Anna Ofstedal and Mathias Gronvold (Part Two) - Their Children
The Mathias and Anna history turned out to be larger than is workable for just one page. As a result, I am breaking it into two pages. This second page is about the children of Mathias and Anna after they left home. It opens with Alvin Leonard Gronvold – his 1914 Central High School photo is shown at left - Alvin being the oldest child of Mathias and Anna. . . .
Alvin Leonard Gronvold
The oldest child of Mathias and Anna. He is shown in the previous web page on Anna and Mathias and their young family, with his birth, confirmation, high school, census, and military records. We pick up the story after World War I when he was on his own in Oklahoma and Texas. He was married there, widowed, went briefly to Washington D.C. and ended up in California, where he spent the last fifty years of his life and was married a second time.
To the right is a clipping from the Lawton (OK) News of June 24, 1920. There was a listing in the Oklahoma marriage index for a record of this marriage in Comanche County - where Lawton is the County seat. I have wondered the connection of Al Gronvold to this location - and his World War I listing puts him in this area at Fort Sill. He was listed with his parents in the 1920 census Crookston, Minnesota in January, 1920 - but this marriage took place the following June.
The article at left is from the Lawton (Oklahoma) News of Friday, June 25, 1920.
The Comanche County Oklahoma marriage record for Alvin L. Gronvold and Jo. J. Short is at right.
The article at left is from the June 29, 1920 Lawton (Oklahoma) News.
About Jo Short Gronvold’s Family. . .
The an excerpt from the 1917 Lawton Oklahoma City Directory at right shows Jo B. Short as a clerk for J. E. Jarvis and residing at 510 Bell Avenue. The rest of her family is shown in the directory – her parents George and Willie at the same address, with George being a “policeman”, and her sister Alice, shown as a student. In the 1910 census, the family is shown in Supply in Woodward County, Oklahoma. In that listing George is shown head, 46, in his second marriage, working on retail merchandise in a store, born in Texas with his father born in Mississippi and his mother in Tennessee. Willie, 34, in her first marriage, none listed as her occupation, is shown as born in Missouri with her father born in North Carolina and her mother in Missouri. They are shown to have been married for fourteen years, and she is shown to have had two children, with two living in 1910. With them are daughters Jo, 13, and Alice, 10 – both born in Oklahoma.
At left is an article from the August 9, 1919 issue of the Lawton (Oklahoma) Constitution, showing that Jo Short was attending college.
The article at right is from the Lawton (Oklahoma) Constitution of October 6 1946 - with an item from the newspaper of October 6, 1926. Mr. and Mrs. Al Gronvold visit Lawton from Burkburnett, Texas. This was roughly a forty mile trip.
At left is an article from the February 26, 1926 issue of the Grandfield (Oklahoma) Enterprise. The trip for Jo Gronvold would have been about eighteen miles across the Red River from her home in Texas.
The article at right is from the Witchita Daily Times (Texas) of October 30, 1927 - A bridge party in honor of a marriage, held in Burkburnett but covered in the Wichita Falls newspaper. Burkburnett is about fifteen miles from Wichita Falls.
Jo Short Gronvold's grave marker from Highland Cemetery in Lawton, Oklahoma, showing she died in 1932. I have not found an obituary for her.
The item at the right is from the Quinton Olahoma Times of February 22, 1934. This would have been two years after his wife died.
The item at left appeared in the Greenville Evening Banner (Texas) April 3, 1936. By this time and as shown below, Al Gronvold had gone to Washington, D. C. where he is shown in 1935. He apparently lost what he was storing in Texas. Greenville is about fifty miles outside of Dallas - no telling why he was there. This was still Depression-Era.
At right is a page from a 1935 Washington, D. C. City Directory, where Alvin L. Gronvold is shown as an employee of the General Accounting Office and living in an apartment at 1514 17th St NW. He is shown in 1936 Washington D. C. City Directory, still employed by the General Accounting Office, living at 1406 16th Ave., NW.
The item to the left is from the Lawton Constitution of December 28, 1947. As shown below, Al Gronvold shows up in California ca 1940 - and lives the last five decades of his life there. For Christmas, 1947, he returned to Oklahoma to spend the holidays with his late wife's mother, sister, and brother-in-law. It meant he stayed in touch with them, and appeared to have had a good relationship after his wife died.
In various records from 1940, Al Gronvold appears in California. He could have been there sometime between 1936 and 1940, but the records of him don’t seem to begin until 1940. The article at right is from the May 15, 1940 issue of the Sacramento Bee. It describes what Al Gronvold is doing and who he is working for.
The above document is from the 1940 census for the City of Sacramento, Alvin Gronvold is shown as an automotive office manager. He is shown as 44, an automotive office manager, born in Minnesota, widowed, living in Washington, D. C. in 1935. He is shown as a lodger in the Californian Hotel – with no address listed for the hotel.
At left is a page from the 1940 Sacramento City Directory, which shows Alvin L. Gronvold as office manager for F. B. Hart, and the address of 800 I Street. The occupation and address match the article and census entry above.
Above at left is the voter registration list for Sacramento in 1940, and above right is the list for Sacramento in 1942. In each listing Alvin L. Gronvold is shown as a manager, living at 804 I Street, and a registered Republican.
Alvin L. Gronvold's World War II draft registration - in Sacramento in 1942 - is above and to the right. It includes many facts about his life, that he was born in Maple Bay, Wisconsin, that he worked in Gen Motors Trucks, and his physical characteristics, including a burn scar on his left forearm.
The article at left is from the January 12, 1945 Sacramento Bee.
These two articles are from the Sacramento Bee. The article above is from March 12, 1951, and the article to the right is from the Sacramento Bee of April 13, 1951.
This marriage notice is from the Portola Report of January 1, 1959.
The notice to the right is from the Portola Reporter of February 10, 1966. It turned out to be her last term.
The campaign advertisement below is rom the Feather River Bulletin of May 12, 1966.
This article is from the Feather River Bulletin of June 24, 1971 about the Gronvolds return from Hawaii and the death of his younger brother Ralph.
Al Gronvold’s obituary above is rom the Feather River Bulletin of August 9, 1989. The Oakdale Cemetery in Crookston is where Anna, Mildred, and Ralph are buried. The Find-A-Grave database does not show Al Gronvold in Oakdale Cemetery. Ida “Billie” Gronvold's Obituary at right is from the June 23, 1993 Feather River Bulletin.
The item below is from the same copy of the Feather River Bulletin of June 23, 1993 that included Billie Gronvold's Obituary.
Arnold Theodore Gronvold . . .
The second oldest child of Mathias and Anna. He is shown in the previous web page on the entire family, with his birth, confirmation, census, and military records. We pick up the story after World War I, when he lived in Polk County, Minnesota - where he married; then Minneapolis; and then moved and lived out his life in Santa Barbara. He and his wife Tillian had one child.
At right is an item from the May 24, 1916 Grand Forks Herald, a notice that Arnold Gronvold spent the day in East Grand Forks from Crookston. He would have been age nineteen at the time.
Above is the marriage record of Arnold Gronvold and Tillian Vacura (I incorrectly copied Lillian from the index) from the Polk County marriage index, showing they were married on October 20, 1920 – hand-copied during my 1995 visit. Their son, Theodore Chester Gronvold, was shown in his World War II draft registration shown below, to have been born in Crookston on May 4,1921, but I have not found a birth record online for him. I have not found this marriage record online either.
At right is an article from the April 9, 1926 edition of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. This made the front page. Arnold was one of the five hundred men, who were all listed in the longer article.
The entry for Arnold T. Gronvold from the 1930 census is above, showing him in a veterans hospital at Fort Snelling in Hennepin County, Minnesota. He is on a long page of patients. I have not found Tillian or Theodore in the 1930 census as of yet.
The 1932 Minneapolis City Directory at right shows Arnold at the same address with “Tellian E.”, and she is shown as a bookkeeper for a plumbing company.
The entry for Arnold T. Gronvold in the 1935 Minneapolis City Directory is shown at left. His wife is shown as “Lillian”. However, later in the listing of Gronvolds is shown “Mrs. Tillie”, at the same address as Arnold. She is shown as the Treasurer for the 5th District American Legion Auxiliary. None of the other Gronvolds in that listing appear to be related. Arnold and “Lillian” were shown at this same address in the 1934 directory – with no individual listing for Tillie or “Lillian” in that 1934 directory.
The 1937 Santa Barbara (CA) City Directory excerpt at right was the first one where Arnold and "Lillian" were shown away from Minnesota and in California - indicating they moved between 1935 and 1937. No occupation was listed.
Above is the 1940 census entry of Arnold, Tillian, and Theodore in Santa Barbara. Tillian is the only one listed with an occupation – a retail sales clerk.
Above and at right is Arnold Gronvold's World War II Draft Registration from February 1942. It shows much information about him and his address in Santa Barbara at the time.
Below and at right is Theodore Chester Gronvold's World War II Draft Registration, dated the same day as his father’s in February 1942. It shows he was living with his parents, working for the U. S. Forestry Service, and that he was born in Crookston, Minnesota on May 4, 1921.
At left is a listing rom the Santa Maria Times of October 25, 1944. Historically, there were different election officials for each precinct in an election. It used to be standard practice to publish a list of the polling places and each precinct election official for the upcoming election. This was published not long before the November 1944 general election. I found another notice that he had done a similar thing in another election.
The 1948 Santa Barbara City Directory at right shows Arnold and Tillian, and has a separate entry for "Theo C.". Theo is shown with his wife Shirley L.
I have copies of Santa Barbara City Directories for the 1940’s, 1950’s, 1960’s and 1970’s – thirty references in total – for Arnold and Tillian. Theo C is in a few. The thirty-first reference was the 1983 city directory, which lists Arnold T. Gronvold, retired, at 102 North Hope Avenue, Apt. #22 – which is the same address I have listed for them in the 1978 City Directory, the last record of them I have in the 1970’s. Arnold died in 1981, so the listing in 1983 was maintained by Tillian.
At right is an article from the Placerville Mountain Democrat of May 21, 1970 on the marriage of Janet Gronvold – daughter of Theodore C. Gronvold – and Michael Kuhl. The article mentions that Janet is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Theodore Chester Gronvold of Las Vegas, and is a student at Mills College. I found a 1952 passenger record for a ship coming into San Francisco from Guam for Laura and Janet Gronvold – stating that they were living in Milwaukee, and implying they were a military family. There is a burial listing for LTC Theodore C. Gronvold at Arlington National Cemetery, showing his birth in 1921 and his death in 1982. Theodore C. Gronvold is shown in the Nevada Death Index, born May 4, 1921 in Minnesota and died on April 16, 1982 in Clark County, Nevada. There is a Public Family Tree on ancestry.com that includes Arnold and Tillian and is maintained by someone whose surname is Kuhl – which makes all this fit together.
Below is Arnold Gronvold's Grave Marker in Santa Barbara Cemetery, Santa Barbara, CA. It notes service in World War I.
Arnold Theodore Gronvold and Tillian Evelyn Gronvold in the California, Death Index, 1940-1997:
Name: Arnold Theodore Gronvold
Social Security #: (redacted)
Gender: Male
Birth Date: April 5, 1897
Birth Place: Minnesota
Death Date: November 26, 1981
Death Place: Santa Barbara
Mother’s Maiden Name: Ofstedal
Name: Tillian Evelyn Gronvold [Tillian Evelyn Vacura]
Social Security #: (redacted)
Gender: Female
Birth Date: August 25, 1901
Birth Place: Minnesota
Death Date: February 5, 1994
Death Place: San Diego
Mother’s Maiden Name: Svoboda
Father’s Surname: Vacura
Mildred Dolores Gronvold –
The third oldest child of Mathias and Anna. She is shown in just three records – that all were placed with the section on Matthias and Anna. She was in Polk County Birth Records as born on November 27, 1901. She was shown with her parents in the 1905 Minnesota state census in Crookston, Minnesota, age three. And she is shown in the Find-A-Grave database buried in Oakdale Cemetery in Crookston, having died on August 18, 1905, just weeks after the Minnesota state census entry. There may be other records for her, but I have not uncovered them yet.
Martin Norvald Gronvold –
The fourth oldest child of Mathias and Anna. He is shown in the previous section on the entire family, with his birth, confirmation, and census records. We pick up the story in his adult years, when he lived in Mandan, North Dakota and worked in various high level jobs in North Dakota State Government. He and his wife Marie had six children.
At right is the 1925 North Dakota State Census entry showing Martin Gronvold, age 21, as a student at the University of North Dakota at Grand Forks. He is shown listed on a page with other students.
At left is an article from the Bismarck Tribune of August 2, 1929 - a few months before the Stock Crash. The article names “Mr. and Mrs. Matthias Gronvold” of Crookston as his parents, but names no other Gronvold family members. It also mentions that Martin graduated from the University of North Dakota at Grand Forks.
Martin is shown in the 1930 census in Mandan, Morton County, North Dakota. He is shown with his wife Marie - enumerated with her family - all shown above.
Martin and Marie are shown above in the 1940 census in Mandan, Morton County, North Dakota. They are at the same street address and shown just below Marie’s family. The first three children – Ann, Gerald, and Gene – are shown with them. The next three children were born in the next few years, John in 1942; Robert a few years after; and Daniel, about 1948.
At right is an article from the Bismarck Tribune of June 22, 1953.
This Associated Press story ran in the Sacramento Bee (California) on May 26, 1965. Interesting that a story out of North Dakota made it into a California newspaper.
At right is an article from the Bismarck Tribune of June 23, 1965.
Marie Gronvold's obituary from the Bismarck Tribune of March 5, 1977 is shown at left.
At right is a legislative resolution in honor of Martin Gronvold passed by the North Dakota House of Representatives in 1977. He appears to have retired not long after Marie’s death. It contains a good history of Martin’s public service career.
Martin Gronvold's obituary ran in the Bismarck Tribune of June 19, 1987.
Martin and Marie Gronvold had Six Children . . .
I have collected an article or two about each of them and they are included below, to fill out the story of Martin Gronvold’s family.
The oldest child of Martin and Marie was their only daughter - Ann Marie Gronvold. This is her 1955 marriage record, showing her marriage to Thomas Withers in Lewis and Clark County, Montana.
The story about Thomas Withers, Martin and Marie Gronvold’s son-in-law, is from the April 29, 1967 issue of the Bismarck Tribune.
Thomas Withers’ obituary at right is from the Bismarck Tribune of October 5, 1991. At the time this is posted in 2020, it appears that Ann is still living in Florida.
Gerald Gronvold was the second oldest child of Martin and Marie, born on January 7, 1936. This is his obituary from a Mandan Funeral Home”
“Gerald Gronvold, 80, Mandan, passed away Aug. 19, 2016, at the VA Hospital, Fargo. Services will be held at a later date as Gerald donated his body to UND School of Medicine for scientific research.
Gerald was born Jan. 7, 1936, to Martin and Marie (McCormick) Gronvold in Mandan. He was raised and educated in the Mandan area. He proudly served his country in the U.S. Army from 1955-58. He served as a military police guard at a hospital in France. Gerald worked as a manager at the Sports Page Bar in Bismarck. He also worked in sales at Lucas.
Gerald will be deeply missed by his sister, Ann Withers, Mary Esther, Fla.; his brother, George (Robert) Gronvold, Nevada; along with numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.
Gerald was preceded in death by his parents; and his brothers, Dan, Gene and John Gronvold.” (Weigel Funeral Home, Mandan)
At right is a photo of Gerald Gronvold's Grave Marker in the North Dakota Veterans Cemetery in Mandan, North Dakota.
Gene Gronvold was the third oldest child of Martin and Marie, born October 29, 1938 in Mandan. His obituary below, was from the Bismarck Tribune of January 10, 2004.
John Gronvold was the fourth child of Martin and Marie, born on March 14, 1942 in Mandan, North Dakota. Below is his obituary from the Bismarck Tribune of May 26, 2010.
Below is an article from the Bismarck Tribune of April 2, 1987. Robert was the fifth oldest child of Martin and Marie, born between the births of brothers John in 1942 and Dan about 1948. Robert appears to be living in Nevada in 2020 as this is written.
Daniel Gronvold was the sixth and youngest child of Martin and Marie, born ca 1948. His obituary below is from the March 2, 2002 Bismarck Tribune.
Ralph Armand Gronvold
The fifth and youngest child of Mathias and Anna. He is shown in the previous section on the entire family, in birth, confirmation, and census, records. Ralph appeared to have lived with his mother until she died in 1931 – he’s shown with her in the 1930 census in Crookston. He then lived in North Dakota and appears to have never married.
From the "Footprints of Yesterday" history of Crookston, Minnesota. This is a community sports team - and Ralph Gronvold is shown in the front row far right.
Ralph is shown above in the 1940 census in Ward Four in Crookston as a lodger with Roy Kinsella. Ralph is shown as a printer, as is Roy. Ralph is shown as age 32, born in Minnesota and living in the same house in 1935.
Ralph Gronvold's World War II draft registration is posted below, dated October 16, 1940. He is shown in Crookston, living with the same person he was enumerated with in the 1940 census, and also is shown as "blind in left eye".
At left is from the Bemidji Daily Pioneer of October 25, 1967. Gonvick is in Clearwater County, Minnesota. Ralph Gronvold is shown as from Hillsboro, North Dakota.
At right is Ralph’s obituary from the Bismarck Tribune of June 23, 1971. In the section on Arnold above, there is an article about Alvin Gronvold learning about the death of his brother Ralph upon return from a trip. Hillsboro is in North Dakota about forty-five miles across the Red River southwest of his home town of Crookston, Minnesota.
Theresa Jacobson –
was shown in the 1910 census with Mathias and Anna Gronvold in Crookston. She was listed as “adopted daughter”. Theresa is shown with her parents T. C. (? – he appears to be shown as Hans in the 1900 census in Sullivan, Polk County) and Mary in Crookston. Mary is shown in the 1910 census back in Sullivan – widowed, and with some of her children. By 1920 a Theresa Jacobson is shown as the “adopted daughter” of Theodore and Ella Ramberg of Godfrey Township, Polk County. She is shown in the 1930 census with Emil Ramberg in Woodside, Polk County, Minnesota, showing that they married ca 1922 – there is a marriage record for them in Crookston United Church on February 14, 1922. They had three children with them in 1930, and are in the 1940 census in the same location with six children. He appears to be shown as Eimer in the 1940 census. Eimer is shown as having died in 1969 and is buried in Rodnes Lutheran Cemetery in Erskine, Polk County – and is linked to a different spouse in that record. It is unclear whether Theresa was a long-term member of the Gronvold family, but given the 1910 census entry I thought it good to place this information here.
That completes the story, as I know it thus far, of Anna and Mattias Gronvold’s family . . .
I look forward to any additions or corrections that people have.