Inspired Media

Orginally published in the Oct/Nov 2009 Inspire(d) Magazine • Photo courtesy Luther College Archives

Answers recalled by daughters Marit Pudas and Marjorie Wharton • Orville passed away February 2012 

An Inspire(d) Probituary in honor of Orville Magnus Running, the great artist, mentor, role model, educator, and spiritual leader as he entered his 99^th year (in 2012). Running’s artwork has been shown across the world and can frequently be seen throughout the Luther College Campus and in private collections across the upper Midwest. He spent his last days at the Aase Haugen home in Decorah.

What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?
One day, young Orville wasn’t getting his way so he threw a tantrum. His father looked at him calmly and said: Orville is very angry and no one is afraid.

 What did you want to be when you grew up?
Orville loved chemistry, thought he’d like to continue studying it— until he found out it was a disguised form of math.

What do/did you do?
“Most of what I have done is based on what I learned in 8th grade shop.” He loved mechanical drawing; he discovered the wonders of India ink. He learned respect for tools and materials. He drew the plans for a printing press; Decorah machinist Mr. Karnik fabricated it following those plans. He also spent summers building silos – his crew could build a silo in one week.

If you were stranded on a desert island, what three things would you want with you?
Work gloves, cap, shop apron. Or perhaps a sketchbook, pencil, pocketknife ­– always carried one – it also functioned as a letter opener. Luther’s Catechisms, the Bible, and the old ELC Black Hymnary, although most of those were well memorized.

Try to describe yourself in one sentence.
Old Crock!

If you could eat anything every day for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Spam.

Multiple choice: tell us about… your wedding day.
Ordained to the Lutheran ministry and married to Marjorie Olney on the same day. It was the depression. Their families could not afford two parties; their guests could not afford two trips.

Second marriage to Mildred Lund. The reception was in the big dining room at Mildred’s Retirement residence. The caterer especially enjoyed the events because she usually prepared nice receptions for funerals.

Interview/Intro by Janelle (Holty) Halverson • Originally published in the Winter 2014-15 Inspire(d) Magazine

Dorothy Seegmiller, 80,  loves phone calls, visits with friends, and a fun, social life!

Dorothy and her family (four children: Rodney, Mark, Daryl and Donna Kay) are dear friends of our family. You can count on her for a cheerful phone call and a chat that will leave you smiling. One of my favorite memories of a “Dorothy-call” is after she and Horace (her late husband), moved to town. Their house is located near the Lutheran Cemetery where my husband’s brother, Scott, is buried. Every time she would call, she always mentioned that she would chat with Scott while she was doing dishes because she could see where he was buried from her kitchen window. You never have to wonder if she is thinking about you or caring about what is happening in your life. She is a gregarious person who loves her new home at the Aase Haugen Home in Decorah. She says she never misses a chance to get out and socialize.

What was the best advice you were ever given?
My grandmother told me “It’s your daily life that counts.”

What did you want to be when you grew up?
I think I wanted to join the military, but I never did. Instead I got married. I had a boyfriend at home, you know, and I couldn’t leave him (Horace). We got together when I was 14 and then we got married when I was 18, just about 19. I never thought I wanted to be a farm wife. I wanted to live in town. My grandparents lived in town and I just thought it was so much fun to live close to the activities and everything. But, I became a farm wife, 60 years. I enjoyed it but I don’t really miss the farm. I did that thing but I was happy to move to town.

If you were stranded on a desert island what three things would you want with you?
Definitely a good meat sandwich, a bottle of water, and my sunglasses.

Try to describe yourself in one sentence.
Oh, I don’t even dare say it (chuckles): Fat and Sassy.

If you could eat anything every day for the rest of your life what would it be?
Oh meat, I love meat. I’m from the farm. On the farm we had meat morning, noon, and night.

Tell us about your wedding day.
We eloped. I was in Decorah visiting my grandparents during the fair. Before we left that day I had to take all of my grandmother’s quilts out to be aired and put away. Then we left that afternoon to be married. We got our marriage license in Caledonia and got married and La Crescent at a little Methodist Church. The minister called the lady next door to the church to be our witness. We had a wonderful honeymoon through the West, about a week, week and a half. Through the Black Hills, Yellowstone, Montana, North Dakota, down through Minnesota and home to the farm.

What was your first job?
Babysitting for friends, relatives, and neighbors. The first thing I bought was a nice Easter Outfit and a purse and pair of shoes. Babysitting didn’t pay very well back then and it took quite a bit of change to buy a nice outfit.

What is your favorite memory?
My grandmother. We lived together on a farm on Locust Road, right across from where Horace and I lived – that was my home farm.

Interview and Introduction by Jen Johnson and Lor Miller – This probit originally appeared in the “Summer” 2012 issue of Inspire(d).

At the age of 99, William (Bill) Beard still resides on the land where he grew up in Decorah and takes comfort in the home he and a nephew built for his family – wife Betty and daughter Grace. With his wife and all of his siblings now deceased, Bill and his sister-in-law Laura call each other every morning to make sure they made it through the night all right. It’s something he looks forward to, and this daily routine of family taking care of family has always been a part of his life. His grandfather lived with him growing up, along with one of his aunts, so there was always family around. Bill peels his potatoes for dinner, bakes a cake for dessert, and likes to eat it with ice cream every night! He is a sport of a fellow, enjoys watching the birds outside his windows, and is always up for a game of checkers or cards with the kids. Listening about their lives, activities, or jokes, he’s always a dear to tell us some of his memories too.

What’s the best advice anyone ever gave you?

Always tell the truth.

And advice you might offer to us?

Keep your head to the game and stay on top of things. (If Bill sees something that needs to be done, he does it! He always had chores to do at home and he feels that kids should have chores to help them learn to take responsibility for things.) Don’t live beyond your means. If you don’t have the money for something, you simply shouldn’t buy it.

What did you want to be when you grew up?

I always wanted to be a farmer. My dad and grandfather were both farmers. It was fun to work with the baby animals when they were first born. As a boy, I took care of the sheep. At 2:00 in the morning, I’d get dressed, give them some milk and bring them into the kitchen for the night if it was too cold outside. We’d put wood in the kitchen stove to keep them warm and dry. But they weren’t used to the linoleum floor and they’d fall down! As a farmer, you worked hard and then played hard. (Bill said he used to just dream of Sundays. They would take the day off from farm work and go to church while his mom or Aunt Bess would stay home and cook. After church, they would pack a big picnic and head off to find a good spot by the creek. After eating well, they took off their shoes to play in the creek or just lie down on the grass and enjoy it.)

What did you do?

I was a farmer. We had animals, corn, oats, barley, and hay. You do everything that needs to be done. One of the benefits about being a farmer is directly benefiting from the work you put in. Dreaming of a warm fire in winter was motivation to cut and chop wood, just as pulling a roast out of the freezer for a meal was motivation to care well for the animals you raised. You take care of the animals, and they’ll take care of you. You knew that if you didn’t do the work involved, you would lose out on some of the most enjoyable moments. (We commented to Bill that it sounded like despite all the hard work, his life was good. He smiled and said, “Well, it did have its not so good times as well. But there’s no use dwelling on the bad parts. People have enough troubles as it is, so you need to remember the good parts.” We think this attribute of counting his blessings is a large part of what keeps Bill so happy and healthy.)

If you were stranded on a desert island, what three things would you want with you?

With a chuckle, Bill says with practicality, “Something to drink, a pillow and some covers, and something to eat.” Name one thing you could not live without. (Again, the realist) “water.”

If you could eat anything for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Potatoes and gravy, some kind of hamburger, most any kind of fruit, and for dessert, ice cream.

Tell us about (meeting your wife and) your wedding day…

The pastor at the church had set up a night of games for the single boys and single girls. Betty was a good church woman, and I thought I could probably get along with her. She was a teacher and was due to go back home at the end of the school year. I asked her if she ever thought about marriage, and she said, why yes, she did. The wedding was the first day of September. She lived down in Burlington, and I had driven down the day before. Some of the family had to stay home to do chores, so it was her family plus my mother and father. After the wedding, Betty and I started off on our honeymoon. We were driving around the state and up into Minnesota. We got to Minneapolis and decided that was too big a town for us — we got out quick! So Decorah it remains yet today.