Bob Johnson, Paulene Thompson, Ida Seger, and Ray Thompson.
Ida is with the children of her sisters Agnes and Ellen.
Ida Elizabeth Seger As the oldest girl, Ida had a lot of responsibilities around the house. She was baptised in the Lutheran church, but attended a Congregational church as a youth. It became a Covenant church in her teens. She was a young lady in a white dress with long hair pulled up on her head when she met the new young pastor who came from North Park, IL. His name was Sigfred Carlson. After graduating from high school, she attended State Teachers College in LaCrosse, WI. Following graduation, she taught elementary school in several towns in Wisconsin and in a suburb of Milwaukee. In the early 1920s, she moved to Denver where a sister (Anges) and greeat aunt (Ellen, sister of Axel Seger) lived. She taught in the Denver public schools and became active in the First Free church of Denver. There she met and married the pastor, the Rev. C. G. Nelson. They moved to Austin, Texas, then to other towns during the depression years. She worked hard there, teaching whenever she could to supplement their income. When Rev. Nelson died, she returned to Wisconsin and cared for her parents until they passed away. Ida then returned to Denver and taught again in a Christian school. She enjoyed working with young children and often led children's choirs at school and at the First Free church. In the late 1960s, she returned to Merrill to attend a reunion at the Covenant church and again met Rev. Sigfred Carlson. Their friendship grew, and they married in 1970. They went then to a Covenant church in Brady, Nebraska. They retired from there after three years and went to Wallace, MI where they were active in the Mission Covenant church. Sigfred died in 1981. Ida moved to Minneapolis and stayed with Ellen and Wallace Johnson for three years. She moved into Bethany Covenant Home in 1984. A few years ago, Ellen asked her to look back over her 90 some years and reflect on her happiest times. She said her happiest years were spent in Brady at the Svea Dal church. "The people there loved us and were kind to us, and we loved them." Ida was quite a writer. Ellen has a newspaper article she wrote when she was 12. She wrote articles, stories and poems for special occasions. She also was very generous. When people needed a little help, she always was there. She was very orderly about her finances and life generally. She was a great reader of books, especially the Bible. Ida was content at Bethany. The staff became a part of her family She said it was the next best thing to being home. Ida dies June 2, 1990 in Minneapolis |
Bob Johnson, Paulene Thompson, Ida Seger, and Ray Thompson.
Ida is with the children of her sisters Agnes and Ellen.