from "​Double Cousins" by Ralph Hammersborg, A Norwegian Family Chronicle, produced in 1996

Ralph Hammersborg had asked his Mother’s cousins to write about their lives. The cousin's stories are taken from "Double Cousins by Ralph Hammersborg, A Norwegian Family Chronicle, produced in 1996.” Birth dates of living relatives have been removed from the original text.

1928 - Helen Irene (Johnson) Shaw
born June 26, 1928, died at age 81 on October 9, 2009.
Daughter of Helmer & Alfrida Johnson

Written in 1996

I was born June 26, 1928 in Clearfield Township, near Binford, North Dakota, the 9th child of Helmer and Alfrida Johnson. We were farmers and we all learned early on to help whenever and wherever we were able. I went to a rural school about 4 miles from home and we traveled sometimes by car, horse and buggy, on foot, and later, when most of us had gotten out of grade school, on horseback. In March of 1941 we had an extremely severe snow storm with all the roads blocked. None of the younger kids went to school, but we seventh and eighth graders had to take North Dakota State Board test so we went when we could, when the weather got a little better I towed brother Mencer on skis behind the horse.

I attended high school in Binford and since we didn't have school buses then, we rented a room and did light housekeeping and were responsible for ourselves during the week, but we all went home most weekends.

In 1943, Helmer and Alfrida decided to move to Frazee, Minnesota and I did not go back to high school. Instead I got a job at a local restaurant washing dishes and stayed at the home of the restaurant owners. There were seven girls living in that house and we've all stayed friends since then. Bob and I were attendants at the wedding at one of them, and we all celebrated their 50th Anniversary in June, 1995. I met Bob while I worked at the restaurant and he lived on a farm next to ours.

Since World War II was in full swing I always went home in the summer and helped with the field work, which was a good training for the years ahead.

I married Bob Shaw July 1, 1946, and we worked his parent’s dairy farm for the next few years. Our first son was still born May 18, 1947 and he is buried in Frazee. Our second son, Larry James, is one of the many redheads in our lineage.

We bought our own farm in 1948 and moved there in 1950. We did whatever we could, including raising chickens, to support ourselves until we got our own dairy herd going. Helen worked at the local turkey processing plant for four to five months every year while Bob got the farm operating and took care of Larry when he could. Larry stayed with the neighbor when Bob couldn't care for him. The only buildings on the farm were an old frame house with walls filled with sand for insulation, a grainery, a chicken coop that were all run down and a very old log barn which had been the first Catholic Church in that area.

Larry was growing up, our farm was gradually being built up and most things were going well for us. Larry went to a rural school, located on the corner of our farm, for the first six years and then went to Junior High in Frazee. We were all active in church and civic activities and had a busy interesting life.

Bob was being treated for ulcers and allergies and then he got really sick. The doctor checked him over. He couldn't find much serious and sent him home. A long hard night. I called the doctor at 7:00 a.m. and he said bring him in and not let him eat. The doctors decided to hospitalize him and open him up. They did and his appendix ruptured when they got to it. The doctor told me he didn't know if Bob would live. We also still had a dairy farm to run and fortunately we had a neighbor boy who had just gotten out of the Navy and he came over on 10 minutes notice to help out. That was a week never to be forgotten. It was the week before Christmas of 1961. The first three or four days were so uncertain. We prayed and hoped and struggled - and God saved him, and we were so grateful. Bob got home Christmas Eve, and the ulcer he had been treated for was really his appendix.

Bob's allergies were still a serious problem and after another year, the doctor asked him if he wanted to farm or wanted to live. He couldn't do both. Another long night of discussion and we decided Helen would go to business college - Bob would continue dairy farming until spring, and Larry was in Junior High. We had an auction in March of 1963. Helen had a desk job in Detroit Lakes, and Bob was to rest and recover his health and in the fall he started business college and got a part-time job in Detroit lakes.

That was the end of a life we liked and had wanted to continue, but God in his wisdom guided us in another direction and we learned to live with it and it turned into the best thing that ever happened to us.

Bob was offered a job as Deputy Assessor in Fergus Falls, which he took and we rented our farm to neighbors and rented the house to a Frazee teacher and moved to Fergus falls in 1964. Larry finished high school there, Helen first worked in a general merchandise store, and then got a job in a Farm Lending office and again life was good to us. We bought a house on a couple acres a mile or so out of Fergus falls so Larry could continue to keep his horse which he enjoyed riding.

Bob was next appointed as County Treasurer - a job he lost in the next election. He next got a job as a Real Estate Appraiser for the state of Minnesota in St. Paul and Helen got a job with the State Planning Agency. Larry moved in with some friends and continued college in Fergus Falls and Bob and Helen moved into an apartment in St. Paul. We also had bought a small cottage on a lake out of Vegas, Minnesota and we spent all our summer weekends there.

In 1969 Washington State was advertising nationwide for Appraisers for Washington State Department of Transportation. The tests were given in Minnesota so Bob and some of his co-workers took them. Bob was invited to Washington for an interview, got the job, and we moved to Vancouver, Washington. Larry had quit college and was hired by the Pollution Control Agency, State of Minnesota, so he again moved in with friends in St. Paul and remained in Minnesota. We arrived in Vancouver the end of May 1970 and Bob started work for the Department of Transportation June 1, 1970. Helen stayed home for a year or so and then went back to work. She basically worked as a bookkeeper of Accounts Clerk and enjoyed that type of work. We also traveled some and enjoyed weekends on the Oregon coast. Bob's health had greatly improved so we were able to get away and enjoy life. We made many trips to Minnesota those eight years we lived in Vancouver. One was for mother’s (Alfrida) funeral in 1971 and for Pa’s (Helmer) funeral in April 1973. Bob's parents celebrated their 50th anniversary in the fall of 1973. Larry and Judy got married May 4, 1974 and they have lived near Pillager, west of Brainerd for most of their married life. Tracy Elizabeth was born there.

Bob was transferred and promoted to Olympia in 1978. Same old story - sell a house and buy another one, leave a familiar neighborhood and move into a new one and get acquainted again. Helen stayed home for a while. Larry called and said James Ryan was born. We still made trips to Minnesota - to see our new grandkids and their parents. Bob's dad died in April of 1980 - just before Mount St. Helens blew. We made other trips to Disney World in Orlando, Mazatlan in Mexico, Hawaii and many shorter trips including Victoria and Vancouver, Canada. In 1984 we bought a camping trailer and we've been traveling that way ever since.

Bob retired and I quit work at the end of May, 1986. We put our house in Olympia up for sale and had a garage sale, packed our trailer and truck and headed for Minnesota by way of Canada and the World's Fair at Vancouver which was great. We then traveled north to Quesnel to see Sig Susag's place, and then on to Prince George where Ray Susag lived. God once again had his hand in. Ray invited Bob out to the bush with him and Ray injured his leg in a trench cave-in. There was only one other employee close by to help Bob and between them they dug Ray out and Bob drove him back to Prince George to the hospital. We stayed long enough to see he'd be all right and then headed off east and back to Banff and Lake Louise. We came back to North Dakota across the flatland of Canada and back into the States north of Minot, North Dakota. We stopped in Minot a couple days to visit Bob's relatives and then to the Binford area to visit Nina’s, Eleanor’s, and Hillard's. Then on to Minnesota just in time for Larry's birthday. We had bought a cottage on a lake near Brainerd several years prior to retirement.

The vacation was over! Our cottage needed a lot of work! Tracy and Jim helped, Judy helped wallpaper and Larry helped when he had time. We had the cottage fairly livable and moved in the end of August. Meanwhile, Bob and Hillard had gone to Olympia to get the balance of our furniture. I had had the carpeting installed, so we piled all our stuff in the then living room and worked around it.

Fall came and we went to work in our large yard. Bob and Larry went duck and deer hunting and we made plans to go south for the winter. We went to Texas first and then west to Arizona and onto California and did some sightseeing such as the Grand Canyon and enjoyed the whole trip.

Our life has continued much the same in the years since. The second summer we were here we added a sun porch on the lake side of our cottage and turned that into our living room and the other room became a dining room. It's small but we're comfortable. The last several years have been repeats of the first year. Many friends from many places have stopped by and we've enjoyed the visits. We make a short trip to North Dakota once a year and have spent the past several winters in Florida. We usually try to vary our trips home and have been in every state except the very northeast and Alaska.

Johnson Family (home) - Kinstories (home) - Susag Family - Flatau Family - Beckman Family
Granquist Family - Anderson Family - Stout Family - Walker Family - Peterson Family - Morris Family - Cauble Family