Inga Marie Olsen

Inga Marie Einarsen was born on April 5, 1885 to Carl Johan Einarsen and Larsine Karine Andersen in Bergen, Norway. She grew up and lived at the address – Asylpladsen 2b and stayed with her father longer than any of her siblings. Her mother died in childbirth when Inga was only four years old. However, her father remarried a year later to a shoemaker’s daughter – Julie Karoline Tønnesen. Inga had dark hair, brown eyes, and she grew up to be about 5’5”. In her twenties, she started working as a seamstress for Sundt & Co. A/S – one of Norway’s largest textile and manufacturing companies. By her early thirties, she was working as a manager.

Inga’s future husband was Hans Bernhard Olsen, a watchmaker’s apprentice. However, before their marriage, Hans must have been the source of much gossip. Within three years he ended up having two illegitimate children with two different women – Elisa and Ingeborg. Elisa left him for another man shortly after giving birth. Ingeborg, on the other hand, became his wife two years after their child’s birth. The marriage must have been an unhappy one. By 1910, they were separated and Ingeborg was left to raise their child. Three years later, Hans left Norway and started a successful jewelry business in Sycamore, Illinois. Around this time, Ingeborg was placed in a nursing home. At the age of 37, she ran away and drowned in a mountain lake. Her corpse was found a month later.

It’s unclear if Inga was aware of these scandals. Nevertheless, she supposedly kept in touch with Hans after his emigration in 1913. In the summer of 1917, the DeKalb Daily Chronicle reported that “[Inga] arrived in New York on the steamship Bergensfjord on which she sailed from Bergen, braving storm, wave, battle and the wiley submarine to meet ‘the one man in the world.’ They were playmates in childhood and although separated by oceans affections remained the same.” Four days after stepping foot on American soil, Inga was married on June 16, 1917. However, their future daughter-in-law, Lois Nelson, remembered being told a story that wasn’t so sweet. According to her, Hans initially emigrated to Norway because their respective families were pressuring him to marry Inga. “He ran… to New York to avoid her… But then what do [the families] do? They turned around and put her on a boat and sent her over here.” Lois even claimed that Hans had been planning to marry another woman. However, when Hans received news from his family in Norway about Inga’s departure, he “dropped everything. He had to go there… and then he had to marry her.”

While Hans and Inga were starting a life together in Illinois, WWI was reaching its climax. Hans registered for the military a year after their marriage while Inga was pregnant. However, the war was over within a month. Hans and Inga had two children together – Frank and Leif. Frank was born thirteen days after the war ended on November 14, 1918, and Leif was born on April 29, 1921. Hans became a respected member of Sycamore, especially as his business – Holmquist Jewelry – thrived. He was repeatedly praised as a talented watchmaker and repairman by the county newspaper. Concerning his skill, Lois said that “he was outstanding. When you talked about wristwatches you talked to Mr. Olsen. He was tremendous on what he did.” Inga on the other hand lived a fairly secluded life. She struggled to speak English, wasn’t involved in the community, and when they had company her husband would send her to her room.

Hans was a domineering man, both in his appearance and his actions. He had blonde hair, blue eyes, and stood at six feet tall. He wasn’t affectionate towards his wife and he was very hard on his sons – Frank and Leif. Hans would “hit Frank around” when he was a teenager. Because of this, one of Frank’s teachers took him in for an entire school year. When Leif turned 16, Hans got physical with him and Leif retaliated by hitting his father in the face. Consequently, Hans kicked him out. Another revealing story concerning Hans was recounted by Lois. The story is from her high school years and involves her childhood friend – Joyce.

“I had a girlfriend and she had her watches fixed just like I did and she was in a room alone with him and he came around the side of the counter and put his arms around her and tried to kiss her... Oh, he thought he was the greatest thing on earth. He was a big man and a chin that stuck out here, you know. Big strong man... and he tried to kiss her and she said ‘Don’t do that!’ and she ran out the door and she never went back again she said.”

After their sons graduated from high school they both became involved in WWII early on. They enlisted as privates and rose to the rank of sergeant by the end of the war. Frank served in the 10th Mountain Division and Leif in the 82nd Airborne Division. In the midst of the war, Frank married a friend of his from high school, the aforementioned Lois Nelson. However, once the war was over he discovered that Leif was having an affair with his wife. Consequently, Frank divorced her, became estranged from his brother, and moved to San Francisco. In 1947, Leif married Lois and moved to Everett, Washington where they had three children together – Kristine (b. 1954), Karen (b.1957), and Kurt (b. 1957).

Hans died on November 5, 1954. After living through a long and undoubtedly lonely marriage of 37 years, Inga moved to San Francisco to live with Frank who was living as a bachelor. On June 30, 1980, Inga died in Mary’s Help Hospital in Daly City, California. She had reached the impressive age of 95.

Comments from Atle Einarsen:

Bestyrerinde paa Linsømsavd A/S Sundt & C. Ttvandret til Amerika i 1917 da var hun ugift 32 år gammel. Dro til Chicago med Norske Amerika Linje II.