Noel
I feel that it would be good to look at their lives from when they were children and how the Lord brought them together. After all, that’s where my roots are.
My Dad, Immanuel (no middle name), was born in Kenmare, North Dakota. My Grandpa, his Dad, came from Denmark when he was 21 years of age. Grandpa, PCK Petersen, settled in Hutchinson, Minnesota. It was in Hutchinson that he met my
Grandmother, Petrea Larsen. Her parents came to the US from Denmark in 1885. Petera, who was 16 at the time, had to stay back in Denmark because her parents did not have enough money to take the entire family, and since she was the oldest, she had to stay behind to earn enough money to pay her own way. Six years later, she was able to join them. They, too, settled in Hutchinson. It was there that PCK and Petera met and were married on September 15, 1892.
In 1897 they moved to Kenmare, North Dakota, and bought a 160-acre farm. All but two of Dad’s brothers and a sister were born in Kenmare. My dad was born on December 28, 1905. He was baptized on December 30, 1905, and later, dad wrote, “Since that moment, I have not known a conscious day that I have not been a child of God and in His grace and love. Sinned, yes, but forgiven all.
Farming became a natural part of his life. As he told me several times, “you can’t take the farm out of a man.” His parents spent a lot of time with the family, reading the scriptures and praying with them. Church was important to the family, which is probably why four of the nine boys became ministers. I remember in Ruskin, if I came home late in the evening, I would quietly go up the stairs and pass my parents’ bedroom only to see them both kneeling by the bed praying. Later, after my brother and I had gone into the ministry, my mother told me that dad would pray that one of us, my brother or I, would go into the ministry every night. His prayers were effective. We both went into the ministry. I have always said that the best teacher I had and best role model was my dad. HE prepared me for ministry.
My mother, Elna Viola Hofgaard, was born on April 4, 1909, in West Branch, Iowa. My Grandfather, Arthur, was a Lutheran Pastor in West Branch. My Grandmother’s name was Anna (Larsen) Hofgaard. From there, they moved to Owatonna, Minnesota, and from there to Kenmare, North Dakota, where my grandfather became the Pastor of Nazareth Lutheran. In 1926 the family moved to Minden, Nebraska, where he served at Bethany Lutheran and became the Bethany Home administrator.
You can see my heritage was very much involved with the church, as well as following Christ Jesus each day, spending time to teach and share God’s Word with their children, as well as teaching them the hymns of the church.
I do not have any recollections or memories of my parents from the four years that I was in Geneva. We moved to Easton, California, in February of 1943, where my dad had accepted a call to Immanuel Lutheran Church. Easton is a south suburb of Fresno. The church was located on half of a town block. T had a barn on it and some grazing land. So, the farmer in my dad decided to buy a cow to have our own milk. The Church and Educational Center were in two different buildings-so most of the weekly activity was in the Educational Building.
Since Dad was able to speak Danish. Every so often, he would have a full Danish service. Hymns and Liturgy were all in Danish, and his message was in Danish. Us kids did not go to that service for very obvious reasons. He would also call on some of the older members to have devotions in Danish.
Since this time was during World War II, things were kind of hard to come by. Dad took a job driving a school bus for two years and became a substitute school bus driver. This helps supplement his income from the church.
Dad was very kind, loving, having a shepherd’s heart. Loved to reach out to people. He was always ready to help those who had needs, whether for food or just some physical labor. He was a Chaplain at the Service Center in Fresno, where he had worship services or would counsel military men who came home from the front lines. Because of this, Dad was given more coupons and extra rations to get more gas, tires, etc.
Talking about the cow. One-fourth of that half block was grass with a grove of trees, including one substantial English walnut tree. Once in a while, dad would stake the cow out among the trees to eat the grass. One day, when my dad was gone, the cow got loose from where it had been chained up, and mom went out to catch it, and the cow took off across the street over to the lawn of the High School. Grabbing the chain, it jerked her enough that the cow drug here for quite a ways. Not sure if anyone came to her aid or how she was finally able to get the cow to stop. It’s a miracle that mom wasn’t seriously injured.
Mom help supplements their income there at Easton by giving piano lessons. Mom herself was a very accomplished pianist and organist. She always gave piano lessons, no matter where they were. At Easton, she also directed the choir and was a substitute organist. When the family moved to Ruskin, Nebraska, mom became the organist. The first organ was a hand-pumped organ that the Kaldahl twins would take turns pumping the handle on the end of the organ while she played. When the church got a new engine to produce electricity to 110 volts, the church bought a Hammond organ. Interestingly, when the motor kicked in to produce electricity, the organ volume would go way down and then back up, and it could happen in the middle of a hymn or a special piece she was playing at the time. Thank God when the entire area finally got electricity.
Mom and my sister Pat were both great pianists and organists. They would sit for hours and play duets. They had all (9) of Beethoven’s Symphonies, played piano and organ duets together. Mom could just sit down and play by ear. She was the greatest on the piano. Never seemed to lose her touch.
Mom was much like Dad. Kind, loving, gentle, loved the Lord, loved to serve, helpful to others, and a great cook. She loved to bake. We always had fresh bread, caramel rolls, pies, and other baked good. Specialties were, of course, Danish pastries such as kringle, rosettes, sandbakkels, Swedish Tea Rings, aebleskiver, Danish dumplings, Danish pancakes (we called them “thin” pancakes.), etc. Besides doing a lot of cooking and baking, she was very involved in church, not only with the music but in the Women’s Ministry.
My Mom and Dad met, or as my dad put it, were “thrown together.” Mom would accompany Dad on the piano when he was asked to sing at various functions. The first time this happened, Dad was to sing at a Thanksgiving Eve worship service at First Lutheran in Blair, Nebraska, and he asked Mom to go with him down to the service to accompany him. That was the beginning of their “forever.”
Mom and Dad were married on May 25, 1933. At that time, the UELC (United Evangelical Lutheran Church) did not allow seminary students to be married, so they waited until Dad graduated and then honeymooned to the Church’s National Convention where Dad was to be ordained. Dad wanted Mom to be a part of his ordination into the ministry. Her parents rode along with them. Great honeymoon—right!
When I think of how my Mom and Dad were both were very much involved in ministry (including the worship services, choirs, the women’s ministry, Dad singing with Mom accompanying him, visiting members of the congregation, servicing where they could, and always giving of themselves) it reminds me of Ruby and me. Ruby (Mom) was and is God’s precious gift to me. Together, we have always been involved in the church’s entire ministry, preaching, teaching, music, accompanying on the piano, playing the organ, directing choirs, reaching out to others, giving of herself to others —you could go on and on. If there is any success to my ministry, apart from God, Ruby has always been there by my side. Our ministry is so much like what I grew up with. My parents exemplified what a pastor and wife should be.
Ruby
My grandparents emigrated from Denmark and Germany. I am 3/4 Danish and 1/4 German. My Dad, David, was born in the Ruskin, NE area and was raised on the family farm south of Ruskin. My father had six brothers and one sister. My mother, Lillian, was born in Eureka, CA, and raised on the west side of Ferndale. My mother had one sister and one brother.
The 1930s brought the Great Depression with work hard to find.
So my dad ventured to California to find work. He traveled in his Model T through Phoenix. Land was Fifty Cents an acre, but he couldn’t afford to buy an acre because he didn’t have fifty cents.
Dad met my mother at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Ferndale, California, and they were married in 1940. Dad loved the farm but could not afford to purchase one, so he leased. He worked hard from early morning to night, milking guernseys, holsteins and jersey cows. He later was able to get machines to help with the job. He had a small herd but years later was Grade A status and milked 100 cows. He gave each of us a calf so we could join 4-H and show it at the county fair. Dad was proud of his horses and used them to round up the cattle each day. We had many animals: pigs, bantams, sheep, geese, dogs and cats. Dad had a telephone in the barn so he could call mom when he was ready to come for a meal. As the farm chores mounted, they had hired men who stayed on the farm. Mom had to work hard to feed them three meals a day and care for the growing family. God was always the center of our home and activities. We had devotions each night and prayed at our parents’ knees. We never missed a church service or activity.
I, Ruby, have two sisters (Lela Christina and Judith Eileen) and one brother (Larry James). My brother was killed in a farm accident in Ruskin, Nebraska. We also had our responsibilities on the farm helping dad with the cattle and in the haying season. I began driving the tractor at the age of eight. Sometimes I got bored, so I tried to trick the hired men so things wouldn’t work right. I got in trouble, of course. We had many chickens. Sold the eggs and had to clean each one by hand so Dad could sell them… Boring job!!
My parents moved to Ruskin, Nebraska in 1961 to take over the Hansen family farm. My brother and Dad had a partnership.