In 1942 Viola Willett from Milwaukee, Wisconsin,
became a student in the three-year Christian Education program at St.
Paul Bible Institute (now Crown
College in St.
Bonifacius). She
met Wallace Larson (1924-1986) at the school. He
was a young man from Sandstone, Minnesota,
who started preaching when he was 17. Up
until age 14, Wallace Larson stuttered. A
teacher recognized his potential and worked with him. In
January 1944 Rev. Wallace Larson became the first full-time pastor at
Annandale Evangelical Free Church in Annandale. He
was their pastor for the next seven years. Although only 19 in 1944,
Pastor Larson was a constant student of the Bible and spoke the Swedish
language fluently. He
was at Annandale Evangelical Free Church 1 1/2 years
before he and Viola were married. During
that time he rented a room from Mrs. Kingsted, who also rented to
teachers.
Walter Lundeen was chairman of Annandale Evangelical Free Church and
also mayor of Annandale at
the time. The
church leased the former Advent Christian Church for $5 a month. Walter
Lundeen and his family rented the Advent parsonage next door to the
church for $20 a month. In
1946 Annandale Evangelical Free Church purchased the church and the
parsonage. The church building is now Camelot Apartments
on the northwest corner of Chestnut and Maple. In 1988 the
Annandale Evangelical Free congregation built a new church east of town
on Highway 55.
Annandale was a very patriotic town. Most
everyone came to the patriotic holiday events. On
November 11, 1944 (Veterans Day) a state senator had been invited to
speak at the town hall. At
the last minute, the senator cancelled because of illness. Mr.
Lundman, a jeweler in Annandale,
saw Pastor Larson walk by his store and rushed out to explain his
dilemma. Pastor
Larson said that he would give a patriotic speech. Pastor Larson was
offered the $50 honorarium that would have been paid to the senator. Pastor
Larson refused saying he was part of the community and appreciated the
opportunity to speak to people who didn't come
to the Evangelical Free Church (although he could have used the money). Later
when Pastor Larson went to jewelry store to pick out a wedding ring for
Viola, Mr. Lundman insisted he buy an engagement ring as well, at cost
with payments "when
you can." At
that time, it was customary for the bride to have a string of pearls,
and Mrs. Lundman advised Pastor Larson to also purchase pearls for
Viola.
The wedding took place May 30, 1945, in Sandstone at the Larson family
church. Gas
rationing was on so for Viola's parents
everything had to be done in one trip. Viola's
parents and other family members took the train from Milwaukee. On
May 26th Viola was
the speaker for the Christian Education Department Class Night, her
graduation from St. Paul Bible Institute was on the 28th, and
the wedding was on May 30th. Wedding
guests from Annandale were
Mr. and Mrs. Walter Lundeen, Mrs. Carl Lundeen and Grace, Mrs. J. F.
Lundeen and Garnet, Mrs. Louis Larson, Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Brown and
Doris, Carl and Hannah Brown, Mrs. Ben Mann, Misses Marie Johnson and
Agnes Lundeen, Victor Lundeen and Roy.
The Larsons rented a cute little furnished house in Annandale from
Mrs. Scheyer on Cherry
Street for $25 a
month. Walter
Lundeen's elderly mother-in-law lived with the
Lundeens at the parsonage, and it was deemed best not to move her at
that time. Later
Walter Lundeen purchased the house the Larsons rented, and the Larsons
moved into the unfurnished parsonage. One
of their first purchases was a table made by inmates at the St.
Cloud prison. That
table is now in the kitchen at Albion Evangelical Free Church.
William Schnackenberg (1886-1967) and his wife, Marie (c.1886-1974),
owned a Fairway Foods grocery store on the west
side of Oak from the 1930s to about the mid-1950s. The
Schnackenbergs and their children, Lyle, Evelyn, Muriel and Betty, lived
above the store. (William
and Marie Schnackenberg's son, Lyle
Schnackenberg (c.1910-1994), later
owned the Candy Castle next door to Fairway Foods, and Lyle's
son, Doug, ran the candy store after Lyle moved to Flathead, Montana.) As
newlyweds, Pastor Wallace and Viola Larson needed everything including
soap for washing clothes and groceries. The Schnackenbergs surprised the
Larsons by giving them their first order of groceries free of charge,
including all the spices Viola needed.
Friends of Pastor Wallace Larson from Sandstone were members of a church
in Fairmont, Minnesota. They
said that the church was dying and they thought that Pastor Larson could
help save it. Viola
said that the congregation had stayed with the Swedish language too
long. The
Larsons moved to Fairmont in
February of 1951 and Pastor Larson served that church 3 years. It
is now one of the largest churches in Fairmont. For
nine years, 1954 to 1963, Pastor Larson served the Arthur Evangelical
Free Church in Arthur, Iowa. In
1963 they moved to Rapid
City, South
Dakota, to serve the Evangelical Free Church there for the
next five years. They
enjoyed the beautiful winter weather in Rapid
City. They had
many visitors because Rapid
City is
a popular vacation area. Next
Pastor Larson was called to Calvary Evangelical Free Church in Rochester where
he served five years (1968-1973). Many
of their visitors in Rochester were going to the Mayo Clinic or had
loved ones in the hospital.
Pastor Larson developed health problems while living in Rochester and
the doctor recommended a smaller church, so they moved to an independent
church northeast of Hinckley, Minnesota, and served there for 2 years.
Pastor Larson had known the people at this church all his life. A
vacancy developed at Albion Evangelical Free Church just ten miles
southwest of his first pastorate in Annandale. The
church at Albion was organized in 1882, and the Albion congregation
helped start Annandale Evangelical Free Church in 1923. The
Albion and Annandale Free Churches shared
a pastor for 21 years. (See
the History
of Annandale Evangelical Free Church summary
presented to the Annandale History Club in 2000.)
In June 1976 Pastor Larson was called to Albion Evangelical Free Church
and served there until his death December 21, 1986. Pastor
Larson had preached the Sunday before, and his death came just 1 hour
before the Christmas Sunday School program. Viola
is still a member of the Albion Church. Viola
said, "Wallace
was used of God in a remarkable way. All
the churches grew. We
worked as a team. I
am so thankful for the privilege of being his wife. He
truly was a man of God."
The Larsons are parents of three children. A
son was born while in Annandale (delivered
by Dr. Bendix at St.
Cloud Hospital ),
another son in Fairmont and
a daughter was born in Arthur, Iowa.
The following are more of Viola's memories of Annandale.
Dr. N. C. Smith (1876-1964) was a dentist in Annandale with
an office above Prahl's Pharmacy. He
was from Fair Haven and a 1907 graduate of the University of Minnesota
Dental School. He
was considered to be very slow at doing dental work. When
Carroll Lundeen, Carl and Ruth Lundeen's son,
was on a troop ship going to Europe to
fight in WWII, a dentist on board checked his teeth. The
dentist called in all the other dentists to look at Lundeen's
teeth. They
looked in his mouth for such a long time that Carroll Lundeen wondered
what was wrong. Then
the dentist said, "I
have never seen such perfect work." When
Dr. Smith was told about it, he cried. Dr.
Smith had been criticized for his slow pace doing dental work, and he
said that it was nice to get a compliment. Dr.
Nat Cyrus Smith died in October 1964 at the age of 89.
On a Wednesday night in November 1945 there was a prayer meeting and
surprise house warming at Walter and Ethel Lundeen's
home. It was
common to have week-day meetings in the homes so the church didn't
have to be heated. Viola
had baked and decorated Christmas cookies and left them all over the
counters and table. After
the meeting, it was announced that everyone would go to the parsonage
for coffee. In
those days no one locked doors, and the serving committee was already at
the parsonage. They
put all the cookies into kettles. Eva
Marie Lundeen, daughter of Walter and Ethel Lundeen, got chicken pox
shortly after the meeting. Viola
was the only other one at the prayer meeting who got the chicken pox,
and she had a very bad case. Dr. Alfred Ridgway treated Viola. Dr.
Ridgway (1862-1952) was 83 and still working. He
charged Viola for only the initial visit although he came to see her
three times. On Viola's next
visit to his office, Dr. Ridgway didn't
recognize her without the chicken pox.
In 1945 the Larsons had a 1934 Ford car. Cars
back then were very drafty and heaters weren't
very good. Dr.
Ridgway advised Viola not to take a planned trip to Sandstone at
Christmas. Dr.
Ridgway said that he feared that she would get pneumonia after being
weakened by the chicken pox.
Dr. George H. Norris (1870-1956) was a resident of Annandale for
over 50 years, having started his practice there in 1904. He
was a brilliant doctor but not as busy as Dr. Ridgway and Dr. Bendix,
because he was thought to have a very curt manner. Dr.
Norris was semi-retired but still treated patients at his home which was
near the Evangelical Free Church. Rev.
Larson was Dr. Norris's patient. Dr.
Norris started attending Sunday night services at Annandale Evangelical
Free Church.
Viola was often asked if Dr. Ridgway delivered her. She
did meet another Viola who had been delivered by Dr. Ridgway. Viola
was Dr. Ridgway's wife's
name.
Sunday church services weren't too early on
Sunday because farmers needed to milk cows. Sunday
activities included Sunday school, Sunday worship services, and Sunday
night services. There were also meetings on Wednesday
nights. Pastor
Larson always developed his own sermons and never used what he called
canned sermons.
In the 1940s the town of Annandale was
busy until midnight on Saturday nights. One
Saturday night the town police officer called and asked if he could
bring a young man over who was having marital problems. He
brought him by and as the officer was leaving he said to the man,"You
get right with the Lord before you leave here."
From 1940 to 1955, Bert H. Thayer (1887-1966) and his son, Gordon, owned
and operated a department store in Annandale located
on the northwest corner of Oak and Chestnut. Thayer's
Department Store was Viola's favorite store.
She admired a red coat on a mannequin in the window. It
was a tuxedo coat, red with black fur around the neck and down the
front. Her
husband bought the coat for Viola after it was marked down.
Next door to the Advocate office
was a former bank that became the funeral home (now a lawyer's
office). On a
Monday morning in 1947, while on a rare visit to Sandstone, Pastor
Larson got a call to return for a funeral. When
they got back to Annandale,
Pastor Larson went to the funeral home to talk to the funeral director,
Tubber Dunton. Viola
went to the Post Office, which was across from the funeral home. The
man that they thought had died opened the Post Office door for Viola and
gave her quite a shock. It
was the man's son who had died (they had the
same name). Viola
said that Edwin E. Dunton (1895-1976) was a very dignified and handsome
man and she didn't know how he got the
nickname Tubber. Dunton
Funeral Home operated until 1960 when it was sold to David "Dub" Ferrell. The
undertaking business had been started by Tubber Dunton's
father, Edwin H. Dunton (1854-1943), in the back of his hardware store. Art
Dingmann purchased the funeral home from Ferrell in 1980, and it is now
called Dingmann Funeral Care.
On one of the Larson's visits to Annandale to
stay at the Brown's cottage on Clearwater Lake, Pastor
Larson dropped Viola off to visit with Martha Hawkinson. He
came back about two hours later. He
had walked in the cemetery and stopped at graves of people for whom he
conducted funeral services and prayed for the families that were left.
Note: Birth and
death dates added by Secretary,
Annandale History Club
Summary by Secretary
Annandale History Club
