The Life of Ingolf Jeffery Gulleson

(January 29, 1905 – May 16, 2000)

1905-1922 – Vining Minnesota

1905 – Born Jan. 29, 1905 in Vining, Minnesota

Ingolf Jeffery Gulleson is the fifth of the six children of Edward and Anna Gulleson who lived into adulthood.

1907

1910

1910

1912

1913

1914

1918

1920

1921

1922 – Spring or Summer – Gulleson family on family farm in Vining, MN

Jeffery at this time he is about 17 years old. He is next to the youngest child.
Nelma, in front in the white dress is five years younger. Anna Gulleson, the mother, died on Dec. 31, 1921 and thus is not in this photo

1922-1927 – Ruby, Washington

Ruby is north of Spokane in Pend Oreille county about 40 miles from the Canadian border and 10 miles west of the Idaho border.  Pend Oreille county is in the extreme north eastern corner of Washington state.

1927-1934 – Edward and Jeffery move to Grays Harbor County

1790-1930 – Western Washington, Grays Harbor, Elma

Washington’s Puget Sound was first explored in the 1790s. Lewis and Clark reached the mouth of the Columbia River in 1805. The area including present day Washington State became a US Territory in 1846. Tumwater, about 20 miles east of Elma, was settled in 1846. In 1889 Washington became a state.

Grays Harbor was discovered by Robert Gray, a Boston fur trader on May 7, 1792. Grays Harbor County was formed in 1854.

Elma was first settled in 1853. It lies within the Chehalis River Valley in Eastern Grays Harbor County, about 30 miles West of Olympia and 40 miles east of the Pacific coast. Elma was incorporated March 22, 1888. In 1930 it had a population of 1,545.

Satsop is a small village of several hundred located three miles west of Elma on the east side of the Satsop River, a small river which feeds into the Chehalis River.

Most cities in Grays Harbor were incorporated between 1870 and1890. The area was a logging center.

1855-1970 – Lumbering in Grays Harbor

The first small saw-mill in Grays Harbor was built in 1853 not far from Oakville, on the south east corner Grays Harbor.  Big time sawmills were built in Aberdeen and Hoquiam starting around 1882. The height of the lumber boom was 1926 when Grays Harbor produced 1.5 billion feet of lumber. That is about half as much as produced by the whole northwest in 2014, and this was from just one small county.

Over a period of years there were 300 logging firms in Grays Harbor. Logging was a dangerous business. During one year in the early part of the 20^th century 100 men were killed due to industrial accidents.

At one time there were 24 tide-water saw-mills in Aberdeen and Hoquiam working three eight-hour shifts.

Also Grays Harbor was a busy ship-building center. As of 1924 there were still 56 active ships, most of them lumber vessels that were under registry, all of which were built in Grays Harbor. There were many others built in preceding years. During one of the boom years over 800 ships sailed out of the port of Grays Harbor with cargos of lumber.

During the Great Depression the number of major sawmills in Aberdeen (20 miles west of Elma) dropped from 37 to 9.  In the 1920s this area of America was relatively undeveloped. It took a heavy hit from the Great Depression.

(I add the above about logging, because Dad was involved in logging for over 30 years and he logged in most areas of Grays Harbor.  I remember hearing him talk about “up the Wynoochee” or “up the Wishkah” or “up the Satsop” – three of the four rivers that ran south into the Chehalis River. He talked about Quinault and Camp Grisdale etc. etc. I took him for a ride when he was in his early nineties and he started pointing out some of places where he had logged.)

I just completed reading for the second time two very good books (each about 400 pages in length) on the early history of Grays Harbor. One is called, “The River Pioneers.” The book tells about the discovery of the county, first settlers etc. up to about 1915. The grandfathers (the original settlers) of some of the people I knew in the Satsop area, where we lived were mentioned in the book, e.g. Ed Comfort’s grandfather, Harold Mouncer’s grandfather. Also the grandfather of our neighbor, Mr. Jack Quimby. The second book is “They Tried to Cut It All” is an early history of the lumber industry in Grays Harbor. Both books are by Edwin Van Syckle. The author was a long-time resident of Grays Harbor and Editor of the Aberdeen World, the newspaper that I grew up with and that Dad read every day. You can find these two books on e-Bay or Amazon.com. For me, they were interesting reading.

1927-28 – Edward Gulleson and Jeffery Gulleson move to Satsop.

From 1922-27 Edward Gulleson with his three sons and some hired hands logged a stand of timber near Ruby, Washington. When the stand was logged off, Thoralf and Ansgar, the two oldest boys, remained in Eastern Washington. Edward, with his youngest son, Jeffery, moved to Satsop. It seems that Edward had a friend (Ed Pico???) that directed him to this area. Edward settled on the Bulb-Farm (O’Neil Rd), located one mile east of Satsop. The road runs north for one mile. It appears that Edward purchased 40-50 acres towards the north end of the road. At least 20 acres was on the west side of the O’Neil Road. Edward gave these 20 acres to his son Jeffery, I think as his wage, for working unpaid for five years in the logging camp near Ruby.

Edward built a house on the east side of O’Neil Road (Usually called “The Bulb Farm Road” when I was growing up). Jeffery, with the help of his brother-in-law John Lien, built a two bedroom, two story house (probably around 1,000 square feet of living space) on the west side of the road. In this house Jeffery and his wife Bernice raised their family of three girls and two boys.

1928-1933 – Building Barn, Chicken Coop etc.

During this time, besides building a house Jeffery also built a barn and a chicken-house. The barn had one stall for a horse and five-six stalls for cows. He shaped most of the main frame for the barn with an adz. The walls were made from sawn timber. The roof was covered with cedar shakes. Much of the chicken house frame was also shaped with an adz. He had shingles on the chicken house that we re-covered with cedar shakes when I was a boy.

Dad had a horse before I was born but sold it. For years the horse harness etc. hung in the barn . . . and mom cut a part of the horse’s harness to use as a strap . . . which we called a “razor strap” and which she used from time to time.

The original house had no running water.  There was a hand pump in the front yard. I am not sure when we got electricity. There was an out-house in the back yard. When I was five (1946) Dad hired a well-driller. He then set up our own pump-house and pumped water into the house. I think around that time Dad installed an inside bathroom.

1928

1929

(I cannot identify Annie and Olaf nor the children Norma and Ed. The other three are the children of Bill and Sophie (nee Gulleson) Kilde. I assume the photo is taken by Sophie on the Bulb Farm Road in Satsop.)

1930

1931

Virginia (Ginny) born June 13, 1926, would be five years old here. Jeff Gulleson would be 26. These are the children of Bill and Sophie Kildee. I talked with Ginny today, June 7, 2014. She will be 88 next week.

1934    Married to Bernice McConnell, March 21, 1934 in Montesano, WA.

Bernice Gulleson, nee McConnell was born in 1917. Her father died in a mill accident around 1925. My grandmother with her seven children lived on the extreme north east corner of O’Neil Road, just about 300 yards  north of where Jeffery built his house.  Grandma McConnell and her family were very, very poor. Mom often told me that she would visit dad and that he would make breakfast for her. In 1934 when he was 29 and she was 17 they got married.

1934    Birth of Joseph Dee Gulleson (October 18, 1934 – Nov. 8, 1939)

1935 (Summer)

1937

1937 – Birth of Georgienne Margaret on June 8, 1937.

1938 (summer)

1938

1939 (spring)

1939

Inez June Gulleson – Born, Aug 7, 1939

1939 – Joey Gulleson died Nov. 8, 1939

Joey had a problem with his tonsils. I believe Dr. Foote in Elma performed a tonsillectomy. Something went wrong and Joey died. He had just turned five years old on Oct. 18.

1940

Joe Dee – October 18, 1934
Georgienne Margaret – June 8, 1937
Inez June – Aug 7, 1939
Jeffery Eugene – April 19, 1941
Richard Irving –May 2, 1943
Nelma Anna – Nov. 27, 1946

(At one time Dad had horses. The harnesses were still hanging in the barn when I (Jeff) milked our cows in the fifties. This photo was probably taken on our small 20 acre farm on the Bulb Farm Road.)

1941 – March

1941 – Jeffery Eugene Gulleson born (April 19, 1941)

1941

1943 – Richard Irving “Skip” Gulleson born May 2, 1943.

1945

1946 – Nelma Anna Gulleson born Nov. 27, 1946

1948

1948 – A Toy that Brought Great Joy

Skip, my younger brother, and I wanted a rifle. We were around five and seven years old.  So we pestered and pestered Dad for a rifle.

One day he walked out to the woodshed beside the house and found a piece of board, about three feet long, picked up an ax and made us a rifle.  Just using the ax, he carved all of the significant features into the rifle.

We played with that rifle for a long, long time. We never did get a store-bought rifle. That rifle was adequate. I can’t think of any toy we had during childhood that meant more to us than that little rifle.

I am still amazed at how deft he was with an ax. And also amazed at how a little rifle carved out of a board could be such a satisfactory toy for two small boys. (Jeff)

1949

 

1950

1950 – What Satsop Was Like in 1950 When I Was Nine Years Old

The Satsop River flows about one-half mile west of Satsop. The Chehalis, a larger river, flows east to west about one and one-half mile south of Satsop.

Satsop had its own little red school house, small gym and baseball diamond. The school handled 45-50 students spread over eight grades. All of us but Nelma attended this school for eight years. Dad, I believe, also set on the school board for this small school. The school is still functioning today.

Other buildings / businesses were as follows: (1) A small sawmill owned by Harold Ortquist, which could be seen from the school window. The sawmill employed 5-8 people when it was running. (2) A Grange Supply store, selling feed for cattle, tools, food and gas. (3) There were two small markets selling food. One, Doughtery’s, had a large community freezer where people could rent a box and store meat. Dad rented one for our family. (4) There was a Chevrolet dealership that also sold home appliances. The youngest son of the owner, Dan Glenn, was my classmate. His father and owner of the dealership was the Sunday School director for the little Methodist church. (5) There was the Satsop Creamery (Dad would often sell cream he had separated, using our hand turned “separator” from cows we milked, to the creamery. Also we would often purchase left-over milk waste from the creamery to feed our pigs.) (6) There was a Grange Hall (The “Grange” is a farmer’s organization), (7) a Rebekah Hall (a woman’s organization) and (8) a small Methodist church.  (9)There was a small garage for repairing cars right next to the school. Also there was a (10) barber shop, (11) post office and (12) saloon.

There were loggers and farmers everywhere since these were the two main industries that employed people in this small town. My guess is that the town’s population was 300-400 but maybe another 500 people lived in surrounding areas that did some of their shopping in Satsop. The lives of my family (Dad, Mom, Georgienne, Inez, me, Skip and Nelma) centered around this little village while we were in grade school.

1950 – Working for “Gyppo” Loggers

A “Gyppo” Logger is a small scale logger that works independently from the big companies.  For many years dad worked for gyppo loggers. At one time he worked for a gyppo logger that bought a “stand” of timber up near Humptulips.  It is north of Satsop, and so far away (60-75 miles or so) that Dad would leave on Monday mornings and return on Friday evenings.  He and a few other guys lived in a trailer near the logging site.  Dad told me it was so muddy at times that mud came over the top of the caterpillar’s tracks (wheels).  Usually, during these times, dad did the cooking for the crew.

Another time he worked for a gyppo logger that had a “stand” of timber on Fox Island in Puget Sound. Bob Prante, a neighbor, and another guy named “Babe” Wedikind made up the crew. Again Dad would leave on Monday morning and return on Friday evening. And . again, Dad probably did the cooking.

He also worked for many gyppo loggers that did not require him to travel long distances from home. But the fact is, at times it was hard to get jobs and so Dad took whatever job was available.

1950 – Making Some Extra Income

Rarely was Dad sick or missed a day of work. In fact I can’t remember him being sick one time. But from time to time they could not enter the woods. For example, this would happen if it was too windy or too dry.

On days like that Dad would try to pick up whatever work he could. Sometimes he would fix fences for farmers. That would pay him $3.00 a day ($30.00 in 2014 money). That is the equivalent of working for less than $4.00 an hour.  But he did that to take care of his family.

1945-1980 – An Average Work Day in the Woods

Usually dad would be up around 4:00-4:30. He would start the fire (we had a wood heater in the living room) and then make breakfast for himself.

He would then drive down to a place where he met the logging bus. The loggers would be on the road for up to an hour sometimes, maybe more, to the place where they were working.

For tools he carried a cross-cut (and eventually) a power-saw, an axe, wedges, his lunch, a gas can and some wrenches plus of course his rain gear.  He wore jeans with suspenders, a flannel shirt, maybe a pull-over sweater, long under-wear (in the winter), corks (boots with nails in them to keep him from slipping off of logs) and a hard hat.

Dad said that often in winter they would build a fire by the side of the road to warm up by before they walked into the timber. He was a “Bucker” and was teamed with a “Faller.” The “Faller” would fall the tree. Dad would then cut the tree into lengths (18 ft, 24 ft, 36 ft etc.). The caterpillars would pull the logs on to a “landing” where they would be loaded on to logging trucks to be hauled to the sawmill.

Dad would eat his lunch in the woods and would often get home after dark. In the winter it would only be light from 7:00am to 5:00pm. In the evening he would grease his corks, sew any tears that he got in his rain gear and hang everything up around the stove to dry.  As a logger he would often come home wet, even on days that it didn’t rain, because the underbrush would be so wet.

Often in the evening, before we ate at 6:00 he would go out and do the chores, e.g. milk the cows. Obviously Skip and I helped out a lot as we got older but still there were certain things dad had to do.

1949? -From “Cross-Cut” to “Power-Saw”

In the beginning he worked with a “cross-cut” saw, usually between six and eight feet long. He worked with a partner, one on each end of the saw, and they cut the logs in lengths.

I still remember the day when he brought home his first gas-powered “power saw.” It was a blue Titan brand. He took us all out to the back pasture and showed us how it worked. I think it weighed 50 pounds or so. So this was a heavy load to carry up in the woods, generally very mountainous. Also he had to carry a gas can, wedges, an axe, his lunch box, some tools for fixing the saw plus his rain gear.  And I don’t think Dad ever weighed much over 160 pounds.

1950 – Dad taking shovel, digging ditch on his day off

It is amazing what you remember from your childhood. Once in a while Dad would not be out in the timber (although not very often). While home he would work all day. I still remember coming home from school to see what he did all day. I remember one day he dug a nice neat ditch on the north side of the driveway.  Standing water was always a problem (it rained so much). So for a young boy it was impressive to see how great a job he did in digging a ditch with just a shovel.  Or he would spend part of the day finding gravel and filling in the mud-puddles in our driveway. Or maybe he spent the day pruning the few fruit trees on our property.

Whatever the situation, if he was home for a day he would be out working around the place, fixing things up. He was never idle, just laying around. He was always busy!

1951 – Helping Inez Make a Dress – Dependable

With Mom being sick so much of her life (she was in a psychiatric institution three or four times for extended stays), Dad was the one we all depended on. When we needed something or had a problem, Dad was the one we went to. I remember my sister, Inez, telling me about a time when she needed a new dress for school. She was trying to make a dress from a pattern, and could not figure out how to lay out the pattern on the material. She said that after Dad had worked all day and then did the chores he stayed up and helped her make her dress.

My sister, Georgienne, told me about something she had to tell Dad that she never wanted repeated, and Dad keep her secret, never telling another soul. She said Dad was the one person she could talk to in confidence.  (Nelma)

1951 – What’s a Man Going to Do?

It was the Fall of 1951. Grade School in Satsop started in a few days. I was ten years old. Dad took us to Elma. Every year before school started all of us kids got new school clothes. For me it was two pair of jeans, two shirts, a pair of shoes and underwear. This was always a challenge since there were five of us in school and we were very poor. Dad struggled to make ends meet. It seems our family was always in debt. Neither dad nor mom smoked or drank and were not wasteful. It was just that there was enough money.

On the way home in our old 1937 Oldsmobile we were stopped by a policeman just  before we turned onto the Bulb Farm (O’Neil) Road. The policeman noticed that one of the tail lights on the Oldsmobile was broken. He fined dad $10 ($90 in 2014 dollars). Dad almost never complained but I remember him saying, after the policeman drove off, “What’s a man going to do?”

Dad had no money to pay this fine. When we got home he took a two “two gallon” milk s and walked out to the fence line and started picking black berries. It was berry season and he worked all the rest of the day to pick enough black berries to pay the fine. Remember no credit cards. And he did not make any of the children pick the black berries. He did it on his own without saying a word about it. There were buyers who would buy berries any day . . . and so he paid the fine. (Jeff)

1951 – Playing the Violin

Everything for us centered around the town of Satsop.  There was the Grange Store, the Grange Hall, The Rebekah Hall, the Methodist Church, Satsop Grade School (grades 1 to 8), Doughtery’s Market and Freezer, Ortquist sawmill, Satsop Creamery, the barbershop, post office, beautician, bar, one small garage and one small store.

Often a dance was sponsored in town.  Dad, played the violin, Evelyn on the piano and Judd on the accordion made up the town dance band. They also played at a street dance in Montesano.  Where did Dad learn to play? While he was a youngster in Minnesota his mother made she he learned a musical instrument. . I remember reading how all of the immigrant families in the 1900 hundreds wanted their children to some musical instrument.

Dad had an ear for music. I don’t think I ever heard him play. Inez did have an ear for music too. When we were young we had in our home the old organ from the Minnesota house. I know Inez would often pick out a tune on it.

Dad’s violin has now been passed on to one of his grandsons. (Jeff)

1951 – Cooking for the Family

Mom was sick and hospitalized many times while we were growing up.  Also she liked to sleep in. So Dad ended up making breakfast. He would usually be up at 4:30 or so and make breakfast. It was always Oatmeal or Cream of Wheat.  He would then leave for work. But he would leave it on the stove in a double cooker (water underneath) so the cereal would stay warm and not dry out. And we ate that cereal for breakfast every day for years. Of course with toast and a glass of milk.

Saturday we would eat a little bit later, and he would always make pancakes for all five of us kids.  Later on after I was married whenever we returned to Satsop he would make breakfast for us – pancakes, eggs and bacon or sausage.  He used sourdough starter for his pancakes.

He would not only cook breakfast but often on Saturdays help with lunch too, which usually was sandwiches and some kind of fruit. Mom usually cooked the evening meal. (Jeff)

1953 – Wood to Heat the House

We had a woodshed beside the house. Dad tried to keep it filled with wood since we heated our house with a wood-burning heater. When he could he would make sure the woodshed was full of wood but sometimes the wood ran out.

In the back of our property was about 10 acres of alder and willow trees. During the summer we would cut down these trees and they would dry out sufficiently to make good wood for heating the house.

One time I remember dad coming home from work. We were out of wood. So both of us got an old sled (although there was no snow on the ground) and an ax. We drug the sled across the pasture. There we cut up several trees, loaded them on the sled and drug the sled back to the house. Then dad used the bucksaw to cut enough wood to heat the house for the next 24 hours. And, all this he did after working as a logger all day.

1953 – Need a Christmas Tree?

About 400 yards to the north of our home lies a great forest of fir, cedar and spruce trees that goes on for miles and miles. Every year when we needed a Christmas tree Dad would grab an ax, walk to the end of the road, and up into this large forest. Of course we would go with him. Eventually he would find a small fir tree about the right size for a Christmas tree, cut it down and bring it home.

It is not so easy to find the “perfect” Christmas tree. So after Dad made the stand for the tree he would “fix” it up. First he would see where it was lacking a branch. Then he would drill a hole in the tree’s trunk, cut off an unneeded branch and move it to the new spot.  By these minor adjustments we always had a presentable Christmas tree. (Jeff)

1953 -Making Butter, Head Cheese, Pickled Pigs Feet and Lutefisk

Dad would often make butter since we always had two or three milk cows.  Mom would make cottage cheese.

When we butchered a hog he would boil the head, pick out all of whatever was edible and use gelatin or someway make it gel. Then he would slice it and put it on sandwiches for school. He would also grind up the tongue and make a sandwich spread.  Finally he would put the feet in a pot with some kind of brine and set it on the front porch, and, after a period of time we had pickled pig’s feet.

I heard mom say that they also made a blood-like pudding from the hogs we butchered but I don’t remember witnessing that.

Dad also made “lutefisk,” a traditional dish of some of the Nordic countries.  It is made from aged whitefish or cod. It is a gelatinous in texture and literally means “lye fish.” (Jeff)

1953

1954 – “You Needed Them” 

It was Saturday in early September, and we had just returned from town after buying new clothes and shoes for school. All five of us children got new clothes and new shoes.

Later that night I saw my dad with a knife and a piece of cardboard. He picked up his Sunday shoes and was examining the holes in the bottom of them.  I watched as he measured and cut the cardboard. Finally after several attempts he was able to cut the exact cardboard insert to fit inside his one pair of dress shoes. Dad only owned one pair of shoes that he could wear for church. Other than a pair of boots, work shoes and a pair of corks (boots with spikes that he needed in order to do his job as a logger) he owned no other shoes. I asked him, “Dad, what are you doing?” “I am repairing my shoes,” he said. I asked, “Why don’t you buy some new ones?” He did not hesitate and replied, “These will last for a while longer.” “But Daddy, we all got new shoes,” I stated. “Yes, you needed them,” he replied. The next morning as I got dressed in my new outfit and put on my new school shoes, I knew how much my dad loved me and how much he gave up for his family and his children. I will never forget him saying “You needed them.” (Nelma)

 

1954 (Christmas?)

1954 – Using the Whole Pig Excepting the Squeal

When we butchered a pig, dad would use what he could of it.  He made a little smoke house, salted and smoked the hams and then hung them in the woodshed.  It the winter he would take his knife and cut off a couple pieces of ham for breakfast. He would boil the head and pick out all of the meat making what he called “head-cheese.” He took the tongue, ground it up and made sandwich spread.  Then he would pickle the pig’s feet in a big crock out on the back porch.

He was a good cook, at least we thought so.  Our most favorite meal was Saturday breakfast, when he would make pancakes and eggs for the family. But he could cook other things too.

 

 1955 – Dealing with Broken Down Fences

On our little farm (20 acres) broken down fences were always a problem.  It seemed to be always rainy and muddy and the cows were always getting out, wandering off to a neighbors farm. Dad always had a quick solution. He would grab an ax and go with us out into the woods on the back of our property. There he would see where the cows got out. Then he would make a temporary fence to keep them in by falling a couple of alders or willows on top of each other where they got out. This would work for a while.

We did have some good barbed wire fences around our property too. But one problem we had was that there was one neighbor who never kept his barbed-wire fences up. This drove my brother Skip and me crazy. I remember during one evening meal when we were both in our teens we really got on Dad’s case and challenged him to talk with the neighbor to fix his fences. We didn’t think it was fair that we always had to fix the fences.

Dad was always hesitant to be in conflict in any way with a neighbor. He didn’t like confronting anyone (one of his weaknesses). During our tirade that evening there was a knock on the door. Dad answered the door and talked to the visitor for a few moments. Then the man left. Dad then set down to finish his meal and said, “You don’t have to worry about the fences. Bob just passed away.” Bob Prante was the owner of the property north of us. He was a close friend and co-worker of Dad’s. Besides being neighbors Bob and Dad had logged and worked together for years.

The owner’s son had come to the door to ask Dad to be a pall bearer at the funeral.  That was the last time we ever criticized Dad about not getting the neighbor to fix his share of the fence. (Jeff)

 

1955 (May)

1955-1970 – Working for Weyerhaeuser and Simpson

While dad spent many years working for “gypo” loggers he also was employed by the two largest timber companies in Washington State. For a long time he worked for Weyerhaeuser, which owned extensive timber acreage in Grays Harbor and also operated two mills western Grays Harbor. He also worked for the Simpson Timber Company for many years. One of Simpson’s major sawmills was in Shelton, which is located on Puget Sound and is about 20 miles from Elma.

1956 (August 3)

1956 – Cutting roofing shakes with Bud Katzer and his Son Pat

Our family was poor and dad was always open to ways to make some extra money.  One way was cutting “shakes.” Shakes are used for roofs and made by splitting dried cedar logs that have been dead for years. The logs are cut into 24 inch blocks.  Then they are stood on end.  A shake “fro” (a kind of big knife) is held on the block by one person. The other person swings a big wooden club onto the fro. As the knife sinks into the wood, the knife, [that has an L shaped handle] is twisted and the shake splits off. These shakes can be used immediately to roof a building, or can be further sawed in half to make two shakes.

Bud Katzer, our next door neighbor, found some good old, dead cedar trees that would produce good shakes.  So his son Pat, Dad, Skip and I spent a whole Saturday out in the woods splitting shakes. Since Dad used a power saw in his job, he cut all of the shake blocks. The rest of us cut the shakes and then packed them out on our shoulders to a truck. I don’t know how much money we made that day and I don’t remember seeing any of it.

1957 – Breaking the Transmission on the Family Car

When I was 16 I would often take the car out on Friday nights.  One night while driving home the transmission broke. Fortunately I was only two miles from home.  I left the car on the side of the two-lane highway and walked home.

I was heart-broken for I knew Dad needed the car to get to work on Monday. I had no idea how he would get to work. I entered the house and sat in the living room.  I think I was crying because I felt so distressed about this.

Dad and Mom’s bedroom was right off of the living room. Dad heard me and from the bedroom asked what was wrong. I told him I thought I broke the transmission.  He said that it would be okay. He would get it fixed tomorrow. He wasn’t at all angry.

There were no transmission shops nor any garages that could fix his transmission in time for work. Dad called his son-in-law, my brother-in-law Leon, who was a mechanic. They went down to a junk-yard, bought a used transmission, pulled the car home and had it fixed by Saturday evening.

 

1958

1960 – “I Gave My Word”

Whenever anyone in our small community needed anything done, they asked Dad. Dad was the one everyone could depend on. He always kept his word, no matter what.  If he said he was going to do something, he did it. Everyone in our town knew that. My dad helped at church, at the school, at the farmer’s market, and at the Grange, just to name a few organizations where he donated his time. My dad helped often at the Satsop Grange. He held many offices and served on the board for many years. The Grange Hall was a very old building and the only heat was from a wood stove. Dad was the one who always made the fire early, so that the building would be warm for the meetings.

It seldom snowed in our small town, but when it did it was miserable, cold, wet and slushy.  I remember one time in early January when it was one of those snowy evenings. It was so that no one wanted to go out. I watched as Dad put on his boots, heavy coat and hat, and headed for the door. Mom and I both said that he should not go out in the storm and please stay home. Dad said he had to start the fire at the Grange for the meeting. Mom and I both said they would probably cancel the meeting, but Dad went anyway.

When Dad got to the Grange, there was a sign on the door saying that the meeting had been canceled. When Dad was driving home, the car slid into the ditch. Dad ended up walking a mile home. When he got home he was cold, wet and miserable. Mom was very mad at him and started yelling at him. Dad only said “Now mother (he always called her mother), I promised to start the fire, I gave my word.” (Nelma)

 

1960 – Dad and His Church

When we were young we did not go to church much, because there was no Lutheran church in our small community.  In the early 1960’s several men came together and helped to start a Lutheran church. Dad was one of these men. I was in junior high at the time and I remember how hard Dad worked to make it all happen. When it came to the Lutheran church I guess you could say that Dad was a community organizer. After working long days in the woods, he would come home, do chores, and then go out to meet with other Lutheran families in the area.

Dad made sure I was baptized. He also made sure that I went through the confirmation classes. One thing you could count on was that on Sunday mornings Dad would always be at church and Mom was almost always with him. One of the few times I remember my Dad relaxing was Sunday afternoons, sitting in his chair, reading the Bible. (Nelma)   

1963 (Christmas)

1964 (April)

1964 – The Answer is No

Dad was a very easy going man. He seldom got angry. I never remember my dad spanking me. He did not have to. I knew what was acceptable and what was not. Being the youngest, I was daddy’s little girl. I could get away with a lot of things, but when dad said no, I knew that he meant no. I knew better than to question him.

When I was 17, young and dumb, I thought I was in love. I wanted to get married. I told my Mom and she said no. I argued and fought with her, cried and carried on all day long. I would not let up on Mom. She was so upset with me because I would not give up the idea. When Dad finally came home, Mom told him about my plans. Dad came to me and asked why I wanted to get married. I said “I don’t know I just want to”. Dad said, “Well you are not going to and that is all there is to it, I do not want to here anymore about it, the answer is no!”  I knew better than to question him. He was not going to change his mind. Thank you Dad. (Nelma)

 

1965

1965 (July)

1965 – “You Do What You Have to Do”

In the Fall of 1965 I spent a few days with Dad before I made my first trip to Indonesia. At the time Mom was admitted to a mental institution (Western State Hospital) in Steilacoom  again. She had probably been admitted at least four times between the time I was two and twenty-two. (Later is life I think they discovered Mom had a thyroid problem, and once they started her on medication for that problem. After that she was fine.)

Dad and I drove up to Steilacom to see Mom during that Fall. It was about a 40 mile drive. One the way back home I asked Dad how he did it, how he handled all of the problems of life. He worked hard, provided for his family, and his wife, my mother. As I mentioned, she had been in and out of mental institutions for years.  At this time Dad was 60 years old. What he said was simple and profound, “You do what you have to do.”  And that is how he summed up the life he lived. (Jeff)

 

1970

1970 – Dad Retires from Logging

I am not exactly sure when Dad started working as a “bucker” in the woods. I think it was during the war years, between 1941-1945. (As mentioned earlier, loggers worked in teams, one being the “Faller” and the other the “Bucker.” The “Bucker” cut the trees into lengths so that they could be pulled to the “Landing” with the help of the “Choker Setter” and the “Cat Skinner.” The “Cat Skinner” drove the cat. The “Choker setter” put the cable around the log so that it could be hooked up to the “Cat.” At the “Landing” the logs were loaded on to trucks for the trip to the sawmill.) Dad worked at least 30 years in the Washington logging industry.

Dad was usually up around 4:00.  He made the wood fire in the heater, breakfast (there was always oatmeal on the stove when we got up) and drove to the logger’s bus. It would carry the loggers between up to 25 miles into the timber. He often got home after dark, especially in the winter.  During the Summer when there was fire danger in the woods he would work “Hoot Owl.” That meant he would leave home around 3:00AM and get home in the early afternoon. They wanted the loggers to work early when the woods were damp and thus avoid fire danger.”

I never remember Dad ever complaining about going to work. I did hear him complain one time about his foreman who drove the men away from the fire they had built to warm themselves on the logging road, and into the woods, before it was time for them to go to work.

 

1970-93 – Truck Garden

Upon retirement in 1970 Dad focused every summer on planting a garden and selling produce. He did this for at least twenty years. He would drive his produce to the Farmer’s Market in Aberdeen. Also he became well known in the Elma area for his produce so people would often visit the house. He almost always grew pole beans. In the fall people would come and pick their own beans. He would charge them by the pound.

One Summer while home from furlough, maybe in 1985, I decided to help him with some hoeing. I started on one row of vegetables and was about three-quarters of the way to the end of the row. He came out and passed me on his row before I got to the end of the row. I was working at it but he was really fast. He was 80 years old at the time.

Another time, one Spring in 1990, I visited Dad and Mom on my way home to New Jersey where we were staying on furlough. He was putting up the big ten foot cedar posts for pole beans. He would stretch a wire down the top of the posts and then run bailing twine down the wire to each plant.

 

1974 (March 21)

1975

1981 – Summer

1981 – Taking Responsibility

Once Connie and I, while on furlough, maybe around 1980, were having dinner with Jerry and Donna Scheelke. Jerry and Donna were members of Faith Lutheran Church in Elma. Dad and Mom were founding members of Faith Lutheran in 1960.

While visiting with them Jerry related a conversation Donna and he had. Jerry asked her, “Who do you feel are the most crucial, dependable members of Faith Lutheran Church?” She immediately answered, “Jeff and Bernice Gulleson.”

Dad was 76 years old at that time. Why did this couple feel Dad and Mom were key to the church? They did not teach a Bible class. Dad probably set on the church board several times. The key reason is that Dad and Mom were absolutely reliable.  You could always count on them. If something needed to be done, you could count on them to help out to get it done. If any work needed to be done around the church he would be there to help or to do it. (Jeff)

1984 (March 21)

1985 – August

1990 – Helping Dad Put in Posts for Pole Beans

It was a rainy late afternoon. I was digging the holes for the large ten foot posts. Dad went off to get a wheel barrow and returned with two long posts. The wheel barrow could not move through the mud.  So he bent over, lifted the big posts (at least 50 pounds each. He dropped one post by the hole I had just dug and said, “Those posts are really heavy!” I commented that maybe they felt heavy due to his age. He got angry and snapped back, “My age has nothing to do with it!” At that time he was around 85. I just laughed to myself. (Jeff)

1993 (Sept. 5)

1994 – March 21

1995 (November)

1997

2000 (March)

2000 (May 16)

Ingolf Jeffery Gulleson passed away May 16, 2000 in Montesano, Washington at the age of 95.

2016 Summary (April 19, 2016)

I am 75 years old now. I spent a lot of time gathering these photos and writing the text above. Why did I do it? First of all, I think my dad was a good man, a great man in many ways.

I just re-memorized Thomas Gray’s “Elegy in a Country Churchyard.” Gray writes in his poem much about the “unhonored dead.” There are millions of people throughout the world who might have made their mark on society if they had lived at a different time in a different place. Maybe my father was one of those.

But whatever the case he was a good man, dependable, faithful, hard-working and generous. He was also a man of integrity. He had weaknesses, like all of us, but they seem so minor when considering his strength of character.

I am God’s child. God is my Father. But I count it a great privilege to have had such a good and loving earthly Father. He was one of God’s gifts to me. (Jeff)