Annual Update -- Christmas, 2023

December 9, 2023

Bruce and May Oksol

____ Brazos Blvd Apt ___
Euless, TX 76039


Hi, guys, binary and non-binary,

Just a short note to update you.

Bruce and May are still doing well in north Texas. Both are in good health. Bruce is 72 years old and May is 29.

May has become quite the accomplished painter with more friends in Dallas than she thought she would ever have. Pretty amazing after all these years.

Bruce lives and breathes biking and blogging. Google themilliondollarway oksol.

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Daughter Kiri, son-in-law Josh, and their three daughters all doing well, here in north Texas, also.

Kiri lives and breathes paddle boarding. She participated in her first-ever 31-mile (actually 33 miles) paddle boarding race on the Tennessee River this fall, the Chattajack. First-time ever for her. 772 participants with a waiting list of 200 who did not race. Google Chattajack. Click on Results, 2023, scroll to 7 hours 43 minutes, or thereabouts.

Arianna is in her third year at Vanderbilt, Nashville, TN, majoring in government policy, secondary eduction, or something along those lines. I can’t keep up.

Olivia is a senior in high school. Olivia, as a junior in high school was captain of her high school soccer team that took the Texas championship last spring. Her robotics team competed at the state level (I never figured out how they did; what medals they won) and she soloed during the summer participating in a USAF-sponsored program with 30 hours of flying time. She has a USAF-ROTC scholarship to the college of her choice. TBD.

Sophia, nine years old and a fourth grader spends as much time at our apartment as she does at her parents’. Sophia and Bruce have converted one of Bruce’s two geographically-separated garages into a “Bat Cave.” The Bat Cave’s location is undisclosed. Awesome.

Sophia has won a gold, silver, and bronze medal at jiu-jitsu tournaments in Dallas. Her lack of a “killer-instinct” will limit her chances toward national / international fame but her South Korean instructor says he can change that. Limited soccer activity this year but she will follow her older sister in soccer success. She will likely become a soccer player - coach..

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Daughter Laura, son-in-law Tim, and their twins Judah and Levi, at age 3.75 years (birthdays in March) are doing well in Portland, Oregon. May and I try to visit every other month, traveling separately to maximize the time the grandsons see us.

Tim is building cutting-edge Class 8 electric Cascadias and the Freightliner eM2 in one of only two world-class truck factories in the US. He occasionally has one parked in the  front of his house.

Laura runs a sweat shop turning out highly sought after jeans, jackets, and Covid masks for toddlers, and purses for adults. She has several state-of-the-art programmable sewing machines as well as traditional Singers for her two employees. It appears the younger employee, Judah, will have as his high school science project the process involved to develop a sewing machine oil optimized for the high-humidity Pacific Northwest market.

Levi? He seems to be more grounded, more interested in high-tech Duplo (Lego) trains.


And that’s the annual update.

Bruce and May Oksol

Reminiscing -- Christmas, 2023

I was going to send this as an insert with my annual Christmas card to friends, but for a number of reasons, chose not to.

But I thought it might be interesting to the children and grandchildren, and perhaps more.

So, here goes:

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Christmas 2023

Hi, guys and gals, binary and non-binary,

Our annual update is posted elsewhere.

I’m sitting in the Bat Cave, at an undisclosed location. It’s mid-December — the winter solstice was last night, 9:27 p.m. CT.

I’ve had two glasses of wine and am enjoying my YouTube play list on a huge flat-screen Philips “smart TV” powered by an Amazon Firestick, which connects me with the legacy networks, MAX, HBO, YouTube, ESPN, Hulu, and almost anything else one can think of.

I’m working on an Apple laptop. I was the #3 Apple Fanboy.

As the attached update says, I’m 72 years old and in good health.

Sipping $8-wine (bottle, not glass), in my Hawaiian short-sleeve shirt, and watching great music, it’s hard not to reminisce.

I wear nostalgia on my sleeves.

But that gets boring for readers; I will try to shorten this a bit using bullet-lists.

The Bat Cave was the second-best thing I ever did in retirement. The first-best thing: the blog.

My “life” is all around me in the Bat Cave. Framed photos of the entire family going back a generation or two, and the photos of grandkids, hang on the walls.

Prized photographs from my 30-year career in the USAF hang on one wall:

• posing in front of the T-37, Randolph AFB: my first real flying experience with the USAF on my way to becoming a flight surgeon
• the B-52: one 8-hour, all-night low-level terrain-following flight through the Rocky Mountains launched out of Grand Forks AFB, ND, in 1982, or thereabouts;
• the F-15: more than a 100 sorties out of Bitburg AB, Germany, 1983 - 1986;
• the F-111: a dozen or so sorties out of RAF Lakenheath, England, 1986 - 1989;
• the F-104 “widowmaker”: over the Mediterranean, flying out of Sardinia;
• from a KC-135, re-fueling an SR-71: who knows where?
• responding to a B-1B emergency landing: Rhein-Main AB, Germany, 1993
• countless flights in C-130s, KC-135s, C-5s; other USAF aircraft and the US Army’s C-12;
• UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter on the ground in northern Iraq and in the air in South America.

A mechanical engineering drawing board and a work bench for Sophia under the photos.

And then shelves and shelves of Legos including some really, really prized Legos.

And surrounded by bookshelves of books. Mostly literature. Some science.

Stickley Furniture.

And coffee mugs from everywhere: 


• USC School of Medicine
• my father-in-law’s US Army coffee mugs, along with one for his Japanese wife who probably never had a cup of coffee in her life
• an X-Files coffee cup from our younger daughter who lived and breathed that experience but who also never drank coffee;
• several USAF coffee mugs; most from Germany
• two Spode Christmas tree cups, from England

As a family we spent thirteen years overseas.

We spent three years in England. With additional temporary assignments there for me, I’ve probably lived in England for a total of four-plus years.

From England, I gained a real appreciation for

• great 60s music;
• Shakespeare; and,
• long, solitary walks on treeless highlands during inclement weathe

From Germany, eight+ years:

• Legos


From Turkey, two years:

• a real appreciation for living in a country — the US — where “government” works;
• a real appreciation for living in a country — the US — where there is no beyanname.
• a great lifelong frien

From Japan, temporary duty:

• a real sadness we did not have a full tour there.

The US:

I have lived in, or worked in, or visited all fifty states (as far as I know, including Hawaii, Alaska, Wyoming, and Rhode Island). I’ve hitchhiked across the entire USA not once, but twice. I have fond memories of everywhere I’ve been and could say great things about every state, but now, in the autumn — and, soon-to-be — winter of my life, I can say that living in a middle class suburb of Ff Worth, north Texas, thirty minutes from Dallas, is just about the best place I can imagine.

May and I try to get back to Portland, Oregon, every three months traveling separately, so the grandsons see one of us almost every other month or so. May stays a bit longer, but I generally go for five days.

We also try to schedule five-day road trips for the two of us, renting a car from our Enterprise Rental just down the street. Our longest trip was to Philadelphia and back, all in five days, to visit art museums in Philadelphia, visit Gettsyburg, and celebrate my uncle’s 100th birthday in Amish Country, Pennsylvania. Don was my mother’s only sibling, and I don’t recall ever meeting him. At his 100th birthday he told me he sort of recalls meeting me when I was two or three years old. It was an incredible trip — Dallas to Philadelphia in five days with a short stop in Nashville to see our oldest granddaughter, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN.

We did another five-day trip to Nashville - Chattanooga to see our daughter compete in the 31-mile paddle-boarding race down the Tennessee River; and, during that trip see our Vanderbilt daughter participate in a Latino dance festival.

We have at least two five-day trips pencilled in for this spring — one in New Mexico, one in Arizona.

We can connect with the extended Oksol family on Flathead Lake, Montana, where our parents left us a McMansion Of Memories now owned by the youngest sibling.

We can connect with May’s brother and sister-in-law in Huntington Beach, California, just down the road from Disneyland.

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If I have one regret it would be that I did not keep a 2 x 3 index card on every incredible person I met and / or worked with or for in the USAF. And then kept in touch. But it was not in my genetic makeup to do that. 

End Of An Era -- A Lifetime Of Williston Memories -- November 17, 2023

Carl joined Manger Insurance in the mid-1950s, eventually becoming a partner with Erling Manger. Later, Jim Leinen would join Carl and Erling. Carl handed the agency over to his son, Craig, and daughter, Karla.

Craig died in 2011, leaving the agency to Karla's son Rob Osborn and Karla.

Over the years, Erling, and then Carl and Jim moved the office several times. They finally ended at 511 Second Street West, southwest side of Williston. 

Most of my memories were of the office at 309 Washington Avenue, kitty-corner from one grocery store, and, if I recall correctly, on the same block as the "old" Red Owl Store. There was a small donut shop next door and a very modernistic First National Bank branch on the same block.

I see on Facebook, today, that Manger Insurance -- Rob Osborn -- has vacated the Second Street West location. I know nothing more. Jan alerted me to the Facebook post but did not provide any information.

Seeing the building is incredibly bittersweet.

Manger started the agency around 1951, the time of my birth in Bismarck, ND. Dad and Mom moved to Williston around 1953 where they lived their entire lives, though the last few years Mom lived in an assisted nursing facility in Portland, OR, and prior to that spent her "retirement in Montana (summers) and Sioux Falls, SD (winter).

But, wow I spent a lot of time with Dad in the office on Washington and then a lot of time with Dad, Carl, and Karla at the Second Street West location.

Dad built the agency into a big, big deal, from two salesmen and one secretary to several sales people and many secretaries and support staff,

Bittersweet? Actually, it's quite sad. All the memories. 

Two Of My Favorite Pictures -- November 12, 2023

Craig at his barn with his horse and Dad's horse. One of those highly bittersweet memories. Craig died of cancer in 2011. He really, really enjoyed life and probably worked harder than any of the siblings. What a great person.

Bruce at small ranch south of Beeville, May's relatives.

Sophia's Soccer Team -- Sophia, Age 9 -- November 11, 2023

Her team finished second for the season. 

Carl And Ruth Family -- September 1958 -- Kathy Was The Youngest Of Five

Kathy's birthday: August 1, 1958.

This photo in September, 1958, most likely Kathy's baptism.

• Bruce: 7
• Yvonne: 6
• Karla: 4
• Craig: 3
  

Photo probably taken at house at 722 17th Street, Williston, ND.

Bruce -- Quick Bio

 

Letter Of "Thanks" From Commander -- Dr Bruce Oksol -- Flight Medicine -- Deployed -- April 11, 1986

Permanent base: Bitburg Air Base, Germany

Temporarily deployed to Decimomannu, Sardinia, Italy. NATO training base on south side of island. We called it "Deci," pronounced, "duchy," rhyming with "munchie."

Carl: Discharge Papers -- 1946

 Original maintained in Bruce's memorabilia binder, 2022 - 2023.

Another Undated Photograph

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Old Photographs

It's a shame we didn't see these photographs until after our parents had died.

I would have loved the backstory: the what, why, when. Sometimes the "who." Always, "who was the photographer?"

Dad was born in 1922, in the farmhouse on the homestead, just a mile or so south of Newell, SD. When he left home at age 20, he never returned home except for very short visits. Photography was very rare at this time; the family was very poor and hiring a photographer would have been a big deal for special occasions.

One assumes:

• seventeen or eighteen years of age, high school graduation; 
• twenty years of age, on his way to sign up for the US Coast Guard

Dad served in both theaters during the war, first: many Atlantic Ocean crossings, home-stationed in Boston, pier 13 (IIRC), USS Wakefield. Then, fewer Pacific Ocean crossings but spent more time in Asia than Europe.

From his biography:

In 1942, Dad received a letter in the mail with a return address from the US Selective Service.

Dad did not open the envelope; he did not want to go into the army. Instead he visited the Belle Fourche Navy recruiting station.

Dad was sworn into the United States Coast Guard, November 6, 1942.

 “I went on active duty December 23, 1942, and was assigned to Coast Guard Boot Camp in St. Augustine, Florida. The folks took me to Rapid City, South Dakota. Then I took a road bus to Omaha, Nebraska. I took the train from Omaha on December 23, 1942, and arrived in St. Augustine, Florida on Christmas Day 1942. I stayed in the Ponce de Leon Hotel during boot camp.”

Undated Photograph -- My Interpretation -- August 20, 2023

The photograph:

My hunch:

Left to right: Carl, Eddie, Oscar (suit), Myrtle, Christine, Clara (looks just like Paula), Paul.

 
Clara: link here.
Myrtle: link here.

Christine Tangvold -- Mrs Paul Oksol -- Paternal Grandmother -- Obituary

Highlights:

• spelling of her first name: Christine
• b. Trondheim, Norway, March 31, 1880
• arrived US, 1905; first settled aat Zumbrota, MN
• married to Paul Oksol, April 15, 1911 in Minneapolis, MN
• moved to Newell, SD; homesteaded that sprring, 1911
• five children: Edward, Oscar, Myrtle, Clara, and Carl
  
• Belle Fourche Hospital, following 10-day illness
• First Lutheran Church, Newell, SD
  
• Reverend K. A. Knutson officiating; Mrs Knutson, organist
• Wilson cemetery south of Newell, SD
• pall-bearers: three sons, two sons-in-law; one nephew
• Edward, Oscar, and Carl
• Russell H. Wilson, Raymond Wald
  
• Jerome Viseth

When I read the names of Russel Wilson and Raymond Wald, tears come; those were the "good years."

Don's 100th Birthday Party

Photos

Don with all three children: Don, Jr; Leslie; Kenn (far left):

Leslie with husband Jerry front row: Don, Sr, Don, Kenn:

Rehanna (Kenn's wife) and Storm Lake t-shirt for Don:

 

Road Trip

Thursday, August 31, 2023
Departed Euless, TX, at 9:00 a.m.

2:11 p.m. CT: Arkadelphia. Short McDonald's stop. $4.92 for a better snack (for two) than $13 for coffee for two and one butter croissant earlier this morning. Incredibly clean, nice McDonald's and very friendly staff.

10:22 a.m. CT: Starbucks break northeast of Dallas, east of Rockwall, I-30.

Friday, August 31, 2023

2:00 p.m. CT arrive southeast Pennsylvania; incredibly long, winding road to get to Gettysburg, PA. 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Gettysburg. Then to motel, Holiday Express, York, PA.

Saturday, September 1, 2023

11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. CT: Barnes art museum.

4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. CT: Don's 100th birthday

Overnight in Oxford, second of two nights.

Sunday, September 2, 2023

 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. CT: tour Amish country

1:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. CT  visited Don's retirement community, Ware Presbyterian Retirement Village, Oxfford, Pennsylvania

3:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. CT: Philadelphia -- Reading Terminal Market; Pennsylvania Fine Arts Museum.

6:00 p.m. CT:  deepart direclty for home via I-95 -- Baltimore, MD; Washington, DC, Ft Meade, MD

Sunday, September 3, 2023

Driving -- Washington, DC, to Nashville, TN

Monday, September 4, 2023

11:00 a.m. CT: arrive Nashville; spend an hour with Arianna

3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. CT: tour Shiloh

7:00 p.m. CT: Chick-Fil-A in Corinth, MS

Tuesday, September 4, 2023

Overnight to home in Texas.

Arrived home 8:00 a.m.

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Birthday Party Details

Bruce and May hotel, Friday, September 1, 2023, one night:

• Holiday Inn Express & Suites York, an IHG Hotel, 140 Leader Heights Rd, York, PA 17403
• intersection of I-83 (N/S) and US Highway 182 (E/W); southwest quadrant
  

Contact:

• Leslie: 520-670-[Bruce's B/D +7146]
• location of party? Mill Road Farmhouse, link here.
  

Letter from Leslie Meredith, Don's daughter, July 28, 2023, details:

• birthday picnic: Saturday, September 2, 2023
• location: Morgantown, PA
• my hunch: 145 Mill Road, Morgantown, PA
  
• Labor Day weekend: be advised

Locations:

• Morgantown: site of birthday picnic
• Hershey: where Leslie's family is staying (the Merediths staying in Hershey)
  
• Lancaster: center of Amish culture
• Oxford: Don's home; small village.
• Ware Village
  
• 101 Kensington Lane
• Oxford, PA 19363
   

Maps:

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Additional Information

Hotel confirmation:

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Location Of Party

Mill Road Farmhouse

ABNB won't give out address until booked.

My hunch: 145 Mill Road, Morgantown, PA

Trondheim -- Ådalsbjørg -- Greetings -- July 9, 2023

Link here.

Ivar Moen, a distant cousin, posted this a couple of days ago.

My grandfather, my father, and I visited this site when I was in eighth grade. The stone holds great significance for the family.

Ådalsbjørg in Forradal?

I do remember taking a photo of a road sign on the way to Hell, Norway, on that trip back in the eighth grade. Wow, that brings back great memories. Of the many things Carl did in his life, this ranks near the top -- taking his Dad back to his ancestral home in Norway.

I have long forgotten, but should look this up ... if the Moens were on my maternal grandmother's side of the family.

A Photo Album -- From Ruth -- 1953 -- Bruce, Yvonne

The Wilsons

From the Wilson Cemetery

Generation 1:

• Henry Wilson, father 1850 - 1931
• Carolyn Wilson, 1845 - 1926

Generation 2:

• Una Dell Wilson, 1884 - 1941
• Wm C Wilson, 1872 - 1921, father
• John Wilson, 1874 - 1955
• Henry Wilson, 1890 - 1990
• Hanna Wilson, 1880 - 1978
• Hattie Wilson, 1886 - 1977
• Alice Wilson, 1891 - 1987
• Charley Wilson, 1876 - 1949
  

Generation 3:

• Leonard Wilson, 1914 - 2006
• Russell Wilson, 1914 - 1959
• Myrtle Wilson, 1914 - 2003
• Roann Wilson, 1918 - 1993
• Howard Wilson, 1914 --
• Ester Wilson, 1908 - 1912 (four years)
• Wilson Baby, 1913 - days
• Harold Wilson 1907 - 1941, son

Generation 4:

• Constance Wilson, 1920 - 2003
• Charlotte Wilson, 1949 -
  

Miscellaneous -- Myrtle Wilson, Christine Oksol -- March 19, 2023

Paul and Christine:

Paul Oksol was born June 22, 1886, on the Oksol farm near Trøndheim, Norway.
Christine Tangvold was born March 31, 1880, twenty-one American miles from Trøndheim, Norway.

Paul and Christine are buried at the Wilson Cemetery, five miles south of Newell. Christine died March 18, 1956, and Paul died November 19, 1965. Christine lived to 75 years old and Paul lived to be 79 years.

Wilson Cemetery:

Myrtle Oksol Wilson, link here:

RAPID CITY - Myrtle Oksol Wilson, 89, Rapid City, died Wednesday, November 19, 2003, at Fountain Springs Health Care in Rapid City.

A prayer service will be held on Friday, November 21, 2003, at 7 p.m. at Kinkade Funeral Chapel, with Pastor LeRoy Flagstad officiating. Visitation will be Saturday from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. at Kinkade Funeral Chapel. Burial will be at 3 p.m. Saturday at the Wilson Cemetery near Newell, with Rev. Al Jacobson officiating. Family and friends may gather at Kinkade Funeral Chapel prior to leaving for the cemetery or meet at the cemetery. A memorial service will be held Sunday, November 23, 2003, at 2 p.m. at the Trinity Lutheran Church in Rapid City, with Pastor Al Jacobson and Pastor Don Brendtro officiating.

Myrtle was born October 9, 1914, near Castle Rock, SD, to Paul and Christine (Tangvold) Oksol. She was raised on a farm south of Newell and graduated from Newell High School in 1933.

On June 1, 1940, she married Russell Wilson. To this union two children were born, John Paul and Charlotte.

After Russell's death in 1959, Myrtle began a career working for the federal government and later the South Dakota State University at the Newell Experiment Station. When the office moved to the Research and Extension Center in Rapid City, Myrtle moved to Rapid City, and retired after nearly 20 years. She also worked for several years at the Town and Country Ladies Wear in Rapid City.

Throughout her life, Myrtle devoted many hours to church service. She was organist at First Lutheran Church in Newell for over 30 years and she also sang for hundreds of weddings and funerals in the Newell area. After moving to Rapid City, she joined Trinity Lutheran Church and sang with the sanctuary choir for another 30 years. She was active in many church groups including Trinity Lutheran Church Women and Abigail Circle. She was a Charter Member of Sons of Norway, Borgund Lodge, where she served as the social director and taught beginning Norwegian for several years.

She enjoyed spending time with friends and family, dancing, playing bridge and telling Ole and Lena jokes. She was a volunteer at the Chapel in the Hills, wearing her traditional Norwegian Bunad and being photographed with visitors. Myrtle is survived by her son, John Paul Wilson and his wife, Marlene, Charlotte, NC; her daughter, Charlotte Wilson, Sturgis; one brother, Carl Oksol, Willison, ND; and numerous nieces and nephews, and a wide circle of friends. She was preceded in death by her parents, husband, two brothers, and one sister.

Memorials have been established to the endowment fund for the Sons of Norway, First Lutheran Church in Newell, Trinity Lutheran Church in Rapid City, and the Alzheimer's Foundation.

Wilson Cemetery, link here. Also, here.