Dad Died In 2018. On That Date I Started A New Schwab Account -- March 29, 2024

The purpose of the account: to invest all "new" money that derived from his estate plus dividends from all my other Schwab accounts. Today, that account hit a new milestone. Amazing.

Map: Paul Oksol -- Trondheim To America, 1907

Ellis Island passenger search: link here.

Paul Edvardsen Oksaal

• date of arrival: April 24, 1907
• ship: C. F. Tietgen
• port of departure: Kristiania, Norway
• manifest number: #5, page 18

 

 

A South Dakota Family Story -- March 18, 1956

March 22, 1956.

We lived in Williston, ND, at the time. 

My paternal grandparents lived in Newell, SD, about 280 miles and about six hours due south of Williston. 

On March 18, 1956, Christine, my paternal grandmother died. That was a Sunday.

Dad and I drove down for the funeral, leaving Mom home alone with three toddlers all younger than I. I was five years old at the time. So, I guess I missed a few days of kindergarten.

The funeral was held Wednesday, March 21, 1956, and Dad and I headed home the next day, Thursday.

Shortly outside of Newell, SD, in a moderately severe snowstorm (not a blizzard as far as I recall) the car -- a sedan -- slid off the two-lane highway into the ditch. Needless to say, we weren't going to get out under our own power. This was before cell phones.

We were literally in about as precarious situation as one could ever be, but we knew it was best to stick with the car and hope for someone to drive by.

It was at that moment, after a half-hour or so of waiting when we ran out of things to talk about so I thought it was as good a time as ever to tell Dad that Mom told me to keep it a secret, not tell Dad because he would but one of my younger siblings, perhaps Craig, but it could have been one of my two sisters at the time had just come down with measles at the time Dad and I were leaving Williston for the funeral. 

I don't recall the specifics, but I do recollect that it appeared this was probably not the best time to have mentioned this to Dad.

Sometime later, again, I don't recall, but it must have been less than an hour when a farmer came be, rescued us, and pulled us out of the ditch with his truck or whatever he was driving.

Books On Broadway

March 12, 2014

Mr Chuck Wilder
Books on Broadway
12 W Broadway, Williston, ND 58801


Hi, Chuck,

I have had many memorable “events” over the years, but few were more memorable or more rewarding than “mahjong night” at the Wilder residence. Thank youl

One of the things I always hoped to do was to learn to play mahjong.  And can you believe it: I learned at the table where a Chinese professor was slapping my hand every time I tried to pick up a tile from the wrong end of the dragon. I have ordered a set, and will teach my wife and two granddaughters. I expect to have many enjoyable evenings.

Please say “hi” to Jeff and Constance. I had donuts and coffee on the last two mornings before I left Williston. I think they are moving to a better location; I hope it works out for them.

Tell Joyce I really enjoyed meeting her. Her guest Lily was a most wonderful person; it was an unexpected treat to meet such a rare individual who seemed to be genuinely intrigued with a place like Williston.

Tell Nancy I think I paid for all my coffee before I departed Williston, but if I forgot, I will make it up when I return.

Now, to the books. I bought four books from Books on Broadway this trip. I am never disappointed in the selections I find in your store. We live in Grapevine, TX, a tourist destination of about 60,000 people a few miles northeast of Ft Worth/northwest of Dallas. It’s a wonderful city but there are NO bookstores. I asked one of the local businesswomen (on local city council) what their Main Street needed. She said the town needed something for the men, and a bookstore. That’s what I was looking for when I asked her the question. I was hoping she would realize the lack of a bookstore in that size of town if “frightening.” There is a Barnes and Noble about 5 miles away in the next town over but I’m talking about an independent bookstore. I really don’t have much need for a Barnes and Noble bookstore; I think “readers” prefer independent bookstores that “fit” the town where they are located.

I’m pretty much at the end of my book-quest. I’ve been reading voraciously since 2002. It is becoming more and more difficult to find something “new.” I don’t care for contemporary literature. For literature, I prefer the classics, or books, even if not classics, written by the titans, as it were.

Now, to the books. I bought On The Origin of Tepees; Crazy Horse by Kingsley Bray;  Grand Pursuit by Sylvia Nasar; and, the biography of Leonard Cohen.

I finished Tepees. I am reading Crazy Horse and Grand Pursuit now, and probably won’t read Leonard Cohen for quite some time.

Tepees is simply a “fun” travelogue; anyone who has grown up in the northern Great Plains can identify with the author’s observations. I’ve read a lot of books on the Plains Indians, but I think Jonnie Hughes does a superb job providing a 30-second sound bite on the displacement of the Great Plains Indians during the 1600’s and 1700’s. The book is filled with enough trivia to prepare one for multiple cocktail parties.

For someone who has no understanding of economics or no historical perspective, Sylvia Nasar would be a great place to start. I can’t think of a drier subject than economics, but, again, for the serious reader of literature, she mentions many authors of literature (Charlotte Bronte, George Eliot, Charles Dickens, etc) which puts the subject (economics) in perspective. For someone who knows nothing about economics but has read a lot of literature, this is a rewarding book.

Crazy Horse has to be read very, very slowly. Because the author does not use genealogy charts and the Native American names don’t lend themselves to following family lines, it can be difficult to follow family lines. However, as I write that, I wonder if that might be an interesting theme to follow up on American Indian culture, whether family ties or tribal ties are more important. I’m beginning to think there is a reason that family lines are not carried though their names like they are in Europe. It will be interesting to see if  I ever come across a book that talks about names of Indians and family ties.

There are probably few people that have visited as many independent bookstores as I have visited over the years around the world. I don’t think I have found a “better” bookstore than yours. I can only assume there were some lean times before the boom; I don’t know. All I can say now is that the 40,000 folks new to Williston are very, very fortunate to have Books on Broadway.

Bruce

Christmas Letter To Carl -- 2014

Christmas 2014

Dear Dad,

I hope you enjoy the Christmas album.

You have three beautiful great-granddaughters in Texas: Arianna (11 years old); Olivia (8 years old); and, Sophia, born earlier this year, June30, 2014.

From the photo album you will become a bit acquainted with them, I hope.

Arianna is very athletic and loves the outdoors: she loves to swim and she loves bicycling. She is also a very good student and thinks about becoming a marine biologist.

Olivia is also very athletic but instead of swimming she enjoys soccer. She has been invited to join several soccer teams in the local area, and she presently plays on three teams. She hopes to get a college scholarship for playing soccer. She is also a very, very bright student.

We don’t know much about Sophia yet, she is only six months old, but it is very easy to get a smile out of her. She is a very happy baby.

It’s hard to believe that all of this began with your own parents emigrating from Norway, immigrating to the USA and ending up in South Dakota.

If they could see your family album they would see the years you spent on the USS Wakefield in two great oceans. They would see your early years driving truck and then finally ending up in Bismarck, and then Williston, North Dakota, with a very beautiful wife.

In a dreary, windy, and remote outpost, you and mom raised six wonderful children who in their own ways have become very successful.

Along the way, you built one of the premier businesses in western North Dakota and perhaps what has become one of the biggest insurance agencies west of the Mississippi. You and Craig were singularly responsible for finding an oil underwriter that has put Karla and Robbie where they are today.

You saw six children not only graduate from high school, but all six attending college, and colleges across the US, as far west as Washington State, and as far south as Arizona.

Your parents would have been happy to see two of your children remain close to home so you always had someone looking after you. Craig left early but he, along with Karla, was probably the most steadfast of your children, staying focused on his agency and his family.

Your parents would be proud of your service in the US Coast Guard, and your oldest child made a successful career in the US Air Force and your granddaughter Kiri, our older daughter, spent several years in the uniformed service as a nurse in the Public Health Service.

Although Mom did not particularly “like” North Dakota, she was given much moral support by you and her children and survived the harshness of the state. In her “retirement,” she was able to have her own home in that part of the country where she grew up as well as a beautiful retirement home at the entrance to Glacier Park, perhaps her favorite place to be.

I think your parents would be very, very happy for how your life turned out; and, very, very proud of all our accomplishments. Bruce Conway has told me that Willistonites are very, very aware of all your philanthropy over the years.

Your own children have been very well provided for. Besides all of them receiving a college education, you have continued to support them emotionally as well as financially. Several of your children and several of your grandchildren probably appreciate your monetary gifts more than you could ever know.

I hope you enjoy the album; I hope it helps introduce you to three of your most beautiful granddaughters. We mention you and your accomplishments to them often.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  Love, Bruce and May