Uncle Ted died at the age of 79 (same age as his brother Julius)
Born Paul Theodor Strand (7-6-1909 to 3-28-1989) the 4th child of Louis and Tilda Strand
Married Evelyn Laura Anderson on 4-23-1931.
Evelyn (2-27-10 to 11-10-19770 died at the age of 67 and the following year Uncle Ted
married Margaret Irene Swanson (12-29-1911 to 6-25-1988).

Memories of Uncle Ted:
Lived in a house in Svea behind the Lutheran Church
Uncle Ted worked on the railroad and fix TVs for a hobby
Sang on the radio
Ted and Evelyn had two sons Darrell Conrad Strand (4-1-1932) and Paul Jerome Strand (4-13-1936). Darrell married Doris and they live in a city halfway between the twin cities and Willmar. Julius, Fern and Susan would often stop at their home on their way home from visits in the cities.
Uncle Ted always had soda in the frig to share with visitors
Uncle Ted loved to laugh and tease.
Aunt Evelyn was from the Anderson linage and they had a strong Scandinavian accent. It was fun to mimic her. It seemed that all the sisters sounded alike.
Ted and Margaret actually visited Susan when she lived in Seattle.

Published May 14 2010
Rosetta ‘Tootie’ Strand Dec. 9, 1919 – May 11, 2010MINNEAPOLIS

“Tootie” (Johnson) Strand, 90, of Minneapolis, formerly of Willmar, died Tuesday morning at Mount Olivet Careview Center in Minneapolis.

MINNEAPOLIS — Rosetta Kathryn “Tootie” (Johnson) Strand, 90, of Minneapolis, formerly of Willmar, died Tuesday morning at Mount Olivet Careview Center in Minneapolis.
Funeral services will be at 1 p.m. Monday at Peterson Brothers Funeral Home in Willmar. Burial will be at Cloverleaf Memorial Park Cemetery.
Visitation will be for one hour prior to the service on Monday.
Tootie was born Dec. 9, 1919, near Hector, the daughter of George and Henrietta (Anders) Johnson. She grew up and received her education in the Hector community.
On Sept. 5, 1942, Tootie was united in marriage to Donald A. Strand in Monterey, Calif. Following Don’s discharge from the Army, they made their home in Willmar. They later moved to Minneapolis and then to California until his retirement in 1981, when they returned to Willmar.
Tootie enjoyed coffee time with her family and friends. She also enjoyed traveling, gardening and baking. She will be best remembered for giving so much of herself to others.
She is survived by her four children, Butch (and Barb) Strand of Minneapolis, Candy (and Jim) Coyle of New Smyrna Beach, Fla., Kevin (and DeLayne) Strand of Stillwater and Jann (and Chip) Cruise of Oklahoma City, Okla.; eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Also surviving are two brothers, Marvin (and Cecelia) Johnson of California and Burton Johnson of Australia; and one sister, Byrma (and Irwin) Tallakson of Willmar, besides other relatives and friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Donald in 2001; two sisters, Evelyn Anderson and twin sister, Tootsie Larson; and six brothers, Harold, George Jr., Vernon, LaVerne, Arvin and Alfred in infancy.

Donald Strand age 2

Donald pictured with his mom and dad leaving for the army

From Candy 3/13/10

Grandpa looks pretty young in this photo. Could this be the house and stove that we knew as kids? I was fascinated by it...it had a little door with a mica window.

My dad said that grandpa loved to read. I wonder where he got his books. I know that he got the Swedish language newspaper from Minneapolis. Look at that nose. Did anyone inherit it? Candy

Picture from Candy

Strand family 1919
Front Row: Louis, Ted, Lillian, and Tilda holding Donald

Back Row
Roy, Ellen and Julius

David Julius Strand was born April 15, 1938 in Wilmar, Minnesota to Julius and “Fern” Strand. He grew up on a farm in rural Minnesota with his sister, Susan (now living in Pennsylvania). Dave graduated from high school in 1955 later St. Cloud College and then graduated from Bethel Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota.

From 1959 – 1962 he served at Sunrise Baptist Church in Custer, Washington

1962 – 1973 Edgewood Baptist Church in Edmonds, Washington
(from 1969 to 1973) he was the Chaplain for the Edmonds Fire Department

1973 to 1978 Immanuel Baptist Church in Denver Colorado and was appointed in 1976 to be chaplain of the Senate of the General Assembly of the State of Colorado.

In 1978 through the early 80’s Dave served at Bethel Baptist Church in Galesburg, Illinois and from 1986 to 2003 served at Bonnie Brae Baptist Church in Denver where he retired.

Dave served on various Boards throughout his “career” including Chairman of the Christian Education Board of the Columbia Baptist Conference, Chair of the Christian Education Board, Mission Board Chair and helped build Mission Hills Baptist through the extension office all in the Rocky Mountain Region. He also has his hand in a church in Gillette,Wyoming and served on the Minister’s Council and Asian International Ministry while in Colorado.

He is married to Millie Strand.

3 daughters
7 grandchildren
and a Pekinese, Phoebe whom he loved very much.


Obit

Pastor David J. Strand an authentic and gentle servant of GOD passed away April 6 in Denver. He was IN LOVE with his wife, Millie. He loved his 3 daughters, his 7 grandchildren, his sister, friends, congregations and had a special “adopted” grandfather relationship with his young neighbor, Anlan Du. Born in 1938 in rural Minnesota, GOD chose Dave at the age of 20 to use his hardworking farm boy upbringing to plant and cultivate the seeds of God’s kingdom through Jesus Christ. And though his family and friends know that he is “flying on eagles wings”, the world will miss a man like this. A Celebration of Life service will be Thursday, Apr. 9th at 10:00am at the Chapel at Cherry Hills Community Church, 3900 Grace Blvd. Highlands Ranch.


The pictures above are from various times of David's life: Early age, high school graduation (1955), a family visit in Denver (about 1995) and Matthew's last time with his Uncle Dave (2006).

Information from Butch on 3/1/2010:


I found one of Karin Strand's wedding picture. Her husband's last name was Westling. Ellen (Strand Larson) wrote, "Dad's (Loius Strand) sister Karin Strand Westling. Married a year or so, passed away with her first child. Baby passed away a week later. Don't know year".

BTW, Dad said that Westling was a nice guy and kept in touch with Grandpa (Louis Strand). He remarried and had a family.

Erick Julius Strand (12/15/1904--10/18/1984)

Fern Leona Penn Strand (9/1/1911--1/15/01)

Married 2/28/1931

Julius and Fern lived on a farm close to Svea, Minnesota. This was the same farm where Louis and Tilda Strand had lived and raised their six children. In 1967, Julius sold his small farm for $144 an acre. Their son David had a church in Edmonds, Washington and Julius and Fern really wanted to be near their two granddaughters. This was a time where small farmers were having a hard time since they did not have the money to invest in the large farm equipment that was used by those farmers who had hundreds of acres of farmland. This was a gutsy move for a man who was 62 years old and had always lived in one place. They bought a mobile home in Everett Washington and Julius worked as a custodian for the Edmonds School District in Edmonds, Washington. From there they moved to Portland Oregon where they were custodians for a church. Finally, they moved to Denver, Colorado, where they lived until they passed away.
Living on the farm had its difficulties. Winter weather in Minnesota was always a challenge and even more so one winter when their adopted daughter got a very serious ear infection and became delirious. They had to call upon Wally Johnson to bring down his tractor and plow the driveway so they could get out taking Susan to the hospital. Numerous times Julius would be out on the tractor working in the fields when he would spot a funnel cloud, come home, and get everyone in the cellar. Julius knew how devastating the tornado could be as he had seen his chicken house picked up and set on top of his garage. He had also seen a piece of straw driven into the telephone pole. Julius did not always have cattle on the farm but when he did, they presented challenges too. It always seem that whenever there was an important function to attend, the cows would get out and Julius had get them all back in the barn before the family could leave. Then there was the mad bull that stepped on Julius’s foot and did a number on his toenail. Julius was a farmer but not on Sundays. He was very active with the Blomkest Baptist Church holding numerous rolls such as a Deacon, or Sunday school teacher for the adult class. For a person who never went beyond 6th grade, he was an extremely bright and intelligent man.
Julius and Fern were never afraid of hard work. Throughout their years on the farms, they always picked up extra jobs as they could find them, as income from farming was never guaranteed. They were married in 1931 and knew full well the effects of the Great Depression. They were hoping to have a large family to help on the farm but that was not meant to be. Story is that Fern lost five babies at childbirth. Their son David was born in the middle and in 1949, they adopted a little girl from the Children’s Home Society in Minneapolis Minnesota. Julius worked on and on for Fred Norling building soybean bins on farms around the state. Most of the time, he would only be gone for a day but there were occasional overnight trips. Fern also worked very hard. Several of the jobs she had off the farms included, working at a nursing home, cleaning office buildings and working in a turkey plant. Oh did Fern ever love to cook and Sunday was her special day. She would stick that roast in the oven before the family headed off to church and if there were visitors in church that day, Fern would invite them to the house for a meal.
Julius was very close to his daughter. Dying of stomach cancer, he and Fern got on a plane and flew to Seattle from Denver to see his “little girl” one more time. That would be the last time they ever spent together as he died within the following month. Since Julius did not believe in cremation, his body was air shipped from Denver back to Minnesota for burial at the Evergreen Cemetery outside of Blomkest. Fern passed away in January of 2001 from complications following hospitalized for Alzheimer’s Disease.

Albert Roy Stand (5/15/06 – 3/30/97)
Alma Mabel Sondrol (5/31/15 – 11/30/80)
Married 11/24/38

Lived in a small house on Eagle Lake
Alma collected fine dishware
Dishware was displayed floor to ceiling
Uncle Roy worked in a body shop
The fat dog who loved candy
Never had children
Uncle Roy and Uncle Teddy sang on the radio

Louis and Tilda Strand--I am assuming that this is their wedding picture

The three oldest: Ellen, Julius and Roy

Info from Butch on 2/11/10

Ellen told me that they were told to be serious for the picture, but Julius just couldn't keep a straight face! She said Julius was full of mischief as a kid. Doesn't Roy look like a young adult on a babie's body? The picture is terribly faded, so I pooped up the contrast a bit. If anyone wants to play around with the original scans, let me know.

I asked Dad why he wasn't in the photo of the homeplace, and he said his mom was pregnant with him at the time. I also said the house and the car (Dad guessed it was a 1916 or'17 Dodge) looked quite new.

Dad guessed that they may have had money from the sale of the ND homestead. The house was built on the foundation of the original homeplace.

Memories of Martin and Ellen Larson

The best dinner rolls I have ever tasted
Date filled cookies
Holiday meals-lefse yum, butter and brown sugar
Women in the kitchen around the table and men in the living room
The brothers talking in Swedish and laughing until they cried
Where they always sat in church
Uncle Martin was hard of hearing
Auntie Ellen’s love of flowers
Hardwood floors like a skating rink
Auntie Ellen’s sewing-I believe she made the dresses for David’s wedding
Playing in the basement or back bedroom
The little shack in the back with mosquito netting windows
Across the street from Grandpa
Elm trees
My last visit with Ellen in 1998-how she cried when I left
The Nash (upside down bath tub)

Background of what I know:
Ellen worked in a millinery shop and was an exceptional seamstress
Martin worked on the railroad.

I am not sure how they met

This is an article that I have had framed for several year and thought I would share.

Butch got me thinking of the little house across the road from Ellen's. Boy did Grandpa ever love his flowers. He often supplied the flowers that were sitting on the alter at church each Sunday. I wonder what Grandpa would have though of Starbucks? Every Sunday night after church we would stop at Grandpa's for coffee and cookies. My first introduction to coffee was a sugar lump soaked in coffee. Mom wasn't crazy about the idea but Grandpa told her that it would not hurt me. In those days, Grandpa made coffee using a coffee pot on the burner and peculating the coffee. Does anyone know how Grandpa came up with the ideas of making rugs from men's suits? He had so much business that he had a hard time keeping up with orders. I remember that on occasion, we could get Grandpa to take out his guitar and sing to us. Most of the songs were in Swedish but it was nice to hear him sing.

Can anyone tell me when this picture was taken? Lillian and Donald are missing.

Butch writes on 2/8/10

Grandpa Strand's name was originally Ljus Lars. Ellen told me that in Sweden the last name came first.

When Ellen was telling about what happened when Grandpa died, she said that Martin went over to the 'little house' (the window shade wasn't raised that morning) and hollered, "Lars!, Lars!, you OK?". That's when I learned Grandpa was called Lars. Among family he was never called Louis.

I got this information from "Butch" on 1-26-07.


Re Granpa Strand, I was told he had a brother, Andrew, who immigrated with Grandpa and he stayed in ND when Grandpa moved back to Blomkest.
I was told that Grandma Strands' dad missed his daughters so much that he bought to adjacent farms and gave them to his daughters. That would be Grandpas'
home place and Stan Lundgrens would be Grandma Strands' original home and I think Auntie Johnsons' would be the other.

Ellen left me two charcoal sketches, one of Grandpas'
dad, Daniel, and the other is of Karin? (sp).

They emigrated after Grandpa. The story I've been told was that Daniel was a retired stonemason and died after heing hit by a hammer head that flew off his helpers hammer. He was finishing the stoning of the bottom of the well when it happened. Dad said that he lived for several hours, pain-free, and organized his funeral, the slept away. I believe he was in his 70'
or 80's. He's buried in the Blomkest church cemetary where we buried Lily.

Also, either Ellen or Lily told me that Daniel had raised two families and that Grandpa was from the second wife. I think it was Lily who discovered this when they traveled to Sweden and checked the old church records.

Karin, I was told, died very young, 22 or 23, only weeks after her wedding. Pnuemonia, I think.

This is my first blog, so I will be learning as I go. Since there are many cousins spread throughout the states, I am inviting anyone who wishes to share, to add comments to the blog. Now that I am the last remaining person in my family (except for my son, Matthew), I am in the process of putting together an album of the Strand relation with pictures that I have gathered throughout the years. I am going to include a memory section for each family. It is my hope that this information will be interesting and informative to future generations. I am trying to document some of the events, and to share some of the memories that I have of each family. Since I am one of younget member of this group, I especially am interested in what each of you can add. Thanks to Dorothy Johnson Wallert, we have a tree as a starting point.

Tilda and Louis had 6 children: Donald, Roy, Julius, Ted, Lillian and Ellen.

Questions to start this blog;
Does anyone know Grandpa's middle name? I believe that when he came from Sweden his last name was Ljus and that he came with his brother. I don't know where he came into the states or why he left Sweden. Can anyone fill in the blanks?

The intent of this blog is to collect memories from all the cousins relating to the family of Tilda Lungren-Strand and Louis Strand married January 3, 1903