Sunday, March 19, 2023

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.

Carl and Bruce drove to Newell, SD, to attend Christine's memorial service (1956). On the way home, a snowstorm started and we ended up in the ditch. I don't recall if I was particularly nervous -- I had great trust in my dad. My dad said that sooner or later a tractor would come be and pull us out of the ditch. 

And it did. LOL. 

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.


Thursday, November 17, 2022

Sunday, January 2, 2022

Edith Flessner, Wife Of Don -- January 2, 2021

Edith Flessner, wife of Don; obituary

Edith L. Flessner, 93, of Oxford, PA, formerly of Newark died Wednesday, October 4, 2017, at Christiana Hospital, Newark, DE.

She was the wife of Donald Flessner with whom she shared 64 years of marriage.

Born in Philadelphia, she was the daughter of the late Leslie A. and Edith M. Kessler Grand and sister to her late brother, Leslie Grand. Edith received her BS and Master's Degrees from Drexel University and attended the University of Minnesota for her Doctorate.

Gravesite, and here:

Friday, November 5, 2021

Random Photo -- November 5, 2021

November 5, 2021, wearing my new O. C. Taylor Elementary School t-shirt -- the school where Sophia attends school.



Wednesday, October 6, 2021

Map To The Oksol Farm South Of Newell, SD -- October 6, 2021

Drawn during one of my trips back to Williston, probably around 2017?



Saturday, August 14, 2021

1909 -- 1951: Manson, Birthplace Of Edna To Ruth WIth Baby Bruce

On August 12, 2021, I received a two-page typewritten letter from "Margaret Ann" and six photographs, which completed the mosaic I had started some time ago, trying to piece Ruth's life together. 

Below, the original photo plus a duplicate with a description. Six original photos/twelve photographs altogether. The original photos are now in a binder with Bruce.

1909: home in Manson, where Ruth's "Aunt Edna" was born.

 

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1917: photograph of Reka. At age eighteen, this was most likely a graduation photograph.


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1938: Margaret Ann's baptism; she was born one month after her father was killed in a farming accident in 1938. Her brother, Gil, is standing to his mother's right. I believe that is Ruth to Margaret Ann's immediate left, and to Ruth's left, her brother, Don.

Would that be Reka right behind Ruth? Most of the others in the photograph is the Wessel family; Edna was married to Roland Wessel. Where was Ekke?  Did Ekke take the photograph?


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Perhaps my favorite photograph in this series. This is Ruth in 1946. The war had been over for one year. She is standing next to her cousin Margaret Ann, probably about eight years old; considering how often Ruth talked about Margaret Ann, I do think these two were very, very close. 

Margaret Ann was born one month after her father was killed in a farming accident. Her brother, Gil, a little over one year old at the time, was sent to live with one set of grandparents, the Folkerts, while Margaret Ann was sent to live with the other set of grandparents, th Flessners. 

Ruth would have visited her grandparents at the farm often and played with Margaret Ann. 



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1951: four generations -- great-grandma Hinrika (I think this is the first photograph of Hinrika that I have ever seen); grandma Reka; Ruth and Bruce, born August 14, 1951.


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1951: Great-grandma Hinrika and baby Bruce, born in August, 1951. I wonder if this is the farm house near Manson?


Letter And Photos From "Margaret Ann" -- August 14, 2021

Letter and photos received from "Margaret Ann," postmarked August 9, 2021.



 

 


 

Photos pending.