Family matters
This month two of my relatives have passed away. And their deaths have me thinking…
I don’t like missing family gatherings – funerals, weddings, dinners, what-have-you.
And questioning…
Should I move closer to home? What am I missing by being 2,000 miles away? Could I bring the family closer together?
And when I say home, I don’t mean back to Wisconsin (which is where my husband and pups are currently residing). I’m talking about moving back to east-central Minnesota, where I grew up and where Brian and I first met. (And of course, I mean moving myself, Brian and the pups to east-central Minnesota.)
Don’t get me wrong, I’m LOVING my time in Arizona! And I’ve enjoyed my time in Wisconsin! It’s just that there’s this part of me that wants to connect the entire extended family and bring it back to how it was (and then some!) when I was growing up. Huge family holidays, hanging out with the cousins, and listening to stories from “when I was young…”. Doing day-to-day activities with the fam. I think that would be amazing. A-MAZ-ING.
In a lot of ways it feels like I don’t even KNOW my own family! Case and point – I didn’t know that my paternal grandmother was one of ten siblings or that my great-grandfather was the town’s blacksmith, until I read so in her brother’s (my great uncle’s) obituary. Really. I can do better!
Strike that.
I will do better!
Eliza and Bill, I will do better. Every day, I’ll do something to remember, honor, connect, and enhance our family and our legacy. You have my word.
—
Eliza (Aloisia) Glowacki Perala
March 16, 1913 – August 10, 2011
Eliza (Aloisia) Glowacki Perala, 98, a longtime resident of the Orr/Pelican Lake area, died Wednesday, Aug. 10, 2011 in Ranier Roose Care Facility.
She was born March 16, 1913, in Duluth, to Peter and Joanna (Bojczuk) Glowacki. She spent her childhood in Duluth, Gheen and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. She married Uno Perala Feb. 14, 1933, in Duluth, and lived in the Orr/Pelican Lake area until she moved to a long-term care facility in Ranier. She operated the Deer Lodge Resort for 35 years. She was a master gardener and had her last big garden when she was 91. She loved picking berries and all types of gathering.
Being a very tenacious woman, she learned to drive after the death of her husband and received her first license when she was 80. Long before it was fashionable, she was an advocate of healthy eating and living.
She was preceded in death by her father, Peter; mother, Joanne, in 1918 of influenza; stepmother, Frances; husband, Uno; brothers Joe Glowacki, Tony, John, Peter, Isador and Victor Glowacki; sisters Mary Manninen, Johanna Hill and Julia Arezzo; son-in-law Jim Howard; and great-grandson Adam Watkins-Larson.
Eliza is survived by her son, Kenneth (Katherine) Perala; daughters Joanne (Ronald) Larson, Beverly Howard and Ida Culhane; brother Donald Glowacki; sister Rose (Vernon) Osterhues; 12 grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren.
Memorial Service: 11 a.m., Saturday, Aug. 13, in the Holy Cross Catholic Church in Orr, Minnesota.
—
William Wayne Sandberg
November 4, 1928 – August 25, 2011
William “Bill” Sandberg of Rush City, MN passed away Thursday, August 25, 2011 at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Minneapolis at the age of 82.
Bill was born November 4, 1928 to William and Olga Marie (Bloom) Sandberg in Rush City. He was one of ten children whose father was the town blacksmith. Bill grew up, graduated from Rush City High School and lived in Rush City all his life. He was inducted into the U.S. Army after high school and served his country in Korea.
While in high school, Bill enjoyed shop classes and discovered his life-long career of carpentry. He loved working with wood and was still using an end table he had made for his mother in high school shop class. For a time, Bill worked as a carpenter for Resch Construction in Rush City. He also traveled to the cities daily to work as a carpenter but eventually started his own business; Bill’s Home Improvement. He taught several of his nephews about carpentry and plumbing while they worked with Bill during summers. Bill was known in the area for his innovative work with wood foundations and his ability to build a building or home in its entirety; doing the plumbing, electrical, concrete, etc.
In 1962, Bill purchased land on Chippewa Hill, southeast of Rush City and built his A-frame dream home. It would be his home for the next forty seven years.
Bill was a founding member of an organization known as the BPA; Bachelors Protective Association, which had many members in the Rush City area. This group even had a float that was involved in many local parades. Most of his BPA friends knew him as “Big Daddy”. Bill was also a member of the Grothe-Jacobson VFW Post # 6692 and the Heath-Perkins American Legion Post # 51.
Bill’s hobbies included watching sports, playing Bingo, going to the Casino and meeting friends for coffee every morning at 6 a.m. In his earlier days, Bill was an avid roller-skater and skated at several rinks in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Every Christmas, Bill would make over 600 rosettes and deliver them to his nieces and nephews families. It was a treat they all looked forward to.
Bill will be remembered for his smile, his wonderful sense of humor and his optimistic outlook on life. He was a very special person that will be missed by so many. His passing marks the end of an era of Sandberg’s living in Rush City that spanned 113 years.
Bill is survived by his nieces and nephews: Barb (Mike) Struss of Pine City, Ron (Diane) Hansen of Pine City, John (Linda) Carlson of Stanchfield, Mark (Jane) Carlson of Pine City, Bruce (Barb) Carlson of Rush City, Karen (Bruce) Eveland of Backus, Robert Gustafson of Danbury, Wisconsin, Kathy (Steve) Swanson of Apple Valley, Betty (Roland) Rasmussen of Edina, Nan (Ron) Hult of North Branch, George (Claire) Jones Jr. of Dallas, Texas; many great nieces and nephews
Bill was preceded in death by his parents William & Olga (Bloom) Sandberg, brothers: Elwin “Red” Sandberg, Kenny (Gretchen) Sandberg, Merle “Bud” Sandberg, sisters: Agnes (George) Jones, Orpha (Amos) Carlson, Althea (Algot) Gustafson, Marion (Russell) Hansen, infant sisters Frances, Evelyn.
Pastor Steven Swanson will officiate at funeral services: 11:00 A.M. Tuesday (8/30/2011) at the Olson Chapel in Rush City with a time of visitation and reviewal one hour prior to the funeral. Music will be provided by a great nephew Dan Carlson and organist Dianne Kirchberg. Casket bearers are John Carlson, Bruce Carlson, Mark Carlson, Ron Hansen, Mike Struss, Bob Gustafson and Ron Hult with the interment in the Mission Covenant Cemetery in Rush City. Military honors will be provided by the Grothe-Jacobson VFW and the Heath Perkins American Legion.
Funeral arrangements are entrusted to the Funeral and Cremation Service~Olson Chapel of Rush City, MN. www.funeralandcremationservice.com
About Sara
Sara Hefty (B.B.A. and H.H.C.) teaches workaholic women how to have it all and flourish without burning out, binging or being spiteful. As an expert in transformational health coaching, she holds women accountable for letting go of unwanted weight, being brilliantly nourished, grounded in truth and feeling confident, happy and playful every single day.
As a woman with her own weight loss story, wide-ranging family heritage of cancer, and a graduate of the Institute of Integrative Nutrition, Sara’s appreciation for convenient nutrient-dense food, personal growth, inspiring design, financial responsibility, and social entrepreneurship led to her “Pursuit of Ownership: Health, Home, and Legacy” model of heart-on-fire-hot empowered living.
Sara is the founder of PROJECT LUX and SaraHefty.com. She currently lives in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, with her husband Brian and hound-dog Raja.
Thank you for the tribute to Aunt Eliza. She was quite a woman who adored my dad, her brother Joey. Her daughter, Ida, your late uncle, John Hill, and I were the the same age and therefore shared a special notch on the family tree.
I understand your pull to be nearer to family when these family gatherings take place, as I, too, did not live near enough to attend them either. And often my teaching career made it impossible to attend a funeral or wedding I would liked to have attended. But–there’s always that BUT–I had my obligations to my own family and commitments to my schools and in a huge family like ours we could never take all the time it would require to be there. It’s a sacrifice and there will be regrets, but not one of your relatives would fault you for not attending. We all know how important it is to be responsible in meeting your own obligations and pursuits. And you did the right thing–a tribute written in their honor is a great way to show your respect. Thank you for that.
Love, Cousin Karen
[…] hard to believe that it’s been less than two months since Eliza and Bill died, and now Fran as well. Fran was my great-aunt, my Dad’s aunt, my grandfather’s […]