LILLIAN ROSETTA ALBERG

Lillian Alberg's high school graduation picture
The string band from Hazel, Lillian front left with Uke

Do you know the names of your aunts? Today let's talk about my aunt Lillian. Her last name was Alberg, she went to school in Hazel at the Busy Bee School . She had several brothers and sisters and if you looked at the roster of the Busy Bee School, it almost seemed like there was always an ALBERG in class.

Lil was one of eight children born to Carl and Louise Finstad Alberg. The little bit that is known of the family of Alberg's was furnished to Old Trunks in the spring of 2003. A worksheet was sent to her and she filled in the blanks. Now, just to give you a feel for how far she would go, she took the worksheet to the church and enlarged the copy so she would be able to read it and have room to fill in the information! The worksheet volleyed between TRF and Fargo until it was right. Now that is tenacity!

Lillian married my dad's only sibling, Harry in the summer of 1939. Together with my parents and my grandparents they went to Kansas and Colorado to work on defense during the war. Benhard and Julia came back to the Rosewood area early; Harry, Lillian, and Bruce arrived in early June of 1943, Judy, their daughter, was born shortly after there return.

Lillian was a stay at home mom with three children and a husband. Old Trunks has mentioned her before; she was the maker of oatmeal cookies which we ate hot out of the oven after skating on the coulee. They lived in a house in the 700 block of Conley Avenue next to the railroad tracks. Cousin Judy said you get used to the trains rumbled by. One of the things I liked to do at their house was look at the collection of salt and pepper shakers. Uncle Harry had built a showcase for them on the wall going to the basement.

Lillian was to be admired. When Harry found out he had a brain tumor, he wanted Lillian to go to school so she could support herself and her family. She got her LPN certificate from the vocational school in Thief River Falls and began working at the hospital after her certificate was issued in the spring of 1962 from ATVI. Harry had surgery in Fargo and died on New Years Day of 1962. He had turned 51 the day before. It was believed that a fall off a barn at a younger age started the problem; for several years, he had convulsions, which our family called spasms.

At the time of Harry's death, their oldest son, Bruce, was in college at Augsburg, he was half way through his education. He was inducted into the Augsburg Athletic Hall of fame for hockey and track. The idea was once Bruce was finished, Judy would be educated, then Jim, the youngest of the three. All this time, Lillian was working and picking up extra shifts to make the mark to get her children educated.

When Judy visited in the summer of 2005, she told me about her stuggles to pass boards in nursing and in cosmtology. Although she said she was over it by now, she still wondered why she choked up. Judy married Darrell and they had a good life together. They were each other's constant companions and the best of friends.

Jim, their youngest, became a lawyer and a judge. He lives in the Minneapolis metro with his wife, Jane.

My friendship with my aunt strengthened after mother died. Along with working on genealogy, we had times together walking and having lunch. She wrote in my birthday card in 2003 that she was adopting me so I would have a mother. She was like that. She cared. Had you known her and given her a chance, she would care about you too.

The Ranum first cousins and their parents have diminished.
Harry Arthur Ranum 1/1962
Stanley Kenneth Ranum 12/1967
Gregory James Ranum 2/2002
Ella Deloris Lundberg Ranum 11/2002
Bruce Carlton Ranum 10/2004
Darrell Wick (Judy's husband) 4/2005
Judith Louise Ranum Wick 11/2006
Lillian Ranum 5/2006

Greg, Bruce, and Judy all deceased in their 63th year.

Jim and I are holding the fort!

e