Hans BARDAHL

Family/Spouse: Anne Eriksdatter ELTUN. Anne (daughter of Erik Andrison ELTUN and Sigrid Knutsdatter HOLIEN) was born on 18 Mar 1849 in Vang i Valdres, Oppland, Norway; died on 3 Dec 1938 in Grant County, Minnesota; was buried in Immanuel Lutheran Cemetery, Barrett, Grant County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Louise NELSON. Louise was born on 5 Aug 1881 in Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

The Bardahl family information from Joanne Barnard’s blog, “Victoria Jo’s Family Stories.”

Sarah married Olof LARSON on 13 Nov 1896. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Family/Spouse: Henry CHRISTENSON. Henry was born on 9 Sep 1889 in Grant County, Minnesota; died on 16 Mar 1945 in Pope County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Hilma played piano. She moved with her family to Valley City ND when she was 12. She worked at a bank in Valley City, graduated from high school there and then graduated from the music department of the state normal school. She married William Jennings Bryan Clark 13 July 1919 and moved with her husband to Grand Forks ND in 1924. They had 4 daughters.

Hilma "trained her daughters in music". The four girls were born between 1920 and 1926 in North Dakota and were named Jean Harriett Clark, Ann Elton Clark, Margaret Louise Clark and Mary Elizabeth Clark. As youngsters, they were known as the "Clark Kiddies" and were the official mascots of the Grand Forks American Legion drum and bugle corps. In October of 1929 they represented North Dakota at an elaborate vaudeville program in Louisville to which each state contributed one act. The following month Hilma died tragically after a brief illness at the age of just 32, leaving William a widower with four daughters aged 3 to 9. He remarried in 1934 to Rosella Buckley and had two additional daughters, Judy and Susan.

Hilma's daughters continued their music careers as they grew up, at one time joining Ran Wilde's band in Nicollet, Minnesota, singing under contract with USO and finally moving up to their billing with Tommy Dorsey's band as "The Sentimentalists". Dorsey hired them on the spot after an audition in their West 45th Street apartment in New York. He had had problems with his previous girl singer group and insisted on renaming the Clark Sisters as The Sentimentalists and retaining all rights to that name, an arrangement that was to cause the girls no end of grief in future years. Among their best known songs with Dorsey are "On The Sunny Side of the Street" and "Chicago". (If you click on these links to go to their songs on YouTube, you will find many other songs there in which they are featured. In some cases, the vocals don't begin until well into the piece, so be patient. You will also find their pictures there, but this is long before the era of the music video so don't expect any live performances.)

Not surprisingly, the girls dated and married musicians. Jean married Vernon ("Derf") Friley who played trombone for such notables as Duke Ellington's band. Ann married Leo Quercio, a saxophone player and five years later married Howard ("Pete") Terry, a woodwind player who was a member of the NBC orchestra and played for television's "Laugh-In" and "Dean Martin's Comedy Hour". Margaret ("Peggy") married Wilbur ("Willie") Schwartz who played lead clarinet with the Glenn Miller orchestra. Mary married Bruce Darwin Branson, a saxophonist in the Tommy Dorsey orchestra. As the sisters started to raise their families, the lifestyle that came with being big band singers must have lost some appeal. Not being able to use their connection or name from Tommy Dorsey, most carried on singing as individuals in movie and film work throughout the 1950's and 60's. Ann, for example, sang for the Andy Williams and Carol Burnett television shows. Peggy and Jean were kept busy as studio singers for many years.

Hilma married William Jennings Bryan CLARK in 1919. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

Florence, like her sister, graduated from high school in Valley City. She attended the Fargo Conservatory of Music and then taught violin at Wesley College at the University of North Dakota. She was a member of Delta Zeta sorority and Sigma Alpha Iota, a national musical sorority, the PEO Monday Music Club and Musicana Society of Aberdeen and the Thursday Music Club at Grand Forks. She married Professor Merritt Johnson 3 August 1929. The couple had no children.

Notes:

Willard married Margaret Saunders in Fargo, ND in 1940. They had two children.

Family/Spouse: Leslie LARSON. Leslie was born on 16 May 1919 in Swift County, Minnesota; died on 14 May 1998 in Swift County, Minnesota. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Notes:

David Carl Larson was born on August 16, 1956, to Leslie and Helen (Christenson) Larson in Appleton, Minnesota. He was baptized on September 30, 1956, and confirmed on May 12, 1971, at Zion Lutheran Church in Appleton.

Dave was raised on the farm northeast of Holloway, Minnesota. He attended school in nearby Appleton where he graduated with the class of 1974, and received the American FFA degree. He furthered his education at Alexandria Technical College in Alexandria, Minnesota, where he completed his Associate’s degree. Dave returned home and worked on the family farm. On a church trip to Holden Village, Dave met his future wife, Beth Pederson. The couple was married on September 26, 1981, at Zion Lutheran Church in Appleton. They lived in Brookings where they attended South Dakota State University. Dave earned his Bachelor’s degree in Agricultural Education and then completed his Master’s degree in Economics. In 1985, they moved to Rapid City, South Dakota, where he worked as a Farm and Ranch Business Instructor at the vocational technical school. They moved with their family to Pipestone, Minnesota, in 1987. Dave taught farm management at Southwest Technical College for nearly 18 years. He then took a position installing dairy equipment at Gorter’s Clay and Dairy Equipment. During this time, he also started Larson Information Systems where he turned his passion for helping farmers into a business. In 2007, he began working for the USDA Farm Service Agency as a Program Technician. On March 25, 2017, Dave died unexpectedly at his home at the age of 60 years, seven months and nine days.

Dave was a member of First Lutheran Church in Pipestone where he frequently volunteered to help with the sound system. Staying active at church and living out his faith in daily life were priorities for him. He was unselfish, humble, a good listener and always thinking. He knew the importance of volunteering in his community. He was a former member of the Pipestone Hiawatha Club. He volunteered for many years with the Pipestone Boy Scouts and served as Scout Master—proud to have his three sons attain the rank of Eagle Scout. Agriculture was another of Dave’s passions; his childhood on the farm and love for the land stuck with him throughout life. He chose a career that helped him stay involved with farming. Family was of upmost importance. Dave loved traveling with Beth and the kids, hunting, fishing, making candy, and pulling the kids behind the boat.

Dave is lovingly remembered by his wife, Beth; children, Michael Larson of Olympia, WA, Andrew Larson of New Ulm, MN, Emily (Alex) Lorenz of Bemidji, MN, and Daniel Larson of Pipestone; granddaughter, Finley Lorenz; and siblings, Paul (Ardis) Larson of Montevideo, MN, and Julie (Ron) Johnson of Evansville, MN. He was preceded in death by his parents, Leslie and Helen (Christenson) Larson.

Family/Spouse: B.A. PEDERSON. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]