HW Sorensen and The American Dream

Text Message from John Sorensen 
August 14, 2022

Check out 1912 Clearwater, Minnesota Plat Book . . . just north of Shevlin in Section 10, you will find the good Rev. HW Sorensen’s 40 acre tract . . . I know northern MN land values weren’t much in 1912, but I am still impressed that this early-thirty-something guy with a wife and three little boys who had been in America a little more than ten years, and who likely still spoke broken English, and who couldn’t have been paid much by his church OWNED 40 ACRES!! Did he build his own house/was the home already there/did his parishioners build the home for him???

http://clearwater.mngenweb.net/1912atlas_full.pdf

Martha (Muffy) Marit Skarperud Johnson (1935-2020)

Sent From John Sorensen 

Martha Johnson Obituary 

(December 2, 2020)

"Her song is ended, but the melody lingers on."

Martha (Muffy) Marit Skarperud Johnson passed away on Saturday, November 28th, 2020 on Mercer Island, Washington at the age of 85.

Muffy and George met during her senior year of college in 1957 and were married on November 28, 1959. George and Muffy's marriage philosophy was to always be dedicated to each other and to their family. Muffy's passing marked their 61st wedding anniversary to the day.

Muffy attended Weatherwax High School in Aberdeen, Washington where she became the first female Vice President of the student body. She graduated high school in 1953 and went on to attend the University of Washington, majoring in College of Arts & Sciences Music. Muffy pledged Chi Omega sorority. While in college she was crowned Miss Greenlake, became a Seafair Princess and was nominated Varsity Ball Queen. She was also Miss Airpower of Airforce ROTC in 1957, the same year she graduated UW. Muffy returned to the UW to receive her teacher's certificate in 1960.

Beginning her teaching career at Casper W. Sharpless Junior High School in south Seattle, Muffy also taught English and Music at Rainier Beach High School where she was the advisor to the class of 1966. Her bond with the 360 students of Rainier Beach class of '66 was an endless source of pride, which she continued to foster in the decades that followed. Her students honored her by naming the school's music room after her in 2016, 50 years following their graduation.

Muffy was a concert pianist and sang with the Vocal Motion choir group. She was a member of the Mercer Island Beach Club where her boys participated in swim team. She also belonged to the charitable Child Hearing League, Sunset Club and the Seattle Yacht Club. She volunteered at Children's Hospital and was an ardent supporter of animals through Pasado's Safe Haven.

Muffy is survived by her husband of 61 years, George Putnam Johnson, her two sons, Peter (Christy Wallace) Johnson of Bellevue, Washington and David (Dara) Johnson of Old Greenwich, Connecticut. Grandchildren include Maxwell (18), Elizabeth (15), Luke (10) and Jack (8).

When asked how she wanted to be remembered, she replied ""Having fun."" Muffy will also be remembered for her warmth, generosity, strong values and sense of fairness. She was a wonderful wife and fantastic mother who always put family first. A lover of all animals, she had a special fondness for owls, the official mascot of her sorority.

From: https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/martha-johnson-obituary?id=3456273 

Hilda Skarperud: A Long Lost "Cousin"

Text Message from John Sorensen

Friday, August 19, 2022

A long lost "cousin" . . .

I remember when Mary, Joel and I went with Mother and Dad to Hood Canal to stay with "Uncle Art" Skarperud's widow, Hilda, I think. Hannah, another cousin or something, was also there. I was 12 and developed a bit of a crush on 15-year-old John Skarperud, who took us waterskiing on the canal. I also remember picking up oysters on the beach when the tide was low and Hilda fried them for dinner - yum!!

Yeah, I was in Minneapolis with Steven and John, collecting rocks for a penny a piece.

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/156101283/hilda-m-skarperud

Some Skarperud Stuff

Text Message From John Sorensen

August 19, 2022

Some Skarperud Stuff:

A couple of Grandma Grinley's half-siblings apparently made their way to The Great Northwest/Washington as did our full sibling Joel did decades later. The photo depicts Mother's Aunt (and our Great Aunt??) Clara and her betrothed Dr. Olaf Fortun. Clara was born in, I think, 1892 with twin Clarence (clever, huh - Clarence and Clara!) . . . both were named after predeceased siblings. Dr. Fortun was born and educated in Norway but received his medical training at U of Chicago and somehow ended up practicing in Mayville where he likely treated the Skarperuds, and probably Grinleys, and where he met the fetching Clara. The married Fortuns moved to Seattle and raised a family there with some Skarperud descendants, together with Joel, keeping our DNA in the Northwest. A half brother of Andrine, Arthur Marbel Skarperud also headed west and some of his Skarperud progeny joins the Fortun and Joel clans "out there".

I do not recall hearing about these guys from Mother but suspect she did not really "know" them as they left Traill County when she was very young. I did find a little about Dr. Fortun but struggle to learn about Dr. Arthur Skarperud. I do know that neither of them are taking new patients as they have both been dead for 80 years or more.

I too remember hearing about Dr. Fortun. I always thought it was a cool name but that's about it.

The gruesome detail about Dr. Skarperud that sticks in my mind was that he died after falling off a tractor and being run over by a disk/plow. Apparently, he was a part-time (hobbyist) farmer in addition to being a doctor and apparently had a heart attack while plowing his field.

Larson Wedding Family Photo 1926

Text Message From John Sorensen

August 28, 2022

I dialed up the Wayback machine again this morning and spent some time considering this photo (which I think I shared with you earlier) The pic was provided to me by Coulter, IA relatives I have “met” who discovered the same in desk drawers (where all my treasures will be found by my boys when I croak). Shown are (left to right): Dagmar Mine Larsen Sorensen, Carolina Marie Larsen Larsen (Grandmother’s sister), Soren Larsen, Juanita Inga Lambert Larsen and Walter Harold Larson. The photo was taken at time of Juanita+Walter wedding in the summer of ‘26. Walter was first-born of Dagmar’s oldest sibling, Wilhelm August and his wife Ingeborg, both of whom died young with three little kids who were then farmed out to Larsen siblings. Carolina and Soren raised Walter on their Coulter farm which so happened to be Patriarch Jens and Matriarch Maren Larsen’s farm purchased by Soren+Carolina when some of the Larsens headed to Silverton.

Happy Anniversary, Helen and Ing!

Text message from John Sorensen

August 26, 2022

It's The. Big. Day! Here are a couple of dashing gents captured by paparazzi at the Grinley-Sorensen nuptials in Portland eighty one years ago today. How I would love to mingle with that crowd! Happy Anniversary to t

he kids, Helen and Ing!

Sisters

Email from John Sorensen

April 13, 2020

. . . spent some of the Easter/birthday weekend looking through some accumulated family stuff and got stuck contemplating the two in this photo. The pic is undated but I am thinking our seated and pretty Grandma Andrine. Liv is 16-18??, making younger (half) sister Mary 14-16 years old. You will recall that Grandma was born in March of ‘82 and Great Grandma Liv died two months later (Grandma also lost two siblings to childhood death that year!). Anders hooked up with Marit Fjeld within a year or so after Liv’s passing and Mary was born in ‘84 . . . the first of several Phase II Skarperuds to complement the remaining 3 Phase I Skarperuds.

I could not help but think that Andrine and Mary were not only close in age, but must have had a tight relationship. I also could not escape the thought that, growing up, I never heard anything about “Aunt” Mary or the several cousins she produced for Mother. DID ANY OF YOU HEAR ABOUT MARY SKARPERUD RAMSTAD FROM MOTHER OR GRANDMA OR LEE OR ANYONE?? For that matter, I never heard anything about Stepmom Marit who, as a practical matter, was the only Mother Grandma ever knew.

So, there you go. Let me know if any of you have any insights . . . I am hooked on this stuff - oh, how I wish I could sit at the kitchen table with Mother and ask a million questions.