Nels Fymbo

FYMBO SOLID

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 9/7/2010 at 15:31:04

History of Woodbury County, Iowa 1984

Nels Fymbo
By Mrs L H Fymbo

Nels Sorenson Fymbo was born in Bradt, Denmark, February 24, 1877. He was the youngest of six children, born to Marne and Soren Fymbo. He came to the United States when he was 19 years old, and stayed with his cousin’s family – Hans Peter Hansen – in Turin, Iowa. He married Tara Mikelson but she died within a short time. He married Freda Solid in about 1906. She was born in Sweden in 1881, but she and her sister, Hilma, came to the U.S. where her mother worked for Gust Peterson and later married him.

Relatives say that it was the custom in Denmark for the family name to change when their occupation changed. Part of the family was farmers. They retained the anme of Sorenson, but some of the family went into business selling farm equipment. They lived on the island of Fyn: their name became Fynbo. A misunderstanding in going through immigration legalized the name as Fymbo, as a result. Of the three brothers who came to America, one, Iver’s names was Sorenson; Martin and Nels were Fymbos.

Nels and Freda had two boys: Lloyd Herman, born March 22, 1908; Harry Jens, born December 29, 1910. The family lived in Whiting until about 1916, when they moved to Hewett, Minnesota. It is said that when the Armistice was declared, the two boys took turns ringing the church bell all day long. The family returned to Whiting shortly after that time. Both graduated from the Whiting High School. Their mother died in 1926 after an extended illness. (See Lloyd Fymbo.) Harry married Dorothy Sivill of South Sioux City on November 27, 1937. They had three boys – Don, Robert and Douglas. Harry died May 9, 1981. Lloyd married Frances Hood. (See Lloyd Fymbo.) Nels Fymbo died in September 1945 and is buried in the Whiting Cemetery.