Opdahl, Lorentz Christian 1866-1940

OPDAHL, THOMPSON

Posted By: Wilma J. Vande Berg (email)
Date: 7/20/2016 at 19:11:26

Hawarden Independent January 2, 1941

L. C. Opdahl laid to rest.
Funeral services for L. C. Opdahl, who passed away at his home a few miles north of town Sunday, Dec. 22nd were held Thursday at the St. Pauls’s Lutheran church with Rev. H. W. Krieger in charge. The funeral was very largely attended by this relatives, friends and neighbors. Interment was made in Highland cemetery. Paul bearers included John Vlotho Jr., Martin Moeller, Oscar Vander Hamm, A. M Richardson, Philip Treiber and Alfred Hemmingson.

Lorentz Christian Opdahl was born near Bergen, Norway, February 7, 1866. He left his native Norway on May 17, 1869, when he was only a little more than three years old, coming to Milwaukee, where he- arrived on July 4, 1869. One of the features of his leaving his native country was that the day he left Norway, May 17th, was Independence day for that country, and the day he arrived in Milwaukee, July 4th, is Independence day in the United States. In 1870 the family settled in Polk county, Iowa.

He married Miss Helen Richardson on February 8, 1892, to which union two children were born, Adolph and Anna. His wife died on May 12, 1902. On January 31, 1903, he married Miss Julia Thomson and eleven children were born to them, four of which passed away in infancy and seven who are still living—Arthur, Earling, Clara, Norman, Florence, Mildred and Lorentz. Mr. Opdahl was baptized, confirmed, and was always a loyal member of the Lutheran faith.

Mr. Opdahl has been a prominent farmer and for 37 years he has lived in this vicinity where his influence, his rugged honesty, and his principles were well known. He had not been in good health for some time and the last few weeks he had failed rapidly, heart complications causing his death. He was greatly interested in farming, and took the lead in many of its organizations. A firm believer in cooperatives, for many years he was an officer and leader in the Farmers Cooperative Association in Ireton. His views on politics and issues of the day were never hidden as he had his beliefs and he expressed them freely, although granting to others their own views and convictions. He was a man of physical power in his younger days and the work ‘shirk’ was not in his vocabulary.

Besides his widow and children, six grandchildren mourn his death. He is also survived by a sister, Mrs. A. J. Richardson of Kingsley, and Many relatives and friends.