Maximum Perspectives
with Max TorkelsenMax’s Journey, pt 4
My paternal grandfather was Leland Torkelsen, who was a full blooded Norwegian. He farmed in Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota. In the later years of his life he was the sales representative of the book bindery at Maplewood Academy in Hutchinson, Minnesota, which is where I remember going to visit grandpa and grandma as a child.
My paternal grandmother was Goldie Christiansen Torkelsen. She was a full blooded Dane and completed her nurse’s course at Iowa sanitarium and used her skill as a registered nurse primarily to help family, friends and neighbors with their medical problems.
Leland and Goldie had three sons. Dean, the oldest, ran the book bindery at Maplewood for several years and later was a businessman in various ventures, always active as a lay leader in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Max was the second son and became a Seventh-day Adventist pastor and served the church his whole life, much of the time in later years in various administrative positions. Arlee was the youngest and he was a music teacher at numerous Seventh-day Adventist academies in the United States.
My maternal grandfather was Lloyd Carle who lived most of his life in Austin, Minnesota and was an electrician by trade. As for his ethnic background he always said he was Heinz 57. But he was primarily German in ancestry. He married one of the church school teachers who came to Austin. He was always active as a lay leader in the Austin Adventist Church.
My maternal grandmother was Huldah Johnson Carle. She was a full blood Swede and an elementary school teacher. Her father, George Johnson, was a Seventh-day Adventist pastor who was active in the Scandinavian work in the Midwest.
Lloyd and Huldah had two children. Gordon, the eldest, became a Seventh-day Adventist pastor and spent a good share of his ministry in Treasury and Trust work. Their daughter, Ardis, was active in her profession in different locations around the country.
