Celina (Beranger) Brekke 1890 - 1982

BREKKE, BERANGER, VERDON, SHICKELL, THOMPSON, DONOVAN

Posted By: Linda H Meyers (email)
Date: 6/5/2008 at 11:33:32

Celina Brekke, 91, of Nevada, died Sunday, Sept. 5, 1982 at the Story County Hospital in Nevada.
She was born Nov. 7, 1890, in New York City, New York, the daughter of Oliver and Maria Verdon Beranger, and was baptised Nov. 30, 1890 at the Roman Catholic Church of St. Vincent de Paul in New York City.
In 1894 following the death of a brother and sister, her mother's health failed and Celina and her brother William were taken to a children's home in New York City. Her father worked as a chef on yachts from New York to France and return.
In 1900, due to the vast overcrowding of the children's homes, the city of New York forced the homes to release and distribute the older children. One of the facilities for distribution out west was the historic "orphan train." Celina was placed on this train in 1900 with many other children for the trek west. Her first stop was with a family in Illinois, which proved to be brief and unfortunate. She was taken from the family, returned to the train, and taken to Roland, Iowa, where she lived with various families as a foster child.
On March 3, 1909, she married Jacob Brekke at the Lutheran Church in Roland. Their first home was in Nevada, where Jacob was employed at the tile factory. The couple started farming in 1911 in the Roland area, spending most of their working years in this area, with a brief time of two years in Goodhue County, Minn., and ending their farming days in Franklin County near Iowa Falls. They moved to Nevada in 1966.
Mrs. Brekke was a member of the Nevada United Methodist Church.
She is survived by three sons, Meyer Brekke of Belle Vista, Ark., William Brekke of Chester, Iowa, and Everett Brekke of San Diego, Calif.; two daughters, Jeannette Shickell of Collins and Adel Thompson of El Monte, Calif.; 29 grandchildren; 44 great grandchildren; and 11 great great grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents, spouse, two children, Orville Brekke and Margaret Donovan; two brothers, three sisters, one grandchild and one great grandchild.
Funeral services will be held at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 8 at the Nevada United Methodist Church, with Rev. Harold Wagner officiating. Burial will be in the Roland Cemetery.
The family will be at the Ryan Funeral home, Nevada, from 7 to 9 p.m. Tuesday evening.

---from the Nevada Journal