Jean Knutson Rostad
Typed by Jean Knutson Rostad, June 1991
Early Days
My name is Jean Lavelle Rostad. Before June 5th, 1948, it was Jean Lavelle Knutson. That’s the day I married my husband, Lyle N. Rostad.
My Dad was Andrew Knutson, son of Lars and Maret Wagnild Knutson. My Mother, Amanda Marie Tiller Knutson, daughter of John J. and Anne Gulvog Tiller. My name was taken from the initials of the first name of my Grandfathers, Jean, the J from John tiller, and Lavelle, the L from Lars Knutson. My Grandfather Tiller was an immigrant from Trondheim, Norway. My other Grandparents, Ann Gulvog Tiller, Lars and Maret Wagnild Knutson were from Soknedal, Norway, where it was the custom to carry on the first name for generations. That idea was modernized by the immigrants.
I was born May 8th, 1917, in a house at 532 Fall Street, in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. The house is still standing and in very good condition and even has a swimming pool. Since there wasn’t many doctors in those days, I was delivered by a midwife, Mrs. John Gaustad. She listed me as a male on my birth certificate. I changed that. Within a year and a half we had moved to the birthplace of my Dad, a farm in the Chippewa Bottoms in the town of Springbrook, Dunn County. My sister Luella Janet, was born there on November 13th, 1918. That was two days after the Armistice of World War I, November 11, 1918. I remember two things from living on the farm, both pertain to the telephone. One was the drone of the lines one night when I was in bed and apparently frightened. The other event was playing with a toy telephone. My brother-in-law, John Torgerson, has the mate to the telephone running between the house and barn on their farm in Little Elk Creek, near Menomonie, Wisconsin.
In 1921, we moved to North Menomonie, Wisconsin and lived with my Grandparents, John and Ann Tiller while Dad built a house at 1107 Tainter Street. This house was of the same plan as the one on Fall Street in Eau Claire. I lived there until I graduated from Menomonie High School and came to Eau Claire for Nurses Training at Luther Hospital. I have pleasant memories of a happy childhood. My brother, Andrew Tiller Knutson was born there June 12th, 1925, and my sister, Ardelle Marie Knutson Fish on December 15th, 1928.
My Dad worked at Stout Institute in Menomonie, a four year private college, majoring in Manual Training, Shop etc.. for men, and Home Economics and Dietetics for women. It later became the University of Wisconsin – Stout. Dad’s job description was General Repairman, but he later became a fireman. He must have learned a lot on that job because he seemed to be able to do everything, plumbing, electricity and carpentry. He retired in 1958. My mother stayed home, canned, baked and sewed among the many duties of tending a home. We all worked hard and played hard and had a lot of fun.
Special Times
Christmas was always ushered in by the ringing of the Church bell at 6pm Christmas Eve. This was very special to us as my Grandfather Tiller was the Janitor at the Church, and rang the Church bell. To this day I try to sneak outside to hear any church bells at 6pm. The Christmas Eve meal was then served. Earlier in my life, at Grandpa and Grandma Tiller’s, later alternating between our home and my Uncle Ed’s. The meal always consisted of lutefisk, lefse, baked spareribs, mashed potatoes, cranberries, one or more vegetables and pumpkin pie. A small glass of wine was served before the meal to make it very special. My parents also made root beer which we had during the holidays.
One year Dad made us a neat bobsled for our Christmas gift. We used it a lot and had much fun with it. Most of the time our gifts would be clothes that Mom made for us. The most common gift would be a new dress that she sewed for us or a pair of flannel pajamas along with toys. One year my sister Ardelle and brother Andy saved Wrigley gum wrappers and gave Lu and me a nice Silver Indian Bracelet called a Wolf Paw Bracelet. They kept it a secret for a long time but one Christmas morning I was teasing Ardelle to find out what they were giving us for Christmas. She let the cat out of the bag and said that it was a “Wolf Pow Bracelet.”
The wife of one of our pastors Rev. Gerald Giving, was a native of Sweden. During that time a Christmas Day service was held called the “Julotte.” Dad would attend that and come home and serve coffee and Christmas goodies to us in bed. Then he’d get us all up and we’d all go to church at 10:30 or 11:00am. Christmas Day would be spent either at Uncle Ed’s or our house. Christmas lights were very fragile then, if one burned out, the whole set would go out. We were lucky if they lasted over New Years.
Our Sunday School Program (Christmas Tree as it was called) was given on the Second Day of Christmas (the evening of December 26th). Since most of the cars were “put up on the blocks” and not driven during the winter months, we walked or were pulled in a sled to all of these events. Every child in Sunday School had a recitation. I always thought it would be terrific to forget my lines and lo and behold it happened. My recitation was the second verse of the Advent Hymn,
Come Thou Long Expected Jesus
Born Thy People To Deliver
Born A Child And Yet A King
Born To Reign In Us Forever
Now Thy Gracious Kingdom Bring
By Thine Own Eternal Spirit
Rule Thou In Our Hearts Alone
By Thine All Sufficient Merit
Raise Us To The Glorious Throne
Since I had the second verse, and was repeating the verse to myself, I got hung up on one of the “borns.” I have since learned that it isn’t that bad to make a mistake – sometimes that’s the way we learn our best lessons and certainly never forget.
Music has been important in my life. Dad had a nice baritone voice and my Uncle, Ed Tiller, a tenor. They along with Olena Mattison, the choir director, and her sister Genevieve Tilleson, sang in a quartette for many years. Dad also sang in the church choir for over fifty years and was church treasurer for over twenty. My Mother was president of the Ladies Aid during World War II and volunteered at the Red Cross. She attended Dunn County Normal School in Menomonie graduating in 1907. She taught schools in Carpio, North Dakota, Big Elk Creek, Meridean and Springbrook where she met my Dad. She worked hard and was always there when we needed her with her love and concern.
Later when I worked at Luther Hospital in Eau Claire and would come home weekends, I would often sit down and play the piano. Being careless on counting time, Dad would often get the trumpet out and help me straighten out the time. We’d always end up with hymns such as, “Jeg Er Fremed” (I am a Stranger) a Norwegian Hymn, and
My God How Wonderful Thou Art
Yet I May Love Thee Too, O Lord
Almighty As Thou Art,
For Thou Has Stooped To Ask Of Me
The Love Of My Poor Heart
The first thing that I’m going to do when I see hi again is to thank him for teaching me to love all of those hymns. And I’m going to thank Grandma Rostad for giving us the organ on which to play them.
It was always neat on Sundays when we went down to Uncle Martin’s farm. All of the Knutson cousins, Uncles and Aunts were always welcome and many times we stayed overnight. Sometimes there would be four or five of us in a bed, sleeping crosswise.
There would be a ball game in the afternoon. Dads, Uncles etc., would play with us.
The farm house was big and would get hot in the summer. A cook shanty, a one room building was built to be used for baking, cooking and canning during this period. This was enlarged when Uncle Martin took over the farm and Grandma Knutson and Uncle Carl lived there until she died.
School Days
The elementary school that I attended was in North Menomonie and is still there today. North Menomonie was an island to itself in those days. They had their own one room jail and one policeman, John Hanson, who was on duty at night and drunk most of the time. The school was across from the Norwegian Lutheran Church, the only church in North Menomonie and was about five blocks north of our house. I attended kindergarten in the old wooden school and grades 1-7 in the new brick school that’s used today. We had four teachers, one for kindergarten and grade 1, one each for grades 2 and 3, 4 and 5, and 6 and 7. The sixth and seventh grade teacher, Gena Moe, was also the principal and answered the telephone which was in the first-aid room. One of the seventh grade students, Leonard Sukow, would quickly grab a chair, stand on it and put the clock ahead 10 or 15 minutes when she was out of the room. She never seemed to notice, maybe she was glad it happened.
A group of parents got together to oust her from her position. All of the students walked downtown (one and a half miles) to the superintendent’s office, all but Luella and Jean Knutson. Miss Moe became ill with TB, spent many years in the sanitarium and later died.
This also happened to another teacher, Mrs. Bryant, who lost her job and died shortly afterwards. I was always glad that my parents had kept us from being involved in these incidents.
Grades 8-12 were downtown in the Central Junior and Senior High School (one Building). At that time we started to have homework and school became more serious. We learned to dance in gym and many of us went up there to dance during our lunch hour.
There were few people taking piano lessons at that time and I played for quite a few activities. One Sunday afternoon at 2pm church service I played the pipe organ for the Junior Choir. The only thing that looked the same as the piano was the keyboard. After the anthem, I got up and walked off on the foot pedals. It sounded like a train. I learned that lesson the hard way.
It was during this transition that I was confirmed. May 31 was an eventful day in my life. That was the day I was confirmed in 1931, and graduated from High School on May 31, 1935.
Confirmation was a very special day. My parents took me to Eau Claire where I got new underwear, stockings, shoes and a beautiful white dress. I’m sure it was my first boughten dress. I would guess that it cost from about $9.98 to $12.98. This helped me realize what an important day it would be. All of my relatives, grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins came. Everything happened on one day – catechization, confirmation vows at the morning service and my first communion in the evening. How I worried about the catechization. We memorized the entire Luther’s Explanation to the small Catechism. I was sure that I would get the question, “What is God,” and sure enough I did. I made it through along with all 12 Bible verses. My Dad was very strict on our memory work and that carried over to me with our children.
I did a lot of baby sitting in High School and pieced a quilt during that time. Quilting was very popular and both Lu and I belonged to a sewing club.
I took subjects in high school that would help me in Nurses Training. I was very anxious to become a nurse. I was so glad that I had taken chemistry in High School because it was very easy for me and extremely difficult for most of my classmates in Nurses Training because of our very heavy schedule. Latin also made Pharmacology much easier.
Nurses Training
Finally, I was a High School graduate and had the requirements to enter Luther Hospital School of Nursing in Eau Claire.
I got a summer job working for the Mike Lee’s. He was part owner with his brother Jake of Lee’s Drug Store in Menomonie. The Lee’s had no children and his wife, Corrine, was ill with some type of arthritis. The salary was $3.00 per week and Sunday’s off. They were a nice young couple and were very good to me. Corrine had lovely clothes and gave me some nice things which came in very handy when I left that fall for Eau Claire to begin Nurses Training.
My parents went to Eau Claire and borrowed the Tuition Fee from the Citizens Loan Company. The combined Tuition Fee, including books was around $70.00. Except for spending money and street clothes that was the entire cost. A double room in the Nurses Residence, meals, uniforms and laundry were provided. Student nurses were an asset to the hospital cost-wise. We were soon on duty, piling linen, cleaning service rooms, units and caring for patients as we were being taught.
I had two room-mates, Alice Dotseth Thomas from Knapp, Wisconsin for the period before we went to Chicago and Doris Krahn Thompson after our affiliation. Six months of our training was at the Cook County Hospital in Chicago, three months of pediatrics, two of psychiatry and one of neurology.
I worked hard and studied hard and how I loved it!
During my Nurses Training there was hardly ever a day off. After four weeks of Night Duty with not a single night off as a student nurse, we got off duty at 7am Saturday and had the following Sunday off, followed by reporting for an eight hour work day on Monday. You could have a class at 1pm, 4pm, and 7pm, when on night duty and there was absolutely no excuses for not attending the class.
Some of the student nurses would get homesick but this never happened to me. This was because Uncle Oscar and Aunt Clara were so good to me. They invited me over for meals, overnights and anything special. Aunt Clara had a good sense of humor, is an excellent cook, and was very good to all of her nieces and nephews. She is 92 years old now and has been like a Mother to me after my Mother died.
Uncle Oscard (Dad’s youngest brother) was a lot of fun too. He was very musical, played the violin, saw, guitar, mouth organ and piano. It was fun to see my Dad and him both sit down on the piano bench and play their duets, mostly by ear and chording.
There was only one time when I wanted to quit. In those days we did direct blood transfusions in surgery, which required a nurse to be scrubbed to rinse out the 50cc syringes in four solutions, sterile water twice, NSS and sodium citrate, which prevents clotting of blood.
The operating room supervision was very strict and everyone was afraid of her. When you did something wrong, her famous words were, “Girl, how could you be so dumb?” You had to work fast and it was easy to break the tip of the syringe, which I did a few times when scrubbing for a transfusion. I remember going to Grandpa Tiller’s funeral and saying that I wanted to quit (poor timing to bring it up) but was told to hang in there. I’m glad that I did.
We had a Nurses Chorus, which sang at various churches and functions throughout the city. I was accompanist a lot of the time for this.
After graduating from Nurses Training, I took my State Board examination and became a Registered Nurse.
World War II
Upon completion of my Nurses Training, I worked as a General Duty Nurse at Luther Hospital. We were not eligible to live in the Nurses Home so Dottie (Alice Dotseth) as we called her and I rented a room on Babcock Street from a widow, Mrs. Clara Wahl. Our salary was $40.00 per month, meals and laundry furnished by the hospital. Mrs. Wahl was always home and kept the house very cold. One Saturday night she finally went away. Dottie and I thought we’d take advantage of it and get warmed up. We turned the thermostat up on the furnace and went to the hospital for supper, forgetting to turn the thermostat back down. When we came home the temperature was 90 degrees. We opened every door and window we could. It must have cooled things off as I don’t remember her saying anything about it.
I worked at Luther until March of 1939. The Menomonie City Hospital called and asked me to work there for ten months (March through December of 1939), while their ten nurses took their vacations. The ten nurses each had one month’s vacation. The pay was good, double what I was making in Eau Claire, about $90.00 a month. It was valuable experience. I can’t believe that I even gave chloroform as an anesthetic to OB’s. After that 10 months term, I did some private duty (20 hours duty, one patient with good pay, $7.00 a day). Then the hospital hired me for night (7pm – 8am with four hours out for sleep if we weren’t busy). I didn’t care for that either, so I went back to Luther where my friends were. I did get a lot of valuable experience in Menomonie.
I was very lucky when I returned to Luther Hospital to get the position of assistant head nurse in the Annex, all private rooms except one ward for children. There was no night duty or 3-11pm shift. Both the Head Nurse and I were on duty 7-12 in the morning, she took care of most of the administration, made assignments, wrote P.M. and night orders, etc. I was in the Dressing Room, helped with making rounds with doctors, changed dressings, removed stitches, set up IV’s, spinal taps etc., and got a Resident or House Doctor to do these treatments.
From 12-7pm one of us was on duty and in charge, alternating working 12-3:30pm or having 12-3:30 off and coming back to work the 3:30 to 7pm shift. We also alternated holidays off duty. I was on cloud 9!
Early in 1942, the Annex Head Nurse, Margaret Larson went into the Navy Nurse Corps and I got her job. One of the requirements was that I take a post-graduate course at the University of Minnesota. The two required courses were Ward Administration and Teaching and Supervision. I did this in the summer of 1942. Soon after our whole unit moved into the new wing of the hospital, fourth floor. How exciting! This was the nicest area of the Hospital. I even got to pick out the drapes in the rooms and had a lot of good nurses to work with.
My social life picked up too. I moved into an apartment, Oxford Court, with three girls I had met. Sylvia Running, her sister Berghetta and Marcia Peterson. I joined First Lutheran Church and was in the LDR (Lutheran Daughters of the Reformation) and sang in the choir. Several of the choir members started going to the “202 Club” downtown for hamburgers after practice. We had a lot of parties, picnics etc., and called ourselves, “The Sunshine Gang.” Our theme song was “You are My Sunshine.”
Everyone’s life changed after December 7th, 1941, the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Andy was drafted in 1942. It seemed so unfair, he had just graduated from High School. He came to work at Luther Hospital as an orderly, did a good job and was very popular, especially with the student nurses! Before he went into the army he told me that he would let me know where he was. He set up a formula alternating the alphabet; A-1, B-26, C-2, D-25, E-3, etc. Soon I got a letter that he wanted to get the families’ birthdays straight. Was my Mother’s birthday June 8th, my Dads October 18th, Lu’s November 1st, and Ardelle’s December 20th? The secret was out. He was in Oran, Africa. Andy was in the Medics, was wounded and got the Purple Heart. He was in the ETO (European Theater of Operations).
Many times I wish I had known Lyle during the War, but I don’t think that I could have taken having him there too.
Finally, V-E Day arrived May 8th, 1945, and V-J Day, August 15th, 1945, and the war was over! How we celebrated!!
Post-War Years
World War II has been called the “BIG ONE.” And true, everything was different. Everyone became involved in some way or another. During the War Years, women went to work in factories, filling jobs previously held by GI’s. Many women enlisted in the WAC’s, (Women’s Army Corps) WAVES, (Women’s Navy Corps) WAAF’S, (Women’s Army Air Force).
A nurse became a Second Lieutenant if she enlisted in the Army, an Ensign if she enlisted in the Navy. Many of Luther’s nurses enlisted.
Doctors and nurses enlisted. I received a letter from the government that I was classified as I-D (essential on the home front) because of my job at the Hospital. Not being adventurous, I respected it.
The GI’s were told that their jobs would be waiting for them when they returned. A lot of them were but many weren’t. Many of the women remained on their jobs, and others joined them, and kept joining.
The GI’s were offered an educational bill. “THE GI BILL.” It paid for their College tuition, books, room and board. A ten year term would educate some who joined the Reserves to become doctors and specialists. Many of these doctors are in our clinics today and are at retirement age, or have recently retired.
Church membership increased as the GI’s returned and started raising families and going to church. Life is different after you’ve been in a fox hole and have had a brush with death. New churches, schools, hospitals, roads, and homes were built. Nothing was the same.
And the city of Eau Claire changed too. It was just as if someone picked up the downtown area and moved everything to the southeast section of the city. Two large Malls were built.
New residential areas were developed. The area of the old airport at the top of State Street Hill became “Putnam Heights,” where we live now. Farmland was purchased and hundreds of homes were built. Large discount chain stores were built as were shopping malls.
My Marriage
The year was 1946, the month of October. I’m not sure of the date. My room-mate, Sylvia Running, was going with Fred Uecke. Fred introduced me to this nice guy. I remember our first date, we double dated with Syv and Fred. Lyle told me that his Grandmother, Gunhild Score, lived on Douglas Street in North Menomonie. There were many more coincidents than that. His Dad had been confirmed with my Uncle Ed. His Uncles, Sig and Gust Score also lived in North Menomonie as well as his Aunt, Manda Dahl. He had many relatives in Carpio, North Dakota. My mother had taught school at a school called the “Rostad School” because of many Rostads attending. While teaching there, she lived with the family of Lyle’s Great Uncle, Eskel Rostad.
There were five movie theaters in Eau Claire in those days. The State, Wisconsin, O’Klare, Cameo and Hollywood. We went to a lot of movies as it was the most common form of entertainment and they were good movies.
I worked every other Sunday until 3:30pm and Lyle picked me up and we would go to his folks home for supper. Lyle’s Mother entertained beautifully and was a good cook. I learned a lot from her.
He asked me to marry him February 22, 1948. When I came in that night one of the girl’s at the apartment said that I looked like I had just swallowed a canary. I got my ring March 10th and we were married June 5th, 1948. We were married at First Lutheran Church in Eau Claire by Pastor Agnar Tanner.
We were married at 7 o’clock in the evening. Lu was Maid of Honor, Ardelle and Loretta Rostad (Lyle’s brother Milton’s wife) were bridesmaids. Mary Brooks, my cousin Goldie Brooks daughter was flower girl. Milton, Lyle’s brother was best man and my brother, Andy, and Orv Gynnild were groomsmen and ushers. Lyle had saved money for a new car which was impossible to get for quite a while after the war. He bought a 1939 Ford Coupe and we drove to Denver, Colorado for our honeymoon. That was quite a trip in those days.
Where were we going to live? After checking the apartments available, which were very scarce, we discovered that Ole and Orv Gynnild would build a house for us on a lot that Lyle’s parents owned at 524 Wagner Avenue. We paid $400.00 for the lot and built a two bedroom, living room, kitchen, and one bath home. We could help all that we liked and did all the landscaping, etc. We lived with Lyle’s folks until it was finished in September. I worked at Luther Hospital and we were very happy. We were lucky to have such a nice house.
There aren’t words to describe the happiness that my marriage has brought me. Lyle is such a fine Christian, unselfish and forgiving person. I wish that I had his patience, mind and skill with numbers. When he retired from Presto, where he worked for 38 years, he was presented his calculator with the inscription, “In recognition of $62,000,000 interest earned for National Presto Industries, Inc.”
524 Wagner Avenue
Anxious to start a family, I found myself pregnant in September. Naturally we were delighted but I miscarried in November and resigned my position at Luther. I learned to knit, sewed a lot of baby clothes and Mary Elizabeth was born December 21st, 1949. What a joy! Ann Landers was one of my first visitors. It was good to know a lot of the staff at the hospital and we got special attention. Lyle had Christmas Eve Dinner with me and dinner and supper Christmas Day. Another miscarriage occurred before Peter was born. Our next great joy was when Peter John was born June 15th, 1953 and our family was complete. How happy and thankful we were.
Soon wedding bells started ringing and my family changed a lot. Everyone was getting married after the GI’s came home. My brother, Andy, and sisters Luella and Ardelle and I were all married within five years. My sister Ardelle married Warren Fish on August 6th, 1949. Both were graduates of the University of Wisconsin – Stout. After their graduation, they both taught in Hinckley, Minnesota, but spent the greatest part of their life in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. They now reside in Florida. They also have two children. Son Tom and wife Sally, along with their two children, Mardy and Meredith live in Vero Beach Florida. Their daughter, Jane, and husband David Cetrangelo, live in Land O’Lakes, Florida. It’s understandable why Warren and Ardelle moved to Leesburg, Florida this summer (1991).
My brother, Andy, married Joan Skouge June 30th, 1951. Both are graduates of St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. They have four children. Amy and husband, Jay Blackborn, live in Savannah, Georgia. They have two daughters, Meghan and Katherine and are expecting a son in December, 1991. Son, Daniel Andrew, is single and resides in Atlanta, Georgia. Son, Paul, was killed in an accident five years ago. Daughter, Sara, is married to Michael Zanish and resides in White Bear Lake, Minnesota. They have two children, Erika and Justin.
Sister Luella, married John Torgerson May 31st, 1952. Lu graduated from Dunn County Normal School and attended the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire. John is a graduate of Dunn County Agricultural School. They have twin daughters, Debra Raye and Susan Kaye, born April 23rd, 1953. Debbie is married to Tom King and they have two sons, Adam and Seth and reside in Eau Claire. Susan is married to David Cecconni. They have no children and reside in Iron Mountain, Michigan.
3015 Ellis Street
Early in the spring of 1957, we sold our house on 524 Wagner Avenue. We had it appraised and were told the value was between $12,800 and $13,200. We put an ad in the newspaper which was to be in the Saturday evening paper. Lyle went out to the office that A.M. Someone who had heard that the house was for sale asked to come up and see it. She came at 10am, sat down at 10:15 and said she would buy it. She gave us the asking price which was $12,900.
The basement for our new home was dug April 15th, 1957, and the house was to be ready July 15th when the new tenants at Wagner Avenue were promised occupancy. The kitchen was not ready but we moved in. Since it was summer it wasn’t too bad, sort of like camping. Things are easier when everything is under one roof. We did all of the painting, staining and varnishing. What is now a beautiful lawn, was all sand burrs. There was a lot of wind that summer and we had a lot of sandstorms. The streets, both Ellis and Tyler were not finished. We fell in love with the area. The neighbors were wonderful. Grundstroms, our next door neighbors had a girl Mary’s age and one boy Peter’s age. Roy Grundstrom worked for AT&T. After a few years, Roy was transferred. His son, Doug, said that they were going to be rich!
Mary and Pete took piano lessons from Oscar Waller, were in their respective scout troops and church choirs.
Lyle’s Dad got sick in August of 1965 and died September 24th of the same year. He had cancer of the colon which had spread to the liver. He was a good looking man and a hard worker, a supervisor in the maintenance department at UNIROYAL.
Lyle’s mother lived alone in the house until 1982, when she moved to the Syverson Lutheran Nursing Home. She too was a hard worker and kept the house up well, both inside and out. It was a very cozy two bedroom bungalow. She died July 24th, 1989.
Mary graduated from Memorial High School in 1968 and graduated from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota in 1972, majoring in Music (Vocal Education).
In the spring of 1971, she asked us to come to her room after her Junior Recital, where she told us that she was engaged to Steve Waller, a speech major. We were very happy for both of them. Steve is a Sales and Marketing Specialist for the L.B. White Company and Mary teaches Music at Northern Hills School, both in Onalaska, Wisconsin.
They have three sons; Andrew Stephen was born July 5th, 1978 in Alexandria, MN, Mark Rostad was born February 5th, 1983 in LaCrosse, Wisconsin, Daniel Christian was born October 31st, 1984 in LaCrosse, Wisconsin.
Pete graduated from Memorial High School in 1971 and from the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire in 1975, majoring in Comprehensive Accounting. He received his MBA from the University of Minnesota. Pete is Director of Information and Control, Consumer Division, for Land O’Lakes Foods in their Home Office in St. Paul, MN. He married his High School sweetheart, Debbie Wilson, August 23rd, 1975. Debbie also graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Eau Claire majoring in Music (Vocal Performance). Debbie is a personal banker at Firstar Bank in Arden Hills, MN. Their son Erik Peter, was born March 9th, 1980, in Fridley, MN. Their daughter, Kristina Marie, was born November 5th, 1982, in Fridley, MN.
How we love Steve, Mary, Andrew, Mark, Daniel and Pete, Debbie, Erik and Kristina. Family is so precious; We have been blessed!!
Steve, Mary, Pete and Debbie all use their musical talents in choirs and other musical organizations and we are so happy for that.
Travel
In the early fall of 1960, I started saving dimes for our trip east in 1961. I knew it wouldn’t go far, but it probably was an incentive to save. The trip became a reality. We not only visited Washington, D.C., New York City and Gettysburg, but saw President Kennedy, Jackie, little Caroline and John take off in his helicopter. While visiting Gettysburg, we got autographs of President Eisenhower, his wife, Mamie, and their son John.
We went south to Biloxi, Mississippi in 1963. Glacier Park, Bannf and Lake Louise, Seattle, Portland, Yellowstone Park in 1966.
Lyle and I went to England, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland and France in 1977. Norway, Sweden and Denmark in 1980, and Germany, Austria, Bavaria and Czechoslovakia in 1990. While we were in Bavaria, we attended the world famous Passion Play in Oberammergau.
The highlight of these tours was to visit the homes in Norway that my Grandparents, Ann Gulvog and Lars Knutson had lived in their youth before coming to the states.
We also spent the last two weeks in March in Florida for about 15 years and went on many short trips.
Other Materials
Why I Wrote “This is My Story”
Our daughter, Mary Rostad Waller, asked me to write down things that I remember from my early years. I always dismissed the idea (which is very unusual for me) and thought I would never do it until Lyle and I started going to the Dunn County Court House looking up dates for the Family Tree that she was doing.
ALL OF A SUDDEN THESE PEOPLE CAME TO LIFE! How did my Dad feel when his Dad died when he was only eight years old? Is that why he quit school in the third grade? Is that when he developed his sense of humor, to keep from crying? How did “Bestema” (Norwegian for Grandmother. That’s what we called her to differentiate from Grandma Tiller) feel being left a widow with eight children, the youngest, Uncle Oscar at age three? Five years later her daughter, Ildri, died at Christmastime (December 25, 1904) at age twenty-five. I remember dad saying that he and his brother took the sleigh to Eau Claire (about twelve miles) the day after Christmas to buy a casket which they brought back to the farm in which to bury her. Did Bestema ever realize that all three of her daughters died within fifteen years and were twenty-five years old? It was approximately seven years and two months between Ildri and Borgine’s death and seven years and two months between Ildri and Borgine’s death and seven years and two months between Borgine and Lydia’s. How strange! Why hadn’t I asked my parents about these things instead of coming up with them now when it’s too late.
Thank you, Mary, for helping me realize these questions. My life is richer because of it. It helps me realize who I am.
My Story
I apologize for the frequent use of the pronoun I. I know of no other way to write this. I am thankful for my Christian Family. Dad died at Luther Hospital in Eau Claire while undergoing prostate surgery on Good Friday, April 9, 1971. Many times when I sit down to practice the organ for the volunteer job that I love so, he seems so near.
My God, How Wonderful Thou Art
Thou Everlasting Friend
On Thee I Stay My Trusting Heart
Till Faith In Vision End (one of our favorites)
We sold the home place in Menomonie.
Mom moved into the Syverson Lutheran Nusring Home in Eau Claire. She lived there from June 1971 to March 28th, 1976. She died while we were in Florida. She made a good adjustment at the home and I learned much from her. One day, after I had taken her to the doctor, we stopped at Heckel’s Restaurant for coffee and she said, “Oh Jean, I’m such a burden to you.” When I tried to tell her that she wasn’t, she said, “How would you feel if it was you?” She read a lot and was very intelligent. The staff at the Nursing Home gave a party for the volunteers every year. Mom always gave the tribute to the people who helped with music. On the way down to the dining room I reminded her that she didn’t have her remarks with her. She answered, “I have it in my head.” I was very proud of her.
Lyle and I make a conscious effort to enjoy every day. We enjoy our children and grandchildren, our relatives and friends, our church and our life.
I never went back to work at the hospital. I think I might have if It had been today, but things were different then. I did volunteer work. I was on the Development Council of Luther Hospital, taught High School Sunday School (Juniors) for twenty years, was Circle Bible Study Leader for thirty-eight years and was on the Board of Deacons and Board of Education. But I saved the best for the last, volunteer organist for the midweek chapel service at the Syverson Lutheran Nursing Home. It is a half-hour service at 10am Wednesdays. I try to be there at least fifteen minutes before to play hymns. I have yet to get there when there aren’t people sitting and waiting.
One day, Hilda Kolberg, the former organist who is a resident, reminded me that all residents weren’t Lutherans and suggested that I should play some Methodist and Gospel Hymns. The tunes are catchy and the words usually good. One of the favorites is Blessed Assurance.
This is the chorus:
This Is My Story, This Is My Song
Praising My Savior All The Day Long
This Is My Story, This Is My Song
Praising My Savior All The Day Long
This is my story.