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.

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.

Documents: Ekke - Reka - Flessner - Folkerts - Confirmation - Marriage Certificate -- November 17, 2022

Confirmation certificates.

Marriage certificate.

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: