11 Dec 1972. Norman  married Dorothy Althouse 4 Mar 1954. Dorothy died 7 Jun 1988. Norman and Dorothy’s children are Gary, Wayne (died very young) and Ann. Norman married Lillian (Peterson) Bakken 15 May 1989. Clifford (b. 18 Jul 1925) married Catheryne Nelson 24 May 1980. They did not have any children. Clifford died 24 Mar 1983; Catheryne died 8 Jan 1994. Merle (b. 16 Dec 1927) married Elsie File 13 Sep 1958. They did not have any children. Elsie died 1 Jan 1974; Merle died 3 Oct 1978. Stanley  married Margie Peterson 29 Nov 1959. They do not have any children. Donald was born 6 Nov 1932 and died 15 Nov 1932.

Carl and Ida farmed until he retired in 1949. They raised hogs and chickens and had a dairy herd. All the work was done with horse power. There were no tractors. In July Carl would take out the binder to harvest the grain. The grain was cut and tied into bundles. Then Ida and the children would pick up the bundles and put them into shocks. It took 6 bundles and one for the top to make a shock. When the shocks were dry after a few weeks, they were threshed. A neighbor had a threshing machine and he went around to all the neighbors to thresh. The neighbors helped each other at threshing time. The grain was separated from the straw. The grain was hauled to the granary and the straw was blown into a stack.

Ida loved flowers and always had a large garden. In her spare time she enjoyed doing needlework. Carl and Ida enjoyed going to house parties. Carl and Ida were members of the First Lutheran Church in Decorah.

Borseth, Clarence Elmer and Christina (Myran)

(Ruth Borseth)

The eighth child and fifth son of Erick and Mari Borseth, Clarence Elmer Borseth, was born 17 Oct 1894. At the time that Clarence left the family home in Decorah Twp., he had a dispute with a brother. He moved to Madison Twp. west of Decorah. Here he worked for John Fulsaas and Fred Nelson. During this time he met and courted Christina Myran. She was the youngest child and third daughter of Helge and Kjersti (Ramstad) Myran of Madison Twp. Clarence and Christina were married Christmas Eve, 24 Dec 1919, at the Ridgeway Parsonage by Rev. D.C. Jordahl. The couple were lifelong members of Madison Lutheran Church.

Clarence and Christina became parents of 5 children - 3 daughters and 2 sons: Martha Caroline , m. Orville Ness of Minot, ND); Edith Hazel (24 Jul 1922 -Jan 1956, died of complications of hepatitis, m. LeRoy Klotzbach); and Cecil Charlotte (26 May 1926 - 10 May 1934 died of complications of diabetes). The sons are: Robert Alden (26 Mar 1930 - 18 Apr 1986 died in a farm related accident) and Clair Elmer who resides in Decorah.

Their grandchildren are: Irene Laherty (Ballwin, MO); Larry Klotzbach (Cedar Rapids, IA); Rebecca Spielbauer (Volga, IA); Kristin Daws (Minneapolis, MN); Mark Borseth (Boise, ID); and Randal (Randy) Borseth (Decorah).

Clarence and Christina farmed 80 acres, raised pigs, chickens and milked cows. They crop-farmed and raised a big garden. Much of the garden produce was shared with neighbors. Strawberries and eggs were hauled to town to sell.

For many years Clarence was church custodian, dug graves and kept up the graveyard with help from his oldest son, Robert. Clarence loved to go fishing in northern Minnesota “after the corn was in” in the spring with neighborhood men.

Clarence and Christina celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary early, while the weather was better, in Nov 1969. Clarence died at the age of 79 on 14 Apr 1974 of pancreatic cancer. Pastors Roger Hjelle and William Thalacker officiated at his funeral.

Christina, his widow, continued to live on the farm until Sep 1983 when she became a resident of the Aase Haugen Home. On 31 Jul 1995 Christina celebrated her 100th birthday. At this time (Feb 1996), Christina is still living.

Christina now has 8 great grandchildren: Kevin and Brian Laherty; Terra and Todd Klotzbach; and Stephanie, Christina, Elizabeth and Robert Spielbauer.

Borseth, Eric and Mari (Erickson)

(Sadie (Borseth) Ward)

Erick Borseth family

Eric Borseth was born 20 Nov 1855 on a farm near Trondheim, Norway. His father was Ole Engebritson Borsethaug. Eric married Mari Erickson (b. 20 Jan 1855). He came to America 21 Mar 1882 and settled in Calmar, IA. He worked in a railroad station for $1.12 a day. He built a house and saved his money to send for his family, A year later Eric sent Mari a ticket for her and their 2 children, Mary (b. 3 Jul 1877) and Edmund (b. 14 Mar 1879), to come to America.

The trip across the Atlantic took 10 weeks. There were many storms and the ship bobbed from one side to another. Many of the passengers became seasick; many also were homesick. The only food they had was packed in a trunk - dried beef, flatbread, cheese, etc. Mari worried if the food would last until they got to their destination. Mari and the children landed in New York in the Spring of 1883 and joined Eric in Calmar.

The family lived in a 2 room house. As the family grew, they added 2 more rooms. Six more children were born