At about age 18 Emma and a cousin left home to seek work at the Hormel Meat Packing Company in Austin, MN. There she met and married John A. Shipe originally from Rocheport, MO who had also left home and ended up working for Hormel. They were married 8 Oct 1927 at West Union, IA. John and Emma had 3 children: LaVonne Arlene, Richard Allen and Carol Jean.

LaVonne Arlene (b. in Austin, MN) married John L. Drugan (b. in Winona, MN) 16 Aug 1952 in Winona. The couple have 6 children: Denise Cynthia (b. in Winona) married Michael Hayes 4 Dec 1971 and had one daughter, Jessie. Denise and Michael divorced. Jessie has a daughter, Zoeie. Denise married Phil Karlan Feb 1985. They also divorced. Denise married Thomas Richert 25 Jun 1991. Saliv Jean (b. at Mt. Clemens, Ml) married David Mandrella 23 Apr 1977. They had 3 children: David Paul and Juliet and Jennifer. Sally and David divorced in 1994. John David (b. at Mt. Clemens) has never married. Ronald Glen (twin of Rhonda) married Bonnie Hoef 1 Dec 1989. They have 2 children: Jacqueline Ann and Sean Patrick. Rhonda llene (twin of Ronald) married Robert Binder 18 Oct 1980. They have a daughter, Brooke and a son, Robert Brent. Theodore Adam is not married.

Richard Allen (b. in Austin) married Jean Elizabeth Hocker on 7 Sep 1951. The couple have 4 children: Ann Elizabeth married Russell Larson 16 Aug 1976. They divorced. Ann then married Saul “Rick” Greene. They have one daughter, Angela Nicole. Brian Richard married Julia Jambor 26 Aug 1977. They have 3 sons: Eric Anthony, Alex Gregory and Neal Zachary.  Paul Richard is not married. David Richard married Elita Lohr 18 Dec 1990.

Carol Jean  married Vernon Volstad (b. 10 Aug 1931) from Lyle, MN. They were married 29 Mar 1958. Their daughter, Victoria Lynne, was born in Brookings, SD. Another daughter, Jacqueline Sue, was born and died on 5 Apr 1962. On 27 Aug 1980, Vernon died of a heart attack at their home in Rochester, MN. Victoria married Daniel Little 16 Jun 1979. They divorced in 1993. Victoria and Daniel had 2 children: Joselynne Nicole and Geoffrey Vernon.

John and Emma, after living in a little apartment, bought a home on Lincoln Street in Austin and in Jan 1939 purchased an acreage 5 miles outside of Austin. Emma died in the hospital at Spring Valley, MN on 13 Sep 1987 of a malignant brain tumor. John survives and continues to own the acreage.

Shodean, Wally and Caroline (Kjome)

(June Kjome)

Caroline Kjome was born in Decorah. She was the youngest daughter of James and Jennie (Wennes) Kjome. Her older sisters were June and Helen. The family moved to Austin, MN the fall of 1925.

She attended school in Austin, graduating from high school in 1943, then worked for the Signal Corp in Washington, DC during World War II. She went to Luther College, graduating in 1949. Caroline was a very vocal person, full of fun and energy. Her college friends and professors called her “Stormy.” She studied in Norway the summer of 1950 and later that year married Dallas Jobson. They had one daughter, Kirsti Ann. Caroline taught school in several towns in Minnesota. She and Dallas were divorced and she married Wally Shodean in Jul 1957. They had 2 children, Paul and Julie. Wally taught agriculture in high schools and later worked in adult farm management in the Goodrich area of northern Minnesota. Caroline and Wally owned and operated a family resort on Lone Lake near Aitkin, MN for 14 years.

Photo of my sister, Caroline Kjome Shodean taken in 1956.

Caroline had many talents. She did Norwegian stitchery, quilting, needlework and painting. For some years she had her own booth at craft and art shows. She liked gardening, was an avid reader, and was active in her church. She was especially interested in global missions. Caroline also was a good carpenter and mechanic. Grandpa Wennes said after observing her take apart and reassemble her bike and June’s typewriter, “She should have been a boy!" Caroline inherited her dad’s tools when he retired. She made life-size nativity sets for her church and for her sister, Helen. She designed and made banners for the churches in Thief River Falls and Detroit Lakes and made anti-apartheid banners that June used when she did speaking on South Africa/Namibia.

Kirsti Ann, her older daughter, has 2 sons, Matthew and Stephen. She is divorced and works for the State