Iowa
Old Press
The Decorah Journal
Decorah, Winneshiek co. Iowa
Thursday, January 14, 1943
Housewife and Mother Are Burned to Death
A mother and daughter, Mrs. George Moore, about 54 years
old, and Mrs. Melvin Borseth, died Friday at the Decorah hospital
as a result of burns suffered when the Melvin Borseth house was
destroyed by fire last Thursday shortly after noon.
Carol, 10-year-old daughter of Mrs. Moore, and Lyle, son of Mrs.
Borseth and grandson of Mrs. Moore, are still in a serious
condition at the Decorah hospital as a result of the burns. Both
are now expected to recover. The death of Mrs. Borseth and Mrs.
Moore brought sadness to the community. The Borseths lived three
miles west of Frankville on the old Schoonmaker farm.
Mrs. Moore was born as Mabel Schoonmaker, the daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Nelson Schoonmaker of near Castalia. She was married to
George F. Moore Oct. 8, 1907 at Prairie du Chien, Wis. He
preceded her in death.
Mr. Borseth grew to womanhood in Bloomfield township and was
married Nov. [?23, 1936] to Melvin Arthur Borseth.
Funeral services were conducted Sunday by Rev. W.H. Sinning of
the Frankville Community church at the Centennial church near
Ossian.
Rosenthal Retires After Many Years as Fair Director
Emil Rosenthal, vice president of the Winneshiek county
fair board for many years and a pioneer member of the board, was
retired at the annual meeting of fair stockholders at the
courthouse Monday, by L. Dale Ahern of the Public Opinion. Mr.
Rosenthal had a prominent past in securing for Winneshiek county
the fine 4-H Livestock building, the 4-H Community Hall and other
improvements. President Arthur Ellingren, vice president Ed
Haugen, treasurer W. P. Ronan, Jr., and secretary Leon Brown were
re-elected.
Milo Harvey To Be An Instructor in Radio
Milo Harvey, who has operated Harvey's radio service on
West Water street for some years, is closing the business and
will become an instructor in radio. He expects a call from the
Civil Service soon to go to St. Louis to attend school for three
months of training. He then expects to go to Madison to instruct
in radio for the armed services. His family will remain in
Decorah.
Married
Miss Eunice Arness and Dervin Rocksvold were married New
year's Day at the Glenwood Lutheran parsonage by the Rev. Alfred
Bredesen. The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Arness
of Decorah and the bridegroom is the son of P.A. Rocksvold of
Glenwood. The new home will be made in Decorah for the present.
Mr. Rocksvold is a steam shovel operator for the Mason and Hanger
company at Baraboo, Wis.
Lars Lee Dies
Funeral services for Lars Lee, 84, were held Friday at
the Glenwood Lutheran church with Rev. Alfred Bredesen
officiating. The [illegible] funeral home was in charge of
arrangements. Mr. Lee, a brother of Agrim K. Lee of Decorah, had
been ill a long time, the last two weeks of which he was in bed.
He died Jan. 5, 1943, at his home in Glenwood township. Mr. Lee
was born in Lardahl, Sogn, Norway, August 3, 1856*. When he was
20 he came to this country, directly to Winneshiek county, and
lived always in Glenwood township with the exception of three
years in Larimore, N.D. Julia Dahlen became his wife Oct. 13,
1891*, and she and one son, Arthur at Scandinavia, Wis., survive.
[*the indicated dates that were very difficult to read
accurately, and are best guesses by the transcriber]
Mrs. C.A. Knutson Dies in Fargo
Mrs. C.A. Knutson, 46, of Fargo, N.D., died suddenly
Monday. She was born in Burr Oak township as Ellen Katherine
Knox, and is survived by her husband and one daughter, De Ricca*
of Fargo. She also is survived by two brothers, Joe and R.E. Knox
of Burr Oak and two sisters, Mrs. Walter Gassman of Burr Oak and
Mrs. Tom Quinn of Superior, Wis. Funeral services will be held at
Plymouth Rock Saturday morning.
[*the daughter was either De Ricca or Dr. Ricca, the type being
difficult to read]
Magnus Skoggen Died
Magnus C. Skoggen of Madison township died Saturday at
the Decorah hospital where he had been a patient two weeks with
an infected hip. He was 69 years old, having been born June 23,
1873, in Trondhjem, Norway. He came to this country and to
Winneshiek county when he was 19 years old. In 1915 he was
married to Marie Haaland.
Mrs. Skoggen survives with the following children, Edna, at home
and Mrs. Gilbert Hanson of Austin, Minn. Also surviving are the
following brothers and sisters, John and Ellis, both of
Lancaster, Minn.; Christine Nelson of Ostrander, Minn., and
Johanna Hillestad of Decorah.
Funeral services were conducted Tuesday at the Olson-Iverson
funeral home and the Madison Lutheran church with the Rev. M.B.
Quill officiating. He was carried to his grave in the adjacent
cemetery by Realph and Peter Ask, Ole Bakken, Alfred Gilbertson,
Hans Solum, Elvin Larson and Henry Tollefson.
92-Year-Old Woman Suffers Broken Hip
Mrs. Gustava Moore, 92, fell at the home of her son,
J.L. Moore, rural mail carrier, with whom she makes her home, and
broke her left hip. She was taken to the Decorah hospital for
treatment. The Moores live 2 1/2 miles northwest of Decorah on
the Bluffton road.
Hattlestads Sell Farm
Mr. and Mrs. Otto Hattlestad have moved into Decorah
from their farm four miles east of Decorah and have bought the
home of Mr. and Mrs. Hans Fagerite [may be Fagrhe] on Mechanic
Street. They have sold their farm to Elmer Evenson. Mr. and Mrs.
Hattlestad's son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Martin L.
[illegible], formerly of Mason City, will move on this farm which
was bought by Mr. Evenson.
Martin Finhodlt Writes from Vancouver
Martin Finholdt writes from Vancouver, Wash. that he is
working in Henry Kaiser's shipyards where he is a pipe fitter. He
works on the swing shift. He says that it has rained every day
for the past ten days.
Raymond Moeller Is In The Navy
Raymond Bernard Moeller, 19, son of August B. Moeller of
Fort Atkinson is becoming accustomed to the life of a sailor as a
recruit at the U.S. Naval Training Station at Great Lakes, Ill.
Tommy Collins Was on Boise
Thomas M. Collins (Tommy) who is somewhere in the
western Pacific, has written to his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas
Collins, Sr., of Ossian that he is in excellent health and hopes
to be home on a furlough next Christmas. Tommy enlisted in the
Navy March 5, 1940 and has not been home since he left Great
Lakes. He is now a second class petty officer and is also a
second class cook. He was on the U.S.S. Boise for one
and one-half years and left the Boise to attend school in San
Diego, Calif., a short time before the air raid.
Decorah Folks
Mrs. Roger Lubke visited with her husband who is
stationed at Great Lakes, Ill., from Friday till Monday.
George A. Lundy, who has been working in the shipyards at
Richmond, Calif. for about a month writes that he likes
California and his work.
U.S. Marshal Fred Biermann went to Dubuque Sunday where federal
court convened Monday morning.
Pvt. Herbert Stee returned Monday evening to Fort Dix, N.J. after
spending a six-day furlough with friends and relatives in
Castalia and Decorah.
Mrs. Clara Jones, Mrs. Emmett Ottenson and Mrs. Robert Huey were
called to West Union Wednesday to attend the funeral of Mrs.
Jones' sister who passed away suddenly Tuesday.
Mark Halverson returned to Kingsville, Kan. after spending a
ten-day furlough at the home of his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Henry
Halverson. Mark is in the Navy.
Phillip Hildebrandt spent last Thursday in Madison, Wis. visiting
his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Walter Schuldt. He departed from
Decorah for Fort St. John, British Columbia, Canada, Saturday,
where he will be a master mechanic on the Alaskan highway
project.
Olaf Hanson, who was injured in World War I, is in the hospital
again suffering from the old wounds to his leg which have caused
him a great deal of trouble for several years.
Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Wepler left Tuesday for California where they
will visit their son, Walter, who is in the navy and stationed at
San Diego. They will also visit relatives in El Monte and
Oakland.
Claude Taylor, Jr. and his sister, Mrs. Lavern Sullivan, the
former LaVaughn Taylor, left last Thursday for San Francisco.
Mrs. Sullivan will go to San Luis Obispo to visit her husband who
is in the service.
Eivind Qually, son of Mr. and Mrs. Chris Qually, has returned to
Decoah from Great Lakes Naval Training station. He received an
honorable discharge because of sinus trouble.
Dr. C.K. Peck, dentist, left Sunday for San Diego to enter the
U.S. Navy Reserve as a dentist with title of lieutenant.
James Peck, son of Dr. and Mrs. C.K. Peck underwent an operation
for appendicitis last week.
Dr. R.N. Svendsen left a week ago for San Diego for medial
service.
Pvt. Arnold Haugen returned Wednesday to Camp Pickett, Va., after
spending a 13-day furlough with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Chris
Haugen of Decorah.
Miss Gretchen Woldt returned to Minneapolis Sunday after
attending the funeral of her father, Henry Woldt. She attends the
University of Minnesota.
- Frankville News -
Miss Wilma Evert went to Monona Tuesday to visit her
sister and family, Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Topel.
Norman Vick received word on Saturday that his father was ill
with pneumonia at his home in Glenwood.
Mrs. Sherman Bollman received word from Decorah that her nephew
Curtis Bollman of Milwaukee, Wis., was very ill with pneumonia at
a hospital in that city.
Mrs. Roger Sampson of Decorah, Mr. and Mrs. Lynn Crawford, Rev.
Sinning, Cleone Crawford and Mr. and Mrs. Irving Crawford, Mr.
and Mrs. Kieth Waters and family, were Sunday dinner guests in
the home of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Waters, as a courtesy to Cleone
Crawford who is home on a furlough from army service in San
Francisco.
- East Canoe News -
Earl Weber gave a party to his neighbors one evening
last week.
Mr. and Mrs. Olaus Tollefson received a telegram and a letter
from their son Raymond who is now with the U.S. Army in England.
He is fine and likes it much better than Ireland. His good
neighbor Art Juve is in the same company.
Mrs. Olavus Tollefson received word that her mother who lives in
Clermont, Ia., is not well.
[transcribed by S.F., January 2015]