Rev. R. 0. Hjelmeland
Rev. R. 0. Hjelmeland, pastor of the Norwegian Lutheran church of Fertile, was born at Soendfjord, Norway, on the 27th of January, 1870, a son of Anders and Sophia (Olson) Hjelmeland, who were likewise natives of Norway, where the father followed the profession of teaching and also engaged in farming. He never came to the United States but spent his entire life in Norway, where his widow is still living at the age of seventy years.
Rev. Hjelmeland pursued his education in the schools of his native country and came to the United States in 1890, when twenty years of age. He settled first in Ashland, Wisconsin, where he was employed in sawmills and in the lumber camps, working in that way through the winter months. He was ambitious to gain a start and was willing to take any work that would enable him to gain a foothold in the new world.
In 1892 Rev. Hjelmeland was united in marriage to Miss Anna Lunde, a native of Norway and a daughter of Ole and Synneva (Birkeland) Lunde. Her father was a merchant of Norway and continued there throughout his entire life. In 1894 Mr. and Mrs. Hjelmeland took a trip back to Norway and remained for one year in their native country. They then returned to the United States and Mr. Hjelmeland became a student in the Augsburg Seminary at Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he continued as a student from1895 until 1902. In the latter year he was graduated. In the meantime he had also studied for a year in the Minnesota Normal College. Following his graduation, in preparation for the ministry, he received a call from the Norwegian Lutheran church at Portal, North Dakota, where he remained in pastoral service for five years. In 1907 he came to Fertile to accept the pastorate of the Norwegian Lutheran church, of which he now has charge. His work here covers eleven years and has been most fruitful of excellent results. His teachings have been a potent force in bringing about moral progress in the community and he enjoys the highest respect of people of all denominations.
To Mr. and Mrs. Hjelmeland have been borne nine children, Andrew, Synneva, Sophia, Ruth, Olaf, Annetta, Martin, Leonard and Agnes. Mr. Hjelmeland votes with the republican party but concentrates his entire attention and activity upon the church work, which is being carried steadily forward under his wise direction.
SOURCE: HISTORY OF MITCHELL AND WORTH COUNTIES, IOWA, 1918, VOL. II; Page 425
Transcribed by Gordon Felland, October 2, 2005