the West Fargo Legion Team from 1977-1985. In1981 the Patriots won the ND Class A title, the first in the team’s history. The Patriots were elevated to Class AA in 1982 and finished third in the state tournament. Keith received the West Fargo Legion’s Distinguished Service award in 2016. Keith coached four different Sr. Babe Ruth teams to four State Championships and one runner up. He coached his alma-mater, Tolna to a state championship in 1994 and was named ND High School Coach of the Year. Keith was Region baseball Coach of the Year in 1993, 94, and 95.

Keith coached Babe Ruth, Legion, High School and Jr. College baseball at Tolna, Chaffee, Enderlin, Warwick, McVille, Devils Lake, Lakota, Munich, and Fargo. Keith’s baseball coaching career started in the summer of 1969 and concluded in the summer of 2010 when he was selected as Fargo Babe Ruth Coach of the year. He coached over a thousand games in 40+ years.. He was a member of the ND Athletic Directors and lifetime member of the ND High School Coaches Association. Two of Keith’s most special accolades were being inducted into the Tolna Sports Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Christian Sports Commission Hall of Fame in 2008. Keith’s greatest legacy will be the positive impact he had on hundreds of young students and athletes and for his kind, gentle, loving spirit he imparted on every human he met.

Keith started a new Chapter in his life in 2007 when he moved to Fargo. He worked for the Fargo Youth Commission and Head Start and umped, reffed and coached his way around Fargo Moorhead and beyond. He met Joan Larson in 2007, and they were married on September 5, 2009. They traveled from Seattle to New York City and from Las Vegas to Fort Meyers and several places in-between. And of course he was a huge Bison, Twins and Vikings fan. He couldn’t wait for Spring to start his ad sales for the ND Hoopster Basketball Preview. Keith is survived by his wife, Joani, Matt Larson (Joan Beckman) and Iris, his sister Louise (Phil) Hall (who as her big brother was her rock) and his beloved nieces Heather (Carl) Hermanson and baby Louise and Emmalee (Allan) Nota. He was proceeded in death by his parents (He adored his mom and called his dad his hero) and his brother Lee who he teased relentlessly but loved dearly. And his sisters and brothers-in-law Maria (Jerry) Stokka and Teresa (Dave) Osten and his cousins.

Keith died peacefully on April 1, 2025, in the loving care of SMP St. Catherines South.

A service to remember and celebrate Keith's life will be held Friday, April 11, 2025, at 4:00pm at West Funeral Home in West Fargo, ND. Visitation with the family will be held one hour prior, with a reception to follow. Services will be made available via recording, following services. 

In lieu of flowers, the family of Keith asks that you please consider making a donation to the Boys & Girls Club of the RRV or to West Fargo Legion Baseball. A Clickable link and information to make a memorial donation may be found below. 

Boys & Girls Club of the RRV

West Fargo Youth Baseball

PO Box 295 
West Fargo, North Dakota 58078

Services: 4:00pm Friday, April 11, 2025, with visitation 1 hour prior (3:00pm-4:00pm), West Funeral Home, West Fargo, ND.

West Funeral Home & Life Tribute Center

westfuneralhome.com

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Keith Edward Snortland, please visit our floral store.