Ann's Obituary

Here is the obituary, from the Fargo Forum (OK, OK - I switched out the picture...) :

Ann A. Geiszler

Ann Adeline (Dravland Kuehn) Geiszler, 83, loving mother, teacher, mentor, karaoke queen, and beautiful lady, died peacefully in her sleep on Saturday, May 8, 2010, at Eventide Lutheran Home in Moorhead, Minnesota.

Ann was born January 13, 1927, in Bottineau, North Dakota, to Jonas and Theresa (Utgaard) Dravland. She grew up on the family homestead near Carbury and graduated from Bottineau High School. She received her teaching certificate from Minot State in 1944 and taught in a one-room country school in the foothills of the Turtle Mountains.

She treasured early memories of Grandpa Ole holding her on his knee calling her “Lis (little) Anna,” his blessing for enduring the pain of losing his wife Anna a year before Ann was born. Ann loved to recount the Norwegian stories Grandpa Ole would tell and understood the tales even though they were told in Norwegian. She also told of making her favorite Christmas goodies, lefse, fatteman, and pinwheel cookies with her mama. Those traditions she carried on with her children and grandchildren.

Ann married Walter Kuehn in 1946 and they operated grocery stores in Antler and Granville, North Dakota, until Walt’s death in 1960. After Walt’s death, Ann’s brother, Vernon, helped her locate a job with Concordia College in Moorhead, and she moved to the big city to start a new life with her three boys, Jack, Dan, and Herbert. She worked at Concordia as a secretary and bookkeeper for 29 years, retiring in 1989.

In 1962 Ann married Raymond Geiszler and she embraced as her own his three children, Raymond Elroy, Lorray, and Raney. Together Ann and Ray had one child, Dina Rae. The children of that “yours, mine, and ours” family are blessed with wonderful memories of a truly caring and loving parentage. Ray died in March of 1998.

Ann was again alone, but as all who knew her know, she was never down and out. Ann loved life and all it has to offer. Her faith in God, her love of family, and her joy of living were an inspiration to all who knew her. Never idle, she volunteered for over 30 years bringing songs, smiles, and love to those staying at Eventide, the Fairmont, and The Evergreens.

Ann was very outgoing and her favorite thing was spending time with her children, grandchildren, and family. (Remember being bounced on Ann’s knee listening to “Dita dita Runkin, Hesta hida plunkin......Voof Voof Voof.”?) She loved to play the piano, hold (and attend) card parties, participate in the Young at Heart meetings, do needlework, and – with her daughter Dina – help to organize the annual Dravland family reunions.

During the past 10 years Ann became involved in singing karaoke and subsequently became quite a local attraction. In the Farmers Forum of December 16, 2005, she was featured as the “Karaoke Queen” and was recognized, under the stage name “Annabelle”, as a star singer at many karaoke venues.

The one thing that most stands out in Ann’s life is the way she treated everyone with whom she came in contact. She was truly a loving, caring human being. She could always find the good side of any situation and would brighten even the darkest moments with her spirit and big smile.

Ann was preceded in death by her parents, Jonas and Theresa; husbands, Walter and Raymond; sisters, Alice Sivertson and Viola Sorensen; brothers, Alfred, Ozzie, Theodore, Sydney I, Allan, and Sydney II; two grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

Ann is survived by her children, Jack and Patricia Kuehn, Fort Worth, TX, Dan Kuehn, Taos, New Mexico, Herbert and Janice Kuehn, Anderson, South Carolina, and Dina Rae and James Loomer, Moorhead; stepchildren, Raymond and Susan Geiszler, Oxnard, CA, Lorray and Reed Jonason, Oakdale, MN, and Raney Geiszler, Moorhead; 22 grandchildren, 37 great-grandchildren; and her brother, Vernon and Eunice Dravland, Lethbridge, Alberta.

All who knew her will sorely miss her, and one can picture her now, standing on stage in heaven in her lavender dress and her Julia Roberts hat, with St. Peter holding the mike while she belts out the chorus of “Did I Shave My Legs For This?”

Visitation: Wednesday, 4 PM to 7 PM, Korsmo Funeral Chapel, Moorhead

Funeral: Thursday, May 13, 2010, 2 PM, Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, Moorhead

Online guestbook: www.korsmofuneralservice.com

Ann's Childhood, part 1 1927 - 1937

Ann Adeline Dravland

"I was born January 13, 1927 in Bottineau, ND. My parents, Jonas and Theresa Dravland, lived on a farm about 2 miles from Carbury. This is the same farm which my brother Vern and his wife, Eunice now own. I was the youngest of nine living children. I was named after my grandmother, Dad's mother, Anna, who died shortly before I was born.

Jonas and Theresa (Utgaard) Dravland

"I always thought my middle name was Adeline until sending for my birth certificate in 1980. My name was given as Anna Telma Dravland. It looked like my fathers handwriting, so evidently he wanted me to be named Telma, but my mother had other ideas. I had it legally changed to Ann Adeline after finding some school records and with an affidavit from brother, Oswald.

The Ole Dravland Farm

"My oldest recollections are of Grandpa Ole Dravland holding me on his knee, calling me Lis (little) Anna and telling tales from Norse mythology. My favorite was about 2 kings. One had 12 daughters and one had 12 sons. The 12 daughters were captured by a giant who lived on an island. The 11 oldest sons of the other king tried to rescue them without success. Finally the youngest son goes to the island and discovers that the giants strength is contained in an egg. The son finds the egg, taps it and the giants arm goes limp. He cracks it and the giant falls down.

"'Finally, he slaps his hand down on the egg, crushing it and the king falls dead.' As he said this, Grandpa slapped his hand loudly on his knee to illustrate. "Then the young prince rescues all the daughters and the brothers marry them and they all live happily ever after." Some of the songs he sang were Kjerringa med staven (the old woman with the cane) and Nikolina.

"Another happy recollection is of some of the foods that Mama used to make. I always liked grot, made with milk and flour, eaten on a plate with a pat of butter and brown sugar in the middle. My older brothers and sisters couldn't understand why I liked it so well. They said during the depression they had it for almost every meal.

"When Utgaards (mamas brothers family) came to visit, we would always have their favorite, rommegrot. This would be made with cream instead of milk. The butter in the cream would float to the top. This was a real treat. Another favorite of mine was raspekake. This was potato pancakes made with a piece of side pork fried in the middle.

"At Christmas mama made lefse, fatteman, date filled pinwheel cookies, and other delicious foods. Making lefse was a big project. Mama would roll it out and dad would cook it on top of the range using a long wooden spatula to turn them. They were about 18 inches across.

"This was the real Norwegian type lefse, not the Americanized type made with potatoes. The milk lefse had to be dried and was kept in a cold place and taken out as it was used, then it would be sprinkled with water, wrapped in a dish towel until it softened and was ready to eat."

from The Ann Adeline Dravland Story on dravland.com