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© Copyright 1998, Jim Loy
On May 31, 1998, Selma Hanberg, my grandmother on my mother's side, turned 105. She currently lives with my parents, in Kalispell, Montana.
Her parents were Mr. and Mrs. Anton Torbergson, who moved from Norway to the USA. They lived in Iowa for a time, and that is where Selma was born, on May 31, 1893. They moved to Somers, Montana, in 1903 when she was 10 years old. In 1914, she married Einar "Ed" Hanberg, who worked at various sawmills. They raised five children. Today, of the five, only Mabel, my mother, and Kenneth, my uncle, are still alive. The other three children were Gladys, Hazel, and Robert. Ed and Selma Hanberg later moved to Snohomish, Washington, and then to Eugene, Oregon, where they lived for over 30 years. Ed Hanberg died in 1970.
She moved to Lake Blaine, near Kalispell, Montana, to live with my parents, in 1991. The three of them moved into Kalispell, just a couple of months ago. Her life is now largely occupied with watching television (her favorite is Lawrence Welk), and going to church (First Baptist Church in Columbia Falls) on Sunday. She has eleven grandchildren, and "loads and loads of great- and great-great-grandchildren."
My mother was quoted in the Hungry Horse News, a Columbia Falls newspaper: "I have a good mother. She never complains, loves people, loves talking with people, does not worry about anything, and has always been that way. She's worked hard all of her life -- was a good seamstress, making all of our clothes, was a good housekeeper, and was involved with activities of the Lutheran Church."
Grandma Hanberg, as I call her, is physically frail, and is hard of hearing. But, mentally, she is sharp as a tack. Her memory puts mine to shame. She remembers people, and relatively minor details, from 80 or 90 years ago.
Addendum 1999: Grandma is now living with a care giver, who I have not met, in Kalispell. She has been in the hospital, with congested lungs, a couple of times. She is difficult to understand, when she talks. But, she seems coherent.
Addendum 2001: She is still going strong at 107 and a half.
Addendum 2001: Today May 15, 2001, my grandmother passed away, 16 days before her 108th birthday.