CONTACT+
Dear Viewers:
I certainly hope you have an enjoyable journey traveling through Swedes: TheWayTheyWere (SWEDES)
Go HERE, for my Bethany College connection to this Swedish Kansas history, and for career and education information.
You may CONTACT me at [email protected].
I would love to hear from you.
Tusen tack,
Fran Cochran
I certainly hope you have an enjoyable journey traveling through Swedes: TheWayTheyWere (SWEDES)
Go HERE, for my Bethany College connection to this Swedish Kansas history, and for career and education information.
You may CONTACT me at [email protected].
I would love to hear from you.
Tusen tack,
Fran Cochran
OTHER
CONTACTS
For 1869 Lindsborg
CONTACT Today, go HERE
For 1881 Bethany College
CONTACT Today, go HERE
For 1957 Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery
CONTACT Today, go HERE
For 1963 Smoky Valley Historical Association
CONTACT Today, go HERE
For 1984 Hemslöjd, Inc.
CONTACT Today, go HERE
For 2021 Lindsborg Old Mill & Swedish Heritage Museum
CONTACT Today, go HERE
* * *
For "Some Reviewing Remarks"
go HERE.
* * *
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CONTACTS
For 1869 Lindsborg
CONTACT Today, go HERE
For 1881 Bethany College
CONTACT Today, go HERE
For 1957 Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery
CONTACT Today, go HERE
For 1963 Smoky Valley Historical Association
CONTACT Today, go HERE
For 1984 Hemslöjd, Inc.
CONTACT Today, go HERE
For 2021 Lindsborg Old Mill & Swedish Heritage Museum
CONTACT Today, go HERE
* * *
For "Some Reviewing Remarks"
go HERE.
* * *
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The Old Deere Farm
SWEDISH OWNERS
First settled in 1873 until 1936: The Larsons, Helms, and Olsons
SWEDISH AMERICAN DEERE OWNERS
Emil and Lydia Deere, 1936; Niece Nina Sohlberg Fry, 1966; Daughter Lois Fry Cochran, 1974;
Daughters: Fran and Melinda, 1996 to 2011
SWEDISH OWNERS
First settled in 1873 until 1936: The Larsons, Helms, and Olsons
SWEDISH AMERICAN DEERE OWNERS
Emil and Lydia Deere, 1936; Niece Nina Sohlberg Fry, 1966; Daughter Lois Fry Cochran, 1974;
Daughters: Fran and Melinda, 1996 to 2011
"Peaceful Acres," "Old Deere Farm" Sundgren Road, Lindsborg 2006
Our
5
Swedish American Generations
My great granduncle,
Dr. Emil O. Deere
(My Uncle Emil)
(Photo taken in Lindsborg, Kansas, c1950s.)
Dr. Emil O. Deere
(My Uncle Emil)
(Photo taken in Lindsborg, Kansas, c1950s.)
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His most lasting contribution to Bethany College was that he "quite literally became a part of it."
". . . Everywhere students look they come in contact with something which Dr. Deere has either influenced or initiated."
-- 1965 BETHANIAN
Page 54
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His most lasting contribution to Bethany College was that he "quite literally became a part of it."
". . . Everywhere students look they come in contact with something which Dr. Deere has either influenced or initiated."
-- 1965 BETHANIAN
Page 54
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My grandmother,
Nina Sohlberg Fry,
who kept the fires burning for the Deere home after Aunt Lydia in 1943.
She was the personal assistant and care giver to her Uncle Emil O. Deere
while he kept the fires burning at Bethany College.
As a child, Nina was Aunt Lydia's photography model.
Nina taught my mother the importance of saving, preserving and sharing our
Swedish heritage with the next generation.
(Photo taken in the 1940s in Los Angeles where she joined other Lindsborg/Salina family members in 1919.)
My mother,
Lois Fry Cochran,
in the Deere home,
who I followed in managing the 1966 Sohlberg Deere Estate in 1996,
and in
sharing our Swedish heritage with the next generation.
Behind her are some of Lydia Sohlberg Deere's painting.
(Photo taken by me during long visit in 1980 and 1981.)
My sister,
Melinda Cochran O'Leary,
owner of the
1966 Sohlberg Deere Estate in 1996
and
1936 Sohlberg Deere Farm in 1996.
She shares our Swedish heritage with her son
and continues total support for
Swedes: TheWayTheyWere,
for which I will always be grateful.
(Photo taken in San Francisco at Heller Ehrman law firm in the late 1980s.)
My nephew,
Andrew James O'Leary
who continues supporting
SWEDES,
for which I will always be grateful.
(Photo taken visiting me in 2021.)
Deere House
1996
Home to Dr. Emil O. Deere and Lydia Sohlberg Deere from 1940 to 1966 at 344 North First Street, Lindsborg, Kansas. This design inside and outside was the last artistic endeavor of Lydia's. After 20 years of living in Old Main,
Emil and Lydia moved here in 1940, for only Lydia to die 3 years later. Emil stayed on with Nina until his 1966 death.
Deere House
1996
Home to Dr. Emil O. Deere and Lydia Sohlberg Deere from 1940 to 1966 at 344 North First Street, Lindsborg, Kansas. This design inside and outside was the last artistic endeavor of Lydia's. After 20 years of living in Old Main,
Emil and Lydia moved here in 1940, for only Lydia to die 3 years later. Emil stayed on with Nina until his 1966 death.
1940, home to Lydia and Emil; 1943, home to Emil and Nina; 1966 home to Nina; 1974, home to Lois, Fran and Melinda
1964
Deere Home Family
With Lydia's paintings behind us: Melinda, Nina, Lois, Emil, Frances
(Photo taken by Lindsborg photographer.)
Last Family Deere House Owners: Nina Sohlberg Fry & Lois Fry Cochran
Bethany College
Deere Hall
1957 - 2015
At North 2nd and East Normal Streets, Lindsborg, Kansas
Replace by New Hall 2017
Bethany College
Deere Hall
1957 - 2015
At North 2nd and East Normal Streets, Lindsborg, Kansas
Replace by New Hall 2017
Courtesy photograph by Dale Houg postcard
MY LAST LIVING LINK TO FOUNDATIONAL BETHANY COLLEGE HISTORY
- With my Uncle Emil, looking at my dad, Gene Cochran, Yosemite, 1950 -
Our "Aunt Lydia" Sohlberg Deere
was and has always been with us
through the beauty she left at
Bethany College, in Lindsborg
and with her family in its
Swedish heritage
Story of the Old Spoon
1873 - 1943
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Swedes: TheWayTheyWere
~ restoring lost local histories ~
reconnecting past to present
* * *
All color photography throughout Swedes: The Way They Were is by Fran Cochran unless otherwise indicated.
Copyright © from October 8, 2015 to 2025.
All rights reserved.
