August Emil Bjorklun and family Obituaries

AUGUST Emil BJORKLUN
 
 
Holyoke Enterprise, Holyoke, Colorado, January 20, 1966
 
RITES TODAY FOR AUGUST BJORKLUN, PIONEER IN AREA
 
August E. Bjorklun, 90, of Haxtun, a pioneer resident of the Fairfield community north of Paoli, passed away Monday, January 17, at the Haxtun hospital. He had been in declining health for some time.
 
Funeral services will be conducted at 2:00 p.m. today at the Berean Fundamental Church in Haxtun, with Rev. Ernest Skoog officiating. Interment will be at the Fairfield Cemetery. The Radford Funeral Home of Haxtun is in charge of the arrangements.
 
The son of John Alfred and Anna Sofie Spetz Bjorklun, August Emil Bjorklun was born March 2, 1875 at Smoldan, Sweden. He came to the United States in 1882, settling at Dayton, Iowa. During the next few years he resided at Wahoo and Mead, Nebraska, before moving to the Fairfield community in 1887. He farmed there until 1926 when he moved to Haxtun.
 
Mr. Bjorklun was united in marriage to Hattie Belle Woodhams in Julesburg on February 22, 1899. Mrs. Bjorklun died in 1949. On May 10, 1954, Mr. Bjorklun was married to Ella Wood in Yuma.
 
He is survived by his wife, Ella, of Haxtun; one son, Frank Bjorklun, Holyoke, two daughters, Mrs. Maude Shannep, Haxtun, and Mrs. Mabel Jensen, Holyoke; two sisters, Mrs. Hannah Sandquist, Lawndale, California, and Mrs. Ellen Holmquist, Twin Falls, Idaho; 10 grandchildren; 24 great grandchildren; and many other relatives and friends.

BJORKLUN
Family information for BJORKLUN
 
Family information for Frank
 
Father: August Emil Bjorklun
Mother:  Hattie B.( Woodhams)
 
 
Spouse: Clara Donnelly  Married: July 3, 1919
 
Obituary for Frank:

FRANK OSCAR WILBUR BJORKLUN
 
 
Holyoke Enterprise, Holyoke, Colorado, January 8, 1998
 
Frank Oscar Wilbur Bjorklun was born on December 15, 1899 to August Emil Bjorklun and Hattie B. Woodhams. He passed away at Heritage Heights Living Center in Haxtun on December 28, 1997 at the age of 98 years.
 
 Frank received his schooling in the Fairfield School District. He married Clara Donnelly on July 3, 1919 in Julesburg. To this union six children were born: Bertha, Marguerite, Elaine, Daniel, Frances and August. Frank was a farmer all of his life. He lived and farmed the ground his father homesteaded. He enjoyed woodworking and reading. He served on the school board, church board and cemetery board for many years. He was an active member in the Fairfield Covenant Church until moving into the Heritage Heights Living Center in Haxtun.
 
 Frank and his wife enjoyed the 34 winters they spent in Pharr, Texas.
 
Preceding Frank in death were his parents, three brothers, two sisters and one daughter.*
 
Survivors include his wife, Clara Bjorklun; daughters, Marguerite Fornander and husband of Chappell, NE, Elaine Sprague of Fruitland, ID and Frances Fornander and husband, Paul, of Chappell, NE; son August Bjorklun and wife, Jan, of Haxtun; daughter-in-law, Detta Bjorklun, of Holyoke; 14 grandchildren; and 17 great grandchildren.
 
Funeral services for Frank Oscar Wilbur Bjorklun were held Wednesday, December 31, 1997 at 2 p.m. at the United Methodist Church in Haxtun. Burial followed in the Haxtun Cemetery.
 
Memorials may be made to the Fairfield Covenant Church or the Alzheimer's Foundation.
 
*NOTE: Frank was also preceded in death by his son Daniel on December 13, 1980.
 
 
Spouse: Frank Married: July 3, 1919
 
Obituary for Clara
 
Clara
Father: Edwin Louis Donnelly
Mother: Cappie Ola (Harmon)

CLARA CELESTE (DONNELLY) BJORKLUN
 
 
Haxtun-Fleming Herald, Haxtun, Colorado, March 19, 2003
 
 
Clara Celeste (Donnelly) Bjorklun passed away at the age of 100 on March 12, 2003 in Haxtun. Clara was born December 8, 1902, the daughter of Edwin Louis and Cappie Ola (Harmon) Donnelly in Longmont. She received her education in Blain, Nebraska and Holyoke. In 1917 her parents sold their homestead south of Holyoke and bought a farm in Sedgwick County.
 
While living there she met and later married Frank Bjorklun on July 3, 1919. They lived on the homestead of Frank’s father, August. They spent the next 78 and one-half years together, until Frank’s death in 1997. They were the parents of six children.
 
Clara was a busy housewife and mother, and was active in church and community affairs. She was a member of the Fairfield Covenant Church, and she provided meals to U.S. servicemen in North Platte, Nebraska during World War II. Clara enjoyed the 34 years she and Frank wintered in Pharr, Texas.
 
She was the chairwoman of the arts and crafts club in Pharr for 30 years. All the club’s proceeds went to the Crippled Children’s Fund in Pharr. Clara moved to the Haxtun Heritage Living Center in 1994. She spent time crocheting afghans for family members and anyone else who asked for one. She will be greatly missed.
 
She is survived by her daughters, Marguerite and husband Neal Fornander, Francie and husband Paul Fornander, all of Chappell, Nebraska, Elaine Sprague, Fruitland, Idaho; son, Augie and wife
Janice Bjorklun, Haxtun; daughter-in-law, Detta Bjorklun; 14 grandchildren; 24 great grandchildren and one great great granddaughter.
 
Services were held Saturday, March 15 at 10:30 a.m. at Haxtun United Methodist Church. Burial followed at Haxtun Cemetery.

Family information for Gladys
 
Father: Joseph Nathaniel Skold
Mother: Esther (Johnson) Lawrence
 
 
Spouse: Married: 1949
 
Obituary for Gladys:

GLADYS ESTHER (SKOLD) BJORKLUN
 
 
 
Haxtun-Fleming Herald, Haxtun, Colorado, December 20, 2006
 
Gladys Esther (Skold) Bjorklun, 91, joined her dear departed husband, parents, brother and sister in Heaven on December 10, 2006. She was a beloved aunt, teacher, friend and hostess who extended Christian love in a multitude of ways to many, many people.
 
Services were held Saturday December 16 at 10:30 a.m. at the Fairfield Covenant Church. Burial followed at the Haxtun Cemetery. Jeffers-Baucke Funeral Home handled arrangements.
 
Gladys was born on January 21, 1915, the daughter of Joseph Nathaniel and Esther (Johnson) Skold. Her birth occurred on the farm her father had homesteaded in the Fairfield community. She attended elementary school and the first two years of high school at the Fairfield School. She then went to Haxtun High School for her junior year and transferred to Holyoke High School for her senior year, graduating in 1932. Following high school, she attended Colorado Teachers College in Greeley from 1932 to 1934, earning a certificate to teach in rural schools.
 
 She began teaching at the Fairfield School in 1934 and taught grades six, seven and eight. During the summers, Gladys traveled to Greeley to further her education and graduated with a baccalaureate degree and a lifetime teaching certificate in 1942. Her formal education continued until 1972 when she completed the equivalency of a Master’s Degree in Special Education. She continued to teach in Fairfield School until 1939, and then spent five years teaching fourth grade at Haxtun Elementary School. During the 1944-45 school year she returned to Fairfield High School to teach algebra, geometry, history and biology to the 12 students attending high school. She also served as basketball coach. The Fairfield High School closed in 1945 and the students were bused to Haxtun. That year Gladys moved to Scottsbluff, Nebraska, where she taught sixth grade. She returned to Fairfield to teach in the elementary school from 1946 to 1953, when she quit to serve as a caseworker for the County Welfare Department, a job she held from 1953 to 1956. She returned to teaching at Haxtun Elementary School in 1957. She retired in 1980.
 
During her early years of teaching, her contract prohibited marriage, but in 1949 she married a long time neighbor and family friend, Lawrence Bjorklun. They enjoyed 14 years together until his passing in 1963.
 
In 1950, her father, J.N. Skold, built a house for the newlyweds across the road from the Fairfield School. Their home became the locale for much hospitality involving students, family, church, community and family friends. Many students recall sleepovers in that house. Others recall the extensive New Year’s Day parties with food aplenty, numerous television sets blaring and most of all, a lot of shared love. She continued to live in her farm home until 1999. Gladys kept a well-stocked freezer and could provide a large and tasty meal whenever the opportunity presented itself. Lawrence farmed and Gladys continued her teaching career. As individuals and as a couple, they were very active in the Fairfield Evangelical Covenant Church. Lawrence had a beautiful voice and loved to sing. Gladys only loved to sing. Each taught Sunday school and together they led the Junior/Senior High School groups. Their leadership, Christian example and testimony likely led many to the Lord.
 
Gladys loved to travel, making trips to the Holy Land and to the land of her ancestors, Sweden. She organized and led trips for nieces and nephews and grandnieces and nephews to California’s Disneyland, Hawaii and other places. She was active in many organizations, including the Gideons, PEO, Delta Kappa Gamma, Fairfield Friends, Haxtun’s Woman’s Club, Julesburg Christian Women’s Club, Phillips County Museum Board and Wednesday morning Bible Study. Gladys was instrumental in starting Down Memory Lane, which was published in the Haxtun Herald newspaper for many years.
 
A “Bulldog Booster,” Gladys attended ballgames until she went into the nursing home. After a fall in her home, she moved to the independent living apartments at Heritage Living Center in Haxtun. When it became necessary, she transferred to the nursing home and later Devonshire Acres in Sterling.
 
Her parents, husband, sister Mildred Jeffers, brother Lloyd Skold and nephews Lowell Skold and Kenneth Jeffers preceded her in death.
 
Survivors include her nephews and nieces, Glenn Skold, Liberty, Missouri, Melvin Skold, Loveland, Karen Kobayashi, Sterling, Wayne Skold, Haxtun, Darwin Jeffers, Haxtun, Wilma Ozias, Downs, Kansas, and Brent Jeffers, Sidney, Nebraska. Their spouses and families, which include 19 grandnieces and nephews and 19 great grandnieces and nephews and the extended Bjorklun family, also survive her. Many others share fond memories of this great teacher, loving friend and aunt with an exceedingly generous heart.
 
A memorial fund has been established for the Fairfield Store Graite Memorial Sign, which is to be erected at the site of the old store honoring the Fairfield Pioneers. Contributions can be made to fund at P.O. Box 333, Holyoke, CO 80734.
 

BJORKLUN, JOHN "LLOYD"
 
 
State Herald, Holyoke, CO, 22 Jul 1904
 
 Mr. and Mrs. August Bjorklun are mourning the loss of their little boy," age 2 years, 11 months and 5 days. The little one was taken sick with Cholera Infimum and after an illness of only two days died on Friday, July 15th. The funeral services were held at their home last Monday and the remains were laid to rest in the Swedish cemetery.
 
The bereaved family has the sympathy of their many friends in their sorrow.

 

JOHN PHILLIP BJORKLUN
 
 
Haxtun Harvest, Haxtun, Colorado, August 3, 1932
 
FUNERAL SERVICES FOR JOHN BJORKLUN
 
Funeral services for John Phillip Bjorklun, 30, will be held at two o'clock Friday afternoon from the Methodist church in Haxtun. Services at the church will be in charge of the Rev. Coulter, pastor of the Methodist church and the Rev. C.V. Anderson, pastor of the Fairfield church. Burial will be at the Fairfield cemetery.
 
Death, which was due to complications following an operation for acute appendicitis, occurred at 4:00 o'clock Wednesday afternoon. The young man's condition had been critical for more than a week prior to his death.
 
He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. August Bjorklun of Haxtun and had lived in this community for many years with his parents on their farm in the Fairfield section. Several years ago the family retired from the farm and moved to town. The family is one of the most highly respected in the community, the father having served as a member of the Haxtun town council for a term of two years.
 
OBITUARY - JOHN PHILLIP BJORKLUN
 
John Phillip Bjorklun was born at Fairfield, Phillips County, Colorado, November 14, 1911 and passed from this life at Haxtun, Colorado August 3rd, 1932 at the age of 20 years, eight months and 20 days. His entire life was spent in this community. He attended the public schools in Fairfield and Haxtun.
 
John made confession of the Christian faith in the Fairfield church in 1925. Later the family moved to Haxtun and he united with the Methodist church during the pastorate of the Rev. A.P. Gaines.
 
For several years past, he suffered recurrent attacks which became more serious recently. After an appendix operation at the Mooney hospital, severe complications arose which resulted in his death August 3rd at 4:00 p.m.
 
He leaves to mourn his passing his parents, Mr. and Mrs.* August Bjorklun, well known and highly respected residents of Haxtun, two brothers, Frank and Lawrence and two sisters, Mrs. Maude Michaels and Mrs. Mabel Jensen. Beside these many relatives and friends extend their deepest sympathy to the family in their sorrow.
 
The funeral service held from the M.E. church on Friday, August 5 at 2:00 p.m. was probably one of the largest ever seen in Haxtun. The Rev. Anderson, pastor of the Fairfield church assisted the Rev. J.T. Coulter in the service. The floral offerings were beautiful and appropriate. Musical numbers were furnished by a quartet composed of Maryland Hartwell, Evangeline Mooney, Wesley McCune and Leonard Kyger. Interment was made in the Fairfield cemetery.
 
"Yet would we say what every heart approveth,
Our Father's will,
Calling to Him the dear one whom
He loveth,
Is mercy still."
 
* Mother - Hattie Belle Woodhams

 

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