Takk til Inger Eide, Anna Geonora Rokstad var hennes mormors søster.
Først fra en avisartikkel fra 1962, sist en avisnotis etter Anna's bortgang i 1988.
Newspaper article 1962 and an obituary.


Esteemed couple happy with 50 years.

    A 14-mile sleigh ride to keep an appointment before a minister of the Lutheran Church in Menomonee, Wisconsin, is being recalled this Thursday by Mr. and Mrs. H. Rokstad, 1160 Otter Rd. south. That memorable sleigh ride was made 50 years ago in mid-American winter weather on December 20th, 1912.

The groom was 27-year-old Halfdan Rokstad who had come to Wisconsin five years earlier from Norway. His bride, 22-year-old Ena Skogdal, had arrived from Norway a few days before the wedding because Halfdan had been unable to leave his farm to return to Norway to marry her and had sent word for her to come to him.

Mr. and Mrs. Rokstad were born in Norway 14 miles apart and had met in her town which was on the coast. Mr. Rokstad and all the others had to visit the town on business trips from his village the other side of a mountain.

The newlyweds of 50 years ago stayed on the Wisconsin farm for 15 years after their marriage, keeping busy with fields of tobacco, potatoes, grain and a few animals. "People trying to farm these days, particularly around here," says Mr. Rokstad, "don't know what being busy means."

The Rokstad's sold the farm he bought in 1909 and came to Vancouver in 1927. Then, four years later, they purchased 40 acres of wilderness on Otter Rd. south where they still live. Mr. Rokstad cleared a large portion of the bush and developed a herd of milking cows. He still keeps a few head of young stock and one milking cow plus a few chickens to keep him from getting lazy but the main milking herd was sold last spring. Mrs Rokstad has been a constant assistent to her husband in his farming pursuits and has also found time to be a good community-minded lady. She was president of the local Lutheran WA when it was founded 14 years ago - a position she held for a number of years - and is still very active in the group. Mrs. Rokstad was busy, too, with the Red Cross during the war years.

The esteemed couple have one son, Bernard, at Clinton and nine grandchildren who enjoy spending their summer holidays on the Otter Rd. farm with grandma and granddad.

Friends and neighbours will be dropping in this Thursday afternoon and evening to wish Mr. and Mrs. Rokstad many more years of married happiness. Both enjoy very good health and vigor so that the wishes of the community appear to be well founded.

During the 31 years the Rokstads have lived in Langley, they have established an enviable reputation as a congenial couple whose home is a haven for visitors antime. Their 50 years of marriage have been buoyed by a compatible sense of humour and a genuine concern for the wellbeing of their neighbours.

Their golden years are now pleasantly filled with recollections of busy team work and pranks that they have given and taken.


Mrs. Rokstad died in Abbotsford.

    Former Langley lady who was prominent in Lutheran Church affairs and Red Cross work, Mrs. Anna Geonora Rokstad, 31981 Bevan Rd., Abbotsford, died in MSA General Hospital in Abbotsford on Friday last week, December 8th. She was in her 84th year.

Mrs. Rokstad was born in Norway and came to Langley from there 45 years ago. She and her late husband farmed on Otter Rd. south for 30 years. Mrs. Rokstad was very active working for the Red Cross and supporting the Lutheran Church. She was charter president of the Lutheran Women's Auxiliary at Murrayville. She moved to Abbotsford four years ago.

Her funeral service was held on Monday afternoon, December 11th, at 1:30 o'clock in the chapel of Henderson's Langley Funeral Home. Pastor V. Roste officiated and interment was in the familiy plot in Langley Lawn Cemetery. Pall bearers for the service were Bernie Rokstad, Wilfred Fuerst, Nels Oss, B. Sollied, Jens Hansen and Dave Derksen.