My oldest brother, Norris, along with his father, Gullik Nelson Rye, sometime early in the 1930s,We lived in Valley Springs, South Dakota and they had probably been fishing in the Split Rock River near Brandon.
This probably was one of the times in his early childhood that he was free of burdens that were to be his lot later in life.
Our father suffered from poor health and when Norris was in 8th grade he had to quit school to support his father and mother’s family.
Opal was older and worked along with the men on the farm. Younger siblings were: Eldora,Glenn, Beverly,Raymond and Vivian.
In 1938, my father had purchased a large farm near Hills, Minnesota, the Ole Ellinboe farm consisting of 240 acres.
In the eigth grade Norris was handed the checkbook and had to take over all manual duties.
My father died in 1944 at the age of 56.
It was Norris’s dedication and sacrifice that kept the family together during the war years of World War 2.
Of all of the siblings there remains but Vivian and myself.
Photo’s courtesy of Norris’s widow, Lorraine.