A second daughter  isCynthia Ann . Like her sister Cindy also loved animals. She and Mary each had a horse and together with their friends they went on many trail rides. Cindy went to the University of Iowa for 2 years after graduating from Decorah High School. She married Merlin Steines on 26 Jun 1971. Merlin is from Clinton, IA and a graduate of Luther College. He does some substitute teaching but together with Cindy and their family they have a dairy goat operation near Decorah. Cindy has worked for many years in the cafeteria at Luther College. They have 2 children: Benjamin and Rebecca “Becky” .

Mel and Virginia’s oldest son is David Steven.  He graduated from Decorah High School and Luther College, received his MA from the University of Washington in Seattle and a PhD from the University of Iowa. After living in Idaho for several years he now lives in Decorah and serves as an Assistant Professor of English at Luther. On 4 Aug 1979 David married Rachel Anderson  a Luther graduate from Boscobel, Wl. She has a MA from the University of Iowa and teaches part-time in the English Department at Luther College. They have a daughter Elizabeth  and a younger daughter Pearl.

Mel and Virginia’s youngest son is Mark Robert . Mark graduated from Decorah High School, from the carpentry program at Northeast Iowa Community College and then went on to graduate from Luther College. He works as the Admissions Area Coordinator for Luther College. Mark is single and lives in Decorah.

Virginia was the daughter of Stewart and Lula Baker of Madison Twp. She graduated from Decorah High School and went to work as a telephone operator until the birth of Mary. She then stayed home and raised her family. In 1968 Virginia began managing the Luther College Scandinavian Gift Shop, a position she held for 18 years. Virginia was a very talented lady who enjoyed decorating and arranging displays and flowers. She had a beautiful voice and sang many solos. Virginia was church organist at the Canoe Ridge Lutheran Church for over 30 years. She was much in demand to play in bands or accompany musical groups or individuals. Thanksgiving of 1980 Virginia discovered she had breast cancer and had a single mastectomy. Within about 2 years she had to have surgery and chemotherapy for ovarian cancer which was followed by 3 more surgeries and chemotherapies during the next 10 years. Finally, on 12 Oct 1993 Virginia passed away from the effects of ovarian cancer. We all loved her dearly and will always miss her.

Mel was lucky to be able to spend the rest of his years with the telephone company in the Decorah area. He retired from Northwestern Bell in Mar 1983 after 37 years of service. Mel enjoyed the many people he was associated with in the telephone work.

Upon retiring Mel was fortunate to be able to buy a 26 acre piece of woodland about 5 miles out on the Canoe Ridge Road. Among other things it has a huge grove of walnut trees and a 20 foot waterfall. Since there was no shelter there Mel was able to buy a complete set of logs from a pioneer log house. With a lot of work and much wonderful help from his family they were able to assemble a 3-story log cabin on a high site on the new property. It offers a spectacular view of the Upper Iowa Valley and is a very welcome refuge and weekend “get away.”

Now in 1995 Mel has been retired almost 12 years and is lucky to be enjoying good health at the age of 77. He has been living in the same house on the Locust Road for over 40 years. He has been blessed with a wonderfully good and loyal family who are now living right here in Decorah. This gives us plenty of opportunities to be able to get together, to help each other out and to share our lives.

The Decorah community is a great place to live!

Faldet, Nets and Grace (Musser)

(Mel Faldet)

Grace and Nels Faldet

The life of Nels Faldet and his family centered mostly around Canoe in Pleasant Twp. The little village was a busy place in the early 1910-1943 era. The Canoe Store was a handy place for the neighbors to gather and buy goods. They brought their eggs to sell in exchange for groceries. Across the road from the store was a blacksmith shop where a customer could get the team shod while shopping in the store. Very soon Pleasant Coop Creamery was established which grew into a very lively business.

Nels was the fourth child of Ole (1836-1926) and Cecilia (Spildo) Faldet (1845-1930). He was born 14 May 1884 at Canoe. Nels attended the rural Pleasant School #7 and later on Decorah Institute. (In 1874 John Breckenridge founded the Decorah Institute in a building located just west of Decorah Lutheran Church.) Nels was partially handicapped because one leg was a little shorter than the other causing him to walk with a limp but he led an active life.

He married Grace the daughter of David and Ardelia Musser on 23 Jun 1912. This was also the year Nels purchased the Canoe Store which they operated for many years. Tending the store involved many long days since some folks came early in the day and others liked to come in the evening after chores and stay until late.