Remembering the Saints

Here is my annual reminder that this is the time of year we remember the saints that have gone before us into glory.  Just before All Saints, Parents Arnold and Inez died and joined the 'great white host" which we read for our devotions this morning from the book of Revelation.  

Dad died Oct 25, 1991 and mom on Oct 21st, 1976.  I remember when Pastor Schroeder came to call on us to plan mom's funeral and asked dad what hymn he would like, and dad said, "oh, I guess, "Den Store Hvide Flok"., (Who is this host Arrayed in White?) which had been sung at innumerable funerals at Norwegian Lutheran churches over the generations. It is a Norwegian folk tune from the 17th century.   Aunt Minda asked that I sing it at her funeral and I also sang it for uncle Leonard, and brother-in-law Jerrold Lerum's funeral.  And others. 

Judy's dad also died in October, the 24th '03, and her mom Bina in early November (2018), - I sang at her funeral too, (Come to Me All Who Labor and are Heavy Laden).  

In Latin America the 'day of the dead" has great significance when families go to the cemeteries and spend time with the souls of their departed loved ones.  If we still lived in Kenyon we would have gone to tend to the folks' graves at Holden and wandered amongst the resting places of many of my ancestors - from great grandparents Knut and Mari down to the present and where Judy and my ashes will one day be placed.   

This always has been a favorite time of the year for me.  Growing up on the farm it was a comforting time when all the harvest was complete and we were prepared for the long cold winter to come.  It is a good time to think of our mortality and the coming reunion we will have with all the saints. 

Peace, Jerry - October 27, 2020

 

Some grave makers of ancestors in the cemetery surrounding Holden Lutheran Church – in rural Kenyon, Minnesota.  (with one exception)

Great grandmother, Ribor Rolfseng, and husband Lars Jensen Romo , immigrated from Norway in 1866.  They were parents of my grandfather, Jens Romo, whom I never knew as he died in 1930.  (She is buried in the Emanual church cemetery in Aspelund)  

The Aaker gravestone, near which are buried Great-great-grandparents, Knut and Mari Aaker, great-grandparents Nils and Martha Aaker, (Follingstead), grandparents Olaf and Ellen Aaker (Solberg), and numerous other Aaker relatives. All three generations lived and labored on the Aaker “home place” settled in 1857.

Great-great grandparents Matte and Ole Follingstad were parents of my great-grandmother, Martha Maria Follingstad, who married Nils K Aaker. She came to America with her family in 1858 and settled in the Kenyon/Wannamingo area. Little is known about Matte and Ole.

Great-great grandmother, Ingeborg Ellingsdatter Kvam, and husband Mons Hanson Moane, were parents of my great grandmother, Anna Solberg.  One of the oldest gravestones in the cemetery, these markers are deteriorating as the years pass.

Great grandparents P.A (Peter Anton) Henning and Gjertrud (Stene) – parents of my grandmother Martha Romo, are buried here as well as son Fredrick and daughter Ella.

Grave monument of great grandparents, Peter and Anna Solberg. Anna was the mother of my grandmother, Ellen Solberg Aaker, who married Olaf Aaker. Peter and Anna settled on the farm where I grew up and where both my grandma Aaker and I were born. (1880 and 1938)

Judy and I have this beautiful setting for the final resting place of our remains, surrounded by many beloved saints who have gone before us.

 

 

One of my favorite grave stones in the Holden cemetery is that of Sister Anna Huseth, one of our ancestors.  She was a missionary nurse to the Eskimo people in the early 1900s.

Indeed, what more can we hope to be said of us than this: “She Hath Done What She Could” – Would that this be said of me when I am gone.