THE SYTSMAS Photo taken in 1939 on Herbster School Steps.  Pictured above, left to right: Front Row: Maynard Dejong, Dieuke Elizinga Vander Plaats, Delores Okkonen, Minnie “Henriks” Vander Plaats Second Row: Uno Okkonen (holding Donna Okkonen), Alice Okkonen, Marie Sytsma, Tina Erickson (holding Glenda Erickson), Jake Vander Plaats Third Row: Daisy Isaksson, Peter Sytsma, Hugo…

KORPPAS, AARON AND MATHILDA   Aaron Petterson Korppas was born on February 12, 1862 in Finland. Mathilda Pettersdotter Broas was born on March 10, 1866 in Svartback, Finland. They were married on October 17, 1884 in Phytaa Viipuri, Finland. Three children were born to them in Finland, Fanny on February 22, 1884, Victor on December…

   ISAKSSON LUMBER   Timber, sawmills and lumber have been in the Isaksson family for several generations. Isak Isaksson lived in Tyndero, Sweden, the district of Sweden that is an historic saw milling area. He worked as a lumber scaler. It was said he could scale a load of lumber quickly in his mind. The…

 ISAKSSON, HJALMAR AND DAISY MARY Karl Hjalmar Isaksson (1898-1992) and Daisy Mary (De Jong) Isaksson (1914-2005) were married in Herbster February 29, 1939. Hjalmar left Sweden when he was 15 years old, on a three (3) masted whaling ship. He sailed all over the world on freighters, with the U.S. Merchant Marines in World War…

  ISAKSSON, AXEL & KATHRYN Written by Leonard Isaksson with the help of Sharon, LeRoy and Axel.   My dad, Axel, was the second child of Alfred and Esther Isaksson. He was born on April 28, 1920. When he was a baby, his great grandfather, Axel Larson, for whom he was named after said, “This…

HULTMAN, PETER AND BETTY   Coming to America, Peter Hultman and Betty Erickson arrived separately, each with a hope of a better future, determined to learn a new language and culture, and love their new country. Each one had relatives living in Duluth, Minnesota and Herbster, Wisconsin. They met in Duluth, married and in 1915…

HENDRICKSON, JOHN ERIC AND JOSEPHINE   My grandfather, John Eric Kukkola (Hendrickson) who was born in Kokkola, Finland in 1866, left home when he was 12 years old. Initially, he traveled to Lapland to tend reindeer. Later he went to Norway and worked on fishing boats where he learned his fishing skills. When he came…

GRANDISH, VASO MICHAEL AND PAULINE   On March 22, 1922, Vaso Michael and Pauline Grandish arrived in Herbster with their family of three girls and two boys from Ford City, Pennsylvania. Their forty acres was not like the home they had left where Mr. Grandish had worked for the Pittsburg Plate Glass Company. In reminiscing,…

GRANDISH, GEORGE AND ELVA   My parents, George and Elva Grandish, had a desire to open a business in Herbster after having married and live in Chicago for a time. It was close to home and aging parents for my dad, and only a few hours drive from my mother’s parents in Cromwell, MN. It…

GLASENER, GEORGE AND LUCY George and Lucy Glasener moved to Herbster with their daughter Alice in 1949. They lived on Bark Point Road for a few years. In 1954, they bought the apple orchard located on Clover Cemetery Road from Cybil and Carl Erickson. Their son, Dale, came to Herbster in 1955 to help run…