I was born May 17, 1907, while the family was farming in Roome Township, a few miles north of Climax, Minnesota. We moved to Crookston when I was 5; moving into the house Reverend Saugstad and family lived in when he was pastor of the Norwegian Lutheran Church in Crookston. I was confirmed in that church and our class was about the last to be confirmed in the Norwegian language. I was graduated from Crookston High School and went to St. Olaf College where I majored in Public School Music and where I had the good fortune to become a member of the St. Olaf Lutheran Choir, under the direction of F. Melius Christenson. As a member of the choir, I saw many place in the U.S. while on the annual choir tours. I also had the wonderful experience of touring Norway, Denmark and Germany, as the choir toured and sang concerts in many of the cities of these countries.
When we returned to the U.S., the “crash” was taking its toll on available jobs so I did a little of this and a little of that until I became employed as the bookkeeper in a New York department store. When World War II began, I went to California with the idea of “getting in on the ground floor” of aviation which I was sure would be an up-and-coming industry. But, in place of doing that, I became involved with the W.A.V.E.S. and was lucky enough to be chosen to the program of Link Trainer work, the Link Trainer being a device for working with pilots to help them brush up on some of the fine points of radio navigation. My “boot training” was at Hunger College in Brooklyn, New York. From there, I was sent to Atlanta for Link Trainer instructions and then was stationed at the Naval Air Station in Clinton, Oklahoma. From there, I was sent to Quonset Point, R.I. for some training in the Celestial Navigation Link Trainer, then on to the naval station in San Diego, California, where I remained until the war was over.
I then returned to Crookston where I became employed at the Crookston National Bank for a few years, and then became the accounting officer at the Polk County Welfare Department until I retired in 1973. Since then, I have enjoyed visiting family and friends in various parts of the country; working in the yard and garden; and crocheting and knitting to my heart’s content. Throughout it all, I have been more or less active in church, choir, women’s organizations, some athletic activities, the drum corps, and so on. Written by Belva in 1979
When we returned to the U.S., the “crash” was taking its toll on available jobs so I did a little of this and a little of that until I became employed as the bookkeeper in a New York department store. When World War II began, I went to California with the idea of “getting in on the ground floor” of aviation which I was sure would be an up-and-coming industry. But, in place of doing that, I became involved with the W.A.V.E.S. and was lucky enough to be chosen to the program of Link Trainer work, the Link Trainer being a device for working with pilots to help them brush up on some of the fine points of radio navigation. My “boot training” was at Hunger College in Brooklyn, New York. From there, I was sent to Atlanta for Link Trainer instructions and then was stationed at the Naval Air Station in Clinton, Oklahoma. From there, I was sent to Quonset Point, R.I. for some training in the Celestial Navigation Link Trainer, then on to the naval station in San Diego, California, where I remained until the war was over.
I then returned to Crookston where I became employed at the Crookston National Bank for a few years, and then became the accounting officer at the Polk County Welfare Department until I retired in 1973. Since then, I have enjoyed visiting family and friends in various parts of the country; working in the yard and garden; and crocheting and knitting to my heart’s content. Throughout it all, I have been more or less active in church, choir, women’s organizations, some athletic activities, the drum corps, and so on. Written by Belva in 1979
I was born May 17, 1907, while the family was farming in Roome Township, a few miles north of Climax, Minnesota. We moved to Crookston when I was 5; moving into the house Reverend Saugstad and family lived in when he was pastor of the Norwegian Lutheran Church in Crookston. I was confirmed in that church and our class was about the last to be confirmed in the Norwegian language. I was graduated from Crookston High School and went to St. Olaf College where I majored in Public School Music and where I had the good fortune to become a member of the St. Olaf Lutheran Choir, under the direction of F. Melius Christenson. As a member of the choir, I saw many place in the U.S. while on the annual choir tours. I also had the wonderful experience of touring Norway, Denmark and Germany, as the choir toured and sang concerts in many of the cities of these countries.
When we returned to the U.S., the “crash” was taking its toll on available jobs so I did a little of this and a little of that until I became employed as the bookkeeper in a New York department store. When World War II began, I went to California with the idea of “getting in on the ground floor” of aviation which I was sure would be an up-and-coming industry. But, in place of doing that, I became involved with the W.A.V.E.S. and was lucky enough to be chosen to the program of Link Trainer work, the Link Trainer being a device for working with pilots to help them brush up on some of the fine points of radio navigation. My “boot training” was at Hunger College in Brooklyn, New York. From there, I was sent to Atlanta for Link Trainer instructions and then was stationed at the Naval Air Station in Clinton, Oklahoma. From there, I was sent to Quonset Point, R.I. for some training in the Celestial Navigation Link Trainer, then on to the naval station in San Diego, California, where I remained until the war was over.
I then returned to Crookston where I became employed at the Crookston National Bank for a few years, and then became the accounting officer at the Polk County Welfare Department until I retired in 1973. Since then, I have enjoyed visiting family and friends in various parts of the country; working in the yard and garden; and crocheting and knitting to my heart’s content. Throughout it all, I have been more or less active in church, choir, women’s organizations, some athletic activities, the drum corps, and so on. Written by Belva in 1979
When we returned to the U.S., the “crash” was taking its toll on available jobs so I did a little of this and a little of that until I became employed as the bookkeeper in a New York department store. When World War II began, I went to California with the idea of “getting in on the ground floor” of aviation which I was sure would be an up-and-coming industry. But, in place of doing that, I became involved with the W.A.V.E.S. and was lucky enough to be chosen to the program of Link Trainer work, the Link Trainer being a device for working with pilots to help them brush up on some of the fine points of radio navigation. My “boot training” was at Hunger College in Brooklyn, New York. From there, I was sent to Atlanta for Link Trainer instructions and then was stationed at the Naval Air Station in Clinton, Oklahoma. From there, I was sent to Quonset Point, R.I. for some training in the Celestial Navigation Link Trainer, then on to the naval station in San Diego, California, where I remained until the war was over.
I then returned to Crookston where I became employed at the Crookston National Bank for a few years, and then became the accounting officer at the Polk County Welfare Department until I retired in 1973. Since then, I have enjoyed visiting family and friends in various parts of the country; working in the yard and garden; and crocheting and knitting to my heart’s content. Throughout it all, I have been more or less active in church, choir, women’s organizations, some athletic activities, the drum corps, and so on. Written by Belva in 1979
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