Brita Eriksdatter (Bertha Malina) ØREN

1891 - 1960  (68 years)

• Name	Brita Eriksdatter (Bertha Malina) ØREN
  Birth	21 Dec 1891	Årdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway
  Gender	Female
  Vernon County Death Index	V29, P152 As Bertha Malina Ekum
  Death	11 Feb 1960	Vernon County, Wisconsin
  	“in a Viroqua hospital after an illness of one week”
  Burial	Viroqua Cemetery, Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin
  	1NO25
  Notes	The Bergen departure records show her (Britha Eriksdtr Øren) as leaving for the U.S. on November 2, 1908. Her reason for leaving was to better her living condition. She was to meet family in Madison, Wisconsin. Bertha Øren Ekum's youngest sister and her granddaughter were scheduled to visit Ernest and Dorothy from Norway in the summer of 1983. Bertha's youngest sister is only one year older than Ernest, had already been over to the U.S. twice (as of March, 1983), and couldn't speak English. The 1910 census shows Bertha as an 18 year old housemaid servant girl employed by Clause Bowe. She arrived in this country in 1909 and wasn’t yet able to speak English. Cora’s address list shows an address for Bertha Ekum at or around 1957 as 419 South Washington in Viroqua. Bertha’s only sibling in the U.S., at least living at the time of Bertha’s death, was, apparently, her sister Ida (“Mrs. Ida Anderson”). According to Bertha’s obit, she had 2 brothers and four sisters still living in Norway.
  Person ID	I531	Don Carlson's Tree
  Last Modified	27 Aug 2018

  
  

  Father	Erik Pedersen NUNDAL,   b. 12 Jul 1867, Årdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway d. 1935, Årdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway (Age 67 years)
  Mother	Malene Ovesdatter ØREN,   b. 23 Nov 1867, Årdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Norway
  Family ID	F3445	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Albert M EKUM,   b. 26 Nov 1882, Liberty Pole, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin d. 4 Mar 1952, Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin (Age 69 years)
  Marriage	19 Dec 1911	Immanuel Lutheran Church, Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin
  	Date per obit in the Viroqua paper. They celebrated their 40th anniversary on December 16, 1951, with a reception at the Immanuel Lutheran Church.
  Children	1. Ernest Theodore EKUM,   b. 30 Mar 1913, Vernon County, Wisconsin d. 24 Dec 1995, Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin (Age 82 years)   2. Selma Margarite EKUM,   b. 26 Mar 1915, Wisconsin d. 8 Mar 1923, Wisconsin (Age 7 years)   3. Theresa Caroline EKUM,   b. 16 May 1917, Vernon County, Wisconsin d. 16 Apr 1977, La Crosse County, Wisconsin (Age 59 years)   4. Archie Bennett EKUM,   b. 28 May 1919, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin d. 29 Oct 1981, Birmingham, England (Age 62 years)   5. Walter Raymond (Wally) EKUM,   b. 20 Sep 1921, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin d. 24 Jun 2004, Monroe, Green County, Wisconsin (Age 82 years)   6. Dorothy Marie EKUM,   b. 30 Oct 1925, Vernon County, Wisconsin d. 10 Jul 2020, Viroqua, Vernon County, Wisconsin (Age 94 years)   7. Selma Mae (Sally) EKUM,   b. 2 Mar 1928, Mason City, Franklin Twp, Vernon County, Wisconsin d. 13 Mar 2007, Onalaska, La Crosse County, Wisconsin (Age 79 years)   8. Thomas Roy EKUM,   b. 8 Jan 1930, Vernon County, Wisconsin d. 26 Oct 2015, Hutchinson, Reno County, Kansas (Age 85 years)
  Photos		The Cozy Cabins Albert and Bertha ran a general store with tourist cabins called the cozy cabins at a location a few miles south of Viroqua. Their son, Ernest Ekum, in the Vernon County 150 years book, wrote: “In the year of 1920, Albert Ekum bought two acres of land from Mr. Ole B. Fortney to build a grocery store and living quarters combined. They moved to the store from Liberty Pole on October 31, 1920. Behind the store on the north side were hitching posts for the customers’ horses. They sold groceries and later added clothing such as jackets, shirts, gloves, shoes, etc. There was no electricity then so they used two aladdin lamps to light their store. For a time, they bought fresh cream from the farmers around for Swift & Co. who came and picked it up. Later, when people started buying cars and there were better roads, the Ekums tore the porch off the front and put in gasoline pumps. They also tore out the hitching posts and built a place to drain oil from cars. The Ekums then built a few tourist cabins which was a good business. In 1946, the Ekums sold their store to Mr. and Mrs. Rodney Olson of Madison and they then moved to the city of Viroqua. The store was then run by the Olsons until the roads got better and the people were shopping more elsewhere. Later the state road was rerouted from the store location and the Olsons closed their store and business.”
  		Albert Ekum Family Probably taken in the mid 1940s in front of Albert's general store in Mason City. It can't be later than 1946 because Ernest said that that's when Albert sold the store and moved to town. That's Dorothy and Theresa in the back row between their mother Bertha and their brothers. Sally is in the middle in the front row and Tom is on the right. Ernest is in the front row on the other side of Sally. Walter is on the right in the back row which would leave Archie as the one between Walter and Theresa. That may be Dorothy Fish Ekum with her son on the porch in the background.
  Family ID	F116	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	13 Jan 2020

  
  

• Photos		Albert and Bertha Ekum, wedding This is from their wedding in December of 1911. Albert is 29 and Bertha two days short of turning 20. The original is about 4x6 and mounted on sturdy brown board stock and has the imprint Jasperson Viroqua Wis. with a space to the left of Jasperson indicating perhaps that the change in ownership from Henry and Jasperson was recent. On the back of the picture Cora wrote, "My Cousin Albert and Bertha." One of Albert's daughters confirms that this is their wedding picture with the comment, "Yes, she wore a black dress."
  		Bertha Øren Ekum