Henrietta: Promises in the Sky!

By Carol F. Tuntland

Irene Henrietta Bork was born in 1917 during World War I on a homestead on the prairies of southeastern North Dakota.

As the granddaughter of two immigrant families, she grew up appreciating the opportunities she had in the United States, and was always interested in history, politics, and the happenings in North Dakota.

She married Fay Sanders, and together, they raised four children. One of them was Holly, who had Down syndrome. While Holly had challenges, she excelled in certain areas – and the family always pushed her to reach her potential.

Irene admired Eleanor Roosevelt, Helen Hayes, Jacqueline Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, and Michelle Obama and was more liberal than conservative in her views. She was a remarkable woman interested in the world until her death at age ninety-six in 2013.

Written by Irene’s daughter, Carol F. Tuntland, this life story recalls the hopes, challenges, adversities, and triumphs of the first-born granddaughter of German immigrants – and also serves as an important record of what life was like from the end of World War I and into the twenty-first century.

• Language: English
• Publisher: LifeRich Publishing
• Release date: May 10, 2020
• ISBN: 9781489726605

Carol F. Tuntland

Carol F. Tuntland has spent her life as an adventurer, growing up in North Dakota, enjoying life as an Air Force wife and mother, and serving as a college professor of fashion and textiles at Cal State University, Los Angeles. She earned a Bachelor of Science in home economics from North Dakota State University, a Master of Arts in home economics from Cal State University, Long Beach, and a Doctor of Education in institutional management from Pepperdine University. She’s retired and enjoys travelling the world and writing family stories. She lives in Huntington Beach, California, and is the co-author of The Textiles Handbook with Dr. Rebecca Davis.

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Copyright © 2020 Carol F. Tuntland.

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Scripture quotations taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®

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ISBN: 978-1-4897-2659-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-2661-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-2660-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020907055

LifeRich Publishing rev. date: 05/04/2020

This is a story about my

mother and her life, but it would not have been possible to tell without the love and support of my husband, Darrell, our children, Todd and Sonya, and their families, to whom this book is dedicated.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Irene Henrietta

Family

Activities and Responsibilities

Education

Summer Experiences

Family Ties

College

Romance

Politics

Fay and Irene

Mentors

The Teaching Experience

Wedding Bells

Memories of World War II

Oakes

Home and Family

A Special Child

Life Education

Remodeling

Food

Recipes!

Creativity

Irene’s Christmas Memories

Interaction with the Changing Scene

Adding Spice to Life

Retirement

Travel

Life after Children

Challenges

Final Years

Appendix 1

Appendix 2

Notes

Questions and Topics for Writing Family Stories

Acknowledgments

I n the process of writing Mother’s story, I have had the unfailing support of my husband, Darrell, who has always been my most important sounding board. There are many people to thank. I thank Mother for keeping so much memorabilia that linked stories and images with memories. My brothers, Richard and Rob, read and listened and helped me with memories. My aunts, Isabelle and Dorothy, contributed their memories. Mike Morrissey, best man to Darrell at our wedding, read and edited for me. Margaret McWilliams, colleague and friend from Cal State LA, provided invaluable assistance with the entire manuscript. Marty MacLeod, my friend from childhood, listened and encouraged throughout the process.

Introduction

When I began writing Mother’s story in 2009, I had ideas and questions. By May 2011, I thought I had enough to send her a copy for Mother’s Day and did so. She read some of the text and added more details through 2012. In September 2012, she was diagnosed with sinus cancer and elected not to undergo treatment. It was a challenging time. Mother’s niece (and my cousin) died of kidney cancer at sixty-two that month. My sister, Holly, died in April 2013, and my husband, Darrell, was diagnosed with six heart blockages in June 2013. Darrell had successful quintuple heart bypass surgery in late June, and we were with Mother when she died on August 6, 2013, at ninety-six and a half.

I have been reminded of God’s presence in our lives throughout the period of writing Mother’s story, especially through music. Living Pictures was presented at Our Redeemer Church during the Lenten season as living art, narration and musical accompaniment to share the story of Jesus Christ for 34 years and involved the entire congregation.

In 2012 and 2013, for the Living Pictures presentations we sang—

We try with all our might and struggle on our own,

Impoverished in our souls. We reap what we have sown.

And then the angels came to say, He’s with us every day.

All around the world we see evidence that’s clear to me.

He’s come, not to judge or to condemn us.

He brings, life abundant for you and me.

Now we praise the name of Jesus. Discover what life can truly be.

Lyrics and music are from The Abundant Life by Greg Prechel.

In 2014 for the 27th Living Pictures presentation we sang—

What God has planned for the people who love Him is more than eyes have seen or ears have ever heard.

What God has planned has never even entered our minds.

Rejoice, my soul for what God has planned.

I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you, protect you and give you a future full of hope—Trust what God has planned."

Lyrics and music from What God Has Planned by Mark Hayes, based on Jeremiah 29:11-14, Psalm 27 and I Corinthians 2.

Those are glorious words and promises of faith for a woman who led a life filled with promise, hope, challenge, faith and love.

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Irene Henrietta Bork, 1917

Irene Henrietta

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I wish someone would write my story. My mother and I were sitting in her kitchen while I was visiting Oakes prior to my board meeting at North Dakota State University. I knew this would be a daunting task, but what an opportunity! It occurred to me that I should start that project immediately, so I walked to my bedroom, picked up my laptop, and returned to the kitchen. Mother protested as I began to take notes. I encouraged her to talk, explaining that we could edit later, but it was time to begin. She was ninety-two, and we worked on it together until she passed away at ninety-six and a half on August 6, 2013.

Soon after her birth in 1917, Mother was christened Irene Henrietta Bork in honor of her paternal grandmother. As a small child, I heard the Chicken Little story and connected it with my mother because her middle name was Henrietta. Unlike Chicken Little, my mother was never unreasonably afraid; she was brave and adventurous. Her life was full of promise and interesting experiences, even in trying times. Irene was born in a homestead on the prairies in southeastern North Dakota, the granddaughter of two immigrant families from the old country. In this case, the old country was two very different old countries, but both sets of grandparents desired a better life in the United States.

Who was Irene? A highly intelligent woman who grasped the details of any situation immediately and usually had a quick retort. Irene was energetic and quick—to act, to speak, to judge, and to write. She was driven to find success and pushed her family to attain success as well. Irene was passionate and sometimes volatile! It didn’t matter if you were a parent, spouse, sibling, child, or grandchild; she expected all to read her mind—quickly and accurately—and then do what she expected us to do. When we didn’t, we incurred her wrath. Everyone in the family caught a dose of her anger when we least expected it. She was indomitable.

Irene had a very strong sense of propriety, wanting all things done right. If a job was worth doing, it was worth doing well. We needed to follow her rules for life. She anticipated events would unfold in the proper order. She was tough, demanding, and unforgiving—a relentless force in the lives of her family and friends. And we, her children, knew intrinsically that she knew what she was talking about.

Today’s ideas about morals, fashion, politics, and life in general would simply confuse her. She colored her hair blonde beyond her ninetieth birthday but opted for comfort otherwise. We had a conversation in the mid-eighties about teenage fashion, and I think it illustrates the point. Young California girls tied their hoodies around their waists as a fashion statement. Why do they do that? she asked. It’s the fashion, Mother! I replied. She continued, Are they cold? No, it’s the fashion, Mother. But why would they do that? She followed most apparel changes and adapted until cropped pants became popular. The proportions just weren’t right with anklets and oxfords.

She kept everything—letters, magazines, dance programs, books, instructions, hems from shortened pants, scraps of fusible interfacing, lesson plans, and blue foam. She also kept plastic bags, oatmeal cartons, Cool Whip containers, and empty boxes—assuring us that she needed them for Christmas gifts because you can’t just go buy boxes in Oakes! There were gift bows from my shower and wedding nearly fifty years prior and enough used Christmas giftwrap for many future celebrations. I discovered several timelines and stories about the war years as well as boxes and bags of memorabilia. The letters from Dad, siblings, cousins, mentors, and friends all add to the details of her life. She wrote parts of her story on programs, in reports for meetings, and on the memorabilia that she kept.

She read voraciously and had opinions on most things. Always interested in history, biography, and politics, she avidly followed the happenings in North Dakota with great pride. She came of age in the era of Wild Bill Langer and Usher L. Burdick, political giants in 1930s North Dakota. She was genuinely thrilled when the North Dakota Bakken Shelf Project became a major development in 2008 and kept the newspaper articles announcing the project. The Bakken Shelf Project changed the face of North Dakota. It brought new problems as well as new wealth and prosperity. In her mind, it was great. She admired Eleanor Roosevelt, Helen Hayes, Jacqueline Kennedy, Hillary Clinton, and Michelle Obama and was more liberal than conservative in her views. Irene was truly a remarkable woman who was born at the end of WWI, active in WWII, and interested in the world until her death in 2013.

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Family

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B ecause we all stand on the shoulders of those who come before us, I begin Irene’s story with brief histories of her maternal and paternal grandparents, from notes that she had gathered over the years. They were significant influences on her life, particularly her paternal grandmother and her maternal grandfather. Irene was the product of industrious, talented, and generous people. She had a strong sense of self from the very beginning and definite ideas about what she would like to do with her life.

Irene’s maternal grandparents emigrated from the Beresina, Bessarabia, area in Russia as Germans from Russia. The ship documents that detail her maternal grandfather’s family incorrectly list the ages of all the children as younger than they were. As emigrants from Russia, the young males wouldn’t have been allowed to leave Russia if their ages were listed correctly. When Catherine the Great (who was German) invited Germans to live in Russia, the Germans were allowed to settle their own villages, speak German, practice their faith, and establish their own schools. Under agreements forged with Catherine, they didn’t have to serve in the Russian army or adapt to Russian culture. But by the late 1800s, under different czars, new laws required them to learn Russian, go to Russian schools, and be conscripted into the Russian army. Many German Russians, including the Beglau branch of the family, decided that it was time to move to the United States, where they would find religious freedom and free land through the Homestead Act of 1862.

Emma Beglau, Irene’s mother, homesteaded with her parents, Gottlieb and Christina Bertsch-Beglau, about fourteen miles