Oksol Reunion 2015

Photos here.

The newspapers will carry a more standard obituary for Carl H. Oksol, but I think Carl would prefer his obituary to begin with his mother’s story.

[The spelling of the Tangvald name may vary; in places it may be Tangvold. I will sort that out later.]

Carl’s mother, Kristine Tangvald arrived at Ellis Island, NYC, on June 21, 1905. She had sailed on the USS Oceanic of the Hvide Stjerne Linien (the White Star Line). The White Star Line heavily promoted Norwegian emigration to the states. One particularly ironic promotional brochure was published in 1911. The SS Titanic of the White Star Line was launched in 1912.

Kristine listed her city of residence as Stjørdal, but her journey to America officially began in Hell. The city of Hell was near her home, and was known for its train station, where one can find an old sign, "Gods Expedition" ("Cargo handling" in Norwegian). So, leaving Hell, she began as part of “Gods expedition.”

No wonder she had such a great sense of humor.

She listed her destination as Zumbrota, Minnesota, where she had a job as a housekeeper lined up.

Kristine was two years older than Carl’s father, Paul, and had emigrated two years earlier. Paul came over to America, also via Ellis Island, in 1907. They had lived within miles of each other in the area of Trondheim, Norway, but had not met each other until after arriving in the midwest.

By December 4, 2018, Kristine and Paul were married, and living in South Dakota. Paul had found a job with the railroad and although he felt that was a great opportunity and a company he wanted to stay with, Kristine wanted a farm of her own.

Kristine “won.”

Eventually, they settled in God’s country, the most remote, the driest land they could find in western South Dakota. There they raised a few head of cattle, a fair flock of sheep, and five children.

Carl was the youngest of the five children, born February 6,1922.

When Carl reminisced about his 90-plus years of life, not one subject took precedent over his love for and his memories of his mother. It seemed everything, for Carl, revolved around his mother, even in his 90’s long after she had passed away at his childhood home in Newell, SD.

Only after talking about his mother would Carl then talk about everything else. Investing; his two years in the US Coast Guard during WWII; his dad; giving money to his friends; his live on the farm; Williston; giving money to his friends; his family; and then giving money to his friends. Two days before he died, he was counting the one-dollar bills in his billfold to see if he had enough for all his friends in the nursing home that day.

Carl passed away May 20, 2018.