Spiridio's Spirit: Baker Boy accountant and Rwanda genocide survivor details 'remarkable' journey and success

Note: This is the first in a series of employee features I'll be writing on Baker Boy employees. These are stories of our everyday people who share the common vision of improving our company and telling its story and their own.

DICKINSON, N.D. -- From the Country of a Thousand Hills to the prairies of western North Dakota, few Baker Boy employees have lived a life like Spiridio Turikumana. And far fewer have worked in as many areas of the company as him.

Baker Boy’s cost accountant grew up in Rwanda. He was only 8 years old when the Rwandan genocide occurred in 1994.

The genocide against the Tutsi people claimed the lives of 1 million people, including Spiridio’s mother, 3-year-old sister, his grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. About half of his family was killed in the genocide before it was ended by Paul Kagame, commander of the Rwandan Patriotic Front who then became Rwanda’s president.

“It was a really difficult time, even after the genocide as everything we had was taken or destroyed,” Spiridio said, adding that before the genocide against the Tutsi ended, he never knew if he’d live to see the next day.

“After all these struggles, I moved on and thrived to work hard and live happy.”

He attended primary school and high school in Rwanda before attending National University of Rwanda to study economics. In 2010, Spiridio said he started “a new chapter in my life” by moving to the United States without his family. He first lived Salt Lake City and Park City, Utah, before moving to Dickinson.

He went to work for Baker Boy in 2012.

“I had the opportunity to work and to go back to college at the same time,” he said.

Spiridio, 34, began working for Baker Boy as a production technician (working as a mixer, operator and in packaging), then became a sanitation technician, and eventually moved up sanitation team leader. All the while, he took classes at Dickinson State University and did a business administration internship at Baker Boy. During this time, he also worked in quality assurance and scheduling.

Undoubtedly the biggest year of his life came in 2017 – a year Spiridio calls “remarkable.” That year, Spiridio graduated from DSU with a degree in accounting and business administration, obtained his U.S. citizenship certificate, was offered his current job as Baker Boy’s cost accountant and welcomed his first child, daughter Skylar.

“Baker Boy is like a family to me because is one of the places where I have spent most of my time since 2012, and I feel happy to be here,” Spiridio said. “I am blessed to be part of Baker Boy family, and I have been successful in my career in this company.Among his many continuing learning ventures for the company, Spiridio recently completed Dale Carnegie Training courses, in which he earned the Overall Business Application Project Award and his session’s Outstanding Performance award. He’s also OSHA and Food Safety Essentials certified

He lives in Dickinson, with his wife Concilie, now 2-year-old Skylar and 6-month-old son, Aviel. Spiridio is also part-owner of Safari CarShine auto detailing, through which he enjoys working hard to benefit community programs and charities. He’s also a member of Rotary International, is an avid soccer fan and speaks five languages – English, French, Swahili, Kirundi and Kinyarwanda. He also enjoys playing soccer, reading about sports, and traveling with his family and friends.

“I’ve found Dickinson as a valuable community and it’s where I’m going to settle my family,” Spiridio said. “I hope to get involved and better serve my community.”