SWEDES: TheWayTheyWere
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    • The Bethany Artist & the Bethany Scientist: Lydia & Emil ------------------------- \\// >
      • Their 1869 Swedish Lutheran Galesburg Colony and Olsson Colony Smoky Valley Arrivals, ~ With a Galesburg account by Mr. Holmquist >
        • Their Värmland Swedes ~ The "First Swedish Agricultural Company" Lindsborg Founders, 1868, ~ An account by Dr. Lindquist >
          • Swedish Pastor Olof Olsson Emigrating to Lindsborg 1869, June 27th Arrival ~ An account by Dr. Lindquist >
            • Bethany Lutheran Church and Lindsborg Founder Pastor Olsson, 1869 - 1876 ~ An account by Dr..Lindquist
      • Their 1869 "Bethany Lutheran Church" ~ Accounts by Dr. Lindquist and Mr. Carlson >
        • ​Their 1860-1962 "Augustana Evangelical Lutheran Synod" ~ Gaining and losing its Swedish identity >
          • The 1860 Formation of the Augustana Synod ~ An Account by Mr. Holmquist
          • Their 1892 "Augustana Women's Missionary Society" ~ An account by Ms. Humphrey
          • The 2000 - 2016 "Augustana Heritage Association"
      • Their 1879 "Swedish Mission Church" formation by former Bethany Lutheran Church members ​ due to the "atonement" issue ​ ~ An account by Mr. Bill Carlson ~ Part 1 of 2 >
        • Their 1879 '"Swedish Mission Church" formation due to the "atonement" issue ​~ An account by Dr. Lindquist ~ Part 2 of 2
      • Their 1907 "Bethany Lutheran Home" ~ Accounts by Bethany Home Writers >
        • 1976 Lindsborg’s Bethany Home’s Swedish King's Visit ~ An account by Mr. Carlson
      • Their 1909 and 1919 Swedish Smoky Valley Community Chronicles ~ Compiled and written by Bethany Lutheran Church Rev. Dr. Alfred Bergin, members and others >
        • 1909 translated to "Pioneer Swedish-American Culture in Central Kansas," 1965 ~ By Mrs. Bergin Billdt
        • 1919 translated to "The Smoky Valley in The After Years," 1969 ~ By Mrs. Bergin Billdt & Mrs. Jaderborg
      • Their 1910 English speaking "Messiah Lutheran Church" formation by former Bethany Lutheran Church members ~ An account by Dr. Emory K. Lindquist >
        • ~ An account on the Messiah Lutheran Church formation from Rev. Dr. Alfred Bergin's 1909 ​"Pioneer Swedish-American Culture of Central Kansas"
      • Their 1919 Lindsborg Historical Society's "Coronado Heights" ~ Emil's 1907 thesis and Lydia's photographs >
        • The ​1919 formation of the "Lindsborg Historical Society" ~ The Smoky Hills' "Smoky Hill" christened "Coronado Heights" May 8, 1924 >
          • G. N. Malm's role in the development of the Lindsborg Historical Society and Coronado Heights ​~ An account by Dr. Lindquist
          • Lindsborg Historical Society and Coronado Heights History ~ Three (3) accounts by Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg, former SVHA secretary >
            • Coronado Expedition Chain Mail and Bethany College Museum History ~ An account from Dr. Lungstrom's book
      • Their 1916 Sohlberg House ​ ~ 322 North First [College] Street ~After their honeymoon
      • Their 1920 Old Main Apartments of Bethany College ~ Living on campus with the students for 20 years
      • Their 1936 1873 Swedish Homestead," "Our Peaceful Acres" >
        • Their 1873 Swede House ~ A close twin to Lindsborg Founder Rev. Olof Olsson's stone house >
          • Peaceful Acres Smoky Valley descendant friends and helpers ~ Honoring them and remembering them
      • Their 1940 Deere Home to 1943 ​~ 344 North First [College] Street ~ With new occupants after Lydia
      • Their 1941 "Svensk Hyllningsfest" and Dr. Holwerda's role ~ Accounts by Dr. Lungstrom, Mrs. Jaderborg, Dr. Holwerda & Mr. Lundstrom >
        • Their 1964, "Lindsborg Swedish Folk Dancers" founded by Mrs. Jaderborg ~ An account by Mr. Chris Abercrombie
      • 1943, after Lydia, Emil's part planning Lindsborg's "first" hospital and Dr. Holwerda's role ~ An account by Dr. Lungstrom
    • Their "1881" Bethany Academy 1882 "First College Building"
    • Their 1882-1966 "Bethany College Museum" ~ The Natural History and Pioneer Collections >
      • Fossils Collection ~ from Old Main to the McPherson County Old Mill Museum, 1966, ~ “The Find” >
        • Taxidermy Collection ~ from Old Main to the McPherson County Old Mill Museum, 1966
      • 900 Item Emil O. Deere Pioneer Collection ~ from Old Main to the McPherson County Old Mill Museum, 1966 >
        • Cliff Dwellers' Pottery Collection ~ from Old Main to Sandzén Memorial Art Gallery, 1966
    • Their “1882 on . . .” Bethany College Handel’s “Messiah" Performances” >
      • "Messiah" Performers, Venues & Audiences, Press and Broadcasts >
        • Special 20th Century "Messiah" Performances >
          • "The Notables, Messiah Week, . . . ~ An account by Mrs. Jaderborg
      • Handel's "Messiah" & Bach's "St. Matthew Passion" ~ Described for viewers unfamiliar with these oratorios
    • Their “1899 on . . .” Bethany College “Swedish Artists’ Midwest Art Exhibition” ​~ An account by the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery
    • Their “1902 on . . .” Bethany College ‘Terrible Swedes,’ Their “1903 on” ‘Rockar Stockar’ ~ An account by Dr. Lindquist
    • Their “1904 on . . .” Bethany College St. Louis World's Fair “Swedish Pavilion”
    • Their "1895 to 1981" Bethany College Anniversary Celebrations ~ 15, 20, 25, 100 years >
      • Their Celebrating 15 Years of Bethany College, 1881-1896. The First Bethany Annual, 1895-96
      • Their Celebrating 20 Years of Bethany College, 1881-1901. The "Forget-Me-Not," 1902 >
        • The King of Sweden's Emissary, 1901
        • Yale University's Bethany Club
      • Their Celebrating 25 Years of Bethany College, 1881-1906, "Souvenir of Lindsborg and Bethany College"
      • Their Celebrating 100 Years of Bethany College, 1881-1981, "The Centennial of Bethany College"
    • Their "1937" Bethany College's Introduction to New Sweden ~ Founded in 1638 >
      • Deere's Introduction to New Sweden
  • Swedish Immigration Story, 1854
    • "The Story of the Old Spoon" by Ingrid Anderson Sohlberg & Daughter Lydia Sohlberg Deere, 1937
    • Who They Left Behind
    • From Sweden with Love Collections >
      • The Swedish Sohlberg Kosta Portraits, 1867 >
        • The Swedish Sohlberg Kosta Glass
        • The Swedish Sohlberg Letters
      • The Swedish Sohlberg Royal Gold Thread Embroidery Sampler (c1890s)
      • The Swedish Sohlberg Post Cards (c1890s)
      • The Swedish Sohlberg Magazines, (c1940s)
      • The Swedish Sohlberg Books, 1819/1886 to 1899
      • The Swedish Sohlberg Albums, ~ Late 19th early 20th centuries
      • The Swedish Deere Coins -- 1801-1929
  • Artist Lydia Sohlberg Deere
    • Lydia's Lindsborg Photography, 1900-1925 >
      • The Hats
      • The Smoky River
      • The Smoky Hills >
        • Coronado Heights -- One Winter's Day
      • In and Around Lindsborg
      • Sohlberg House with Parents >
        • Our Sohlberg Home and Neighbor Alma Luise Olson
      • Sohlberg House with Emil 1916 to 1920 >
        • Lydia's Travels with Deere 1916 - 1930s >
          • Lydia's California Photographs for Painting
          • Lydia's Palm Springs Pictorial Magazine, 1938-1939
          • Lydia's California Pressed Wild Flowers, c1930
      • "LYDIA'S WORLD" Photography Exhibitions in Lindsborg, 2005 - 2011 >
        • ​"LYDIA'S WORLD" Smoky Valley descendant friends caring for her work ​ ~ Honoring them and remembering them ~ 2005-2011
    • Lydia as Bethany College Lane Hart Hall Dean of Women, 1906 - 1913 >
      • Lydia's Signatured Black Book of Her Handwritten Sewing Instructions >
        • Nina Sohlberg's Child's Sewing "Little Dots" PICTURE BOOK
      • Lydia Sohlberg Deere's 1927 "Lindsborg Swedish Club's" Handwork >
        • The Lindsborg Swedish Club's "Allers Monster-Tidnings" magazine, 1940
    • Lydia's Art, 1919-1938 >
      • Lydia's Art: The Kansas Collection >
        • The Sketches
      • Lydia's Art: The Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico Collection >
        • The Sketches
      • Lydia's Art: The California Collection >
        • The Sketches
        • Lydia's "Palm Springs Magazine " 1938-39
    • Lydia's Art Professor Sven Birger Sandzén, 1871-1954 >
      • Lydia's Assignments for Professor Sandzén >
        • Students of Sandzén 2019 Exhibition
        • Bethany Home ~ Celebrating Artist Birger Sandzén through his students' paintings
    • Lydia's Art Professor Birger Sandzén's "Art Exhibitions" and "Reviews" .. 1893-1940 >
      • Lydia's Art Professor Sandzén's Exhibition at the Babcock Gallery in New York, 1922
      • Lydia's Sandzén's Body of Work Reviewed by N.Y.C, 1984 "American Impressionism," author William H. Gerdts
    • Lydia's and Sandzén's Swedish Artist Friend Charles Edward Hallberg, 1855-1940
    • Lydia's and Sandzén's Swedish Artist Friend Oscar Brousse Jacobson, 1882-1966
    • Lydia’s Sohlberg Family Connection to Sandzén, 1880-1894-1993
  • Scientist Emil O. Deere
    • Deere's & Lydia's Bethany -- Lydia's Bethany Photography, 1906-1925 >
      • Bethany College "Campus from Above"
      • Bethany College "The Gateway," 1917 and "Bethany Campus Association," 1912
      • Bethany College "College Street," today's "North First Street"
      • Bethany College "Campus Life"
      • Bethany College "Field Trips"
      • Bethany College's "Earliest Buildings" >
        • Bethany College "​Ladies Dormitory" / "Lane Hart Hall" 1883 - 1899 - 1983
        • Bethany College "Old Main" 1887-1968 >
          • Lydia's and Emil's Old Main Apartments, 1920 to 1940
          • Deere's Bethany College Classes in Old Main
        • Bethany College "Messiah Auditorium" / "Ling Auditorium" / "Ling Gymnasium" 1895 - 1946
        • Bethany College "Swedish Pavilion," 1904
        • Bethany College "​Carnegie Library" / "Bethany Library" 1908 - 1980
        • Bethany College "​Bethany Academy" 1882 -- Swensson's Bethany's Beginnings
    • Deere's 1959 Interview on Rev. Dr. Carl A. Swensson (On YouTube) >
      • Rev. Dr. Carl Aaron Swensson, 1857-1904 ~ An account by Dr. Lindquist >
        • Swensson's "Bethany Lutheran Church" and the "Augustana Lutheran Synod"
        • Swensson's Bethany's Beginnings: "The Bethany Academy of 1882"
        • Olsson's Influence, the Swenssons,' the Musicians' and Singers,' "Messiah," 1882 on … >
          • Thure Olof Jaderborg ~ One Lindsborg "Messiah" Commitment from 1901-1954
        • Swensson's Swedish Artists of the 1890s
        • Swensson's "Bethany College Museum," 1882 - 1966
      • In Memorium**Dr. Carl Aaron Swensson, 1904 ~ An account by Dr. Lindquist
    • Deere's Rev. Dr. Ernst F. Pihlblad, 1873-1943 ~ An account by Dr. Lindquist >
      • In Memoriam**Dr. Ernst F. Pihlblad, 1943
      • Rev. Dr. Pihlblad on Bethany College, 1904 - 1941
    • Deere's Swensson's "Bethany College Museum" 1882-1966 >
      • The 1966 Bethany College Museum Collections Move to the Old Mill Museum ~ Dr. Leon Lungstrom's Role >
        • Articles on the Bethany College Museum Collections Move of 1966
      • Deere's Swensson's Bethany College Museum Collections ~ to 1966
    • Deere's Smithsonian Institution's Souvenir, 1904
    • Deere's 1940 Presidential Address to the Kansas Academy of Science
    • Deere's 1955 Letter to President Eisenhower re Tuttle Creek
    • Deere's Service, 1901-1966 >
      • Deere's Education & Degrees
    • The Deere's Library ~ What remains of 2,000 books -- pending project
  • "The Other Swedes"
    • Honoring Them and Remembering Them ~ The Smoky Valley Writers >
      • ​Digitalize the Smoky Valley writers' Swedish and Swedish American histories ~ For their generations to come and for research accessibility
      • Rev. Bror Carlsson and Mr. Alf Brorson from Sweden ~ Tracing Värmland's Rev. Olof Olsson's church life in Sweden and in Swedish America with the Augustana Lutheran Synod >
        • ​"He Gave God Glory" "The Story of Olof Olsson, ​" 1841 - 1900 ~ By Rev. Bror Carlsson
      • Rev. Dr. Carl Aaron Swensson ~ Author of countless Swedish & English publications, newspapers articles & books for local, national & European readers
      • Bethany Church, Bethany College, Augustana Lutheran Synod Writers ​~ Remembering Rev. Dr. Carl Aaron Swensson and Rev. Dr. Ernst Frederick Pihlblad
      • Rev. Dr. Alfred Bergin ​~ Compiling foundational Swedish Smoky Valley Augustana Lutheran settlements' histories and more
      • Dr. Emory K. Lindquist ~ Chronicling Swedish Augustana Lutheran Lindsborg and Bethany College from their earliest years >
        • ​1953, "Smoky Valley People, A History of Lindsborg, Kansas" ~ The Words of Dr. Lindquist and Contents & Illustrations
        • 1975 "Bethany in Kansas, the history of a college" ~ The Words of Dr. Lindquist >
          • "Bethany in Kansas" PART I ~ Contents & Illustrations
          • "Bethany in Kansas" PART II ~ Contents & Illustrations
        • 1984 "Hagbard Brase, Beloved Music Master" ~ The Words of Dr. Lindquist >
          • "Hagbard Brase" ~ Contents and Illustrations
        • 1989 "G. N. Malm - A Swedish Immigrant's Varied Career" ~ The Words of Dr. Lindquist: Part 2 >
          • "G. N. Malm" ~ Contents & Illustrations
      • Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg [Selma Lind] ​ ~ Chronicling the Lindsborg of her day, its early histories, its early citizens >
        • 1965 "Lindsborg On Record" ~ Contents & Illustrations
        • 1967 "Living in Lindsborg and Other Possibilities" ~ Contents & Illustrations
        • 1973 "Talk About Lindsborg" ~ Contents & Illustrations
        • 1976 "Why Lindsborg?" ~ Contents & Illustrations
        • ​1990 "Two Reprints" ~ Contents & Illustrations Lists
      • Mr. Thomas N. Holmquist ~ Chronicling Lindsborg's neighbors, the Galesburg Swedes of Salemsborg and Freemount, with a personal connection, 1868
      • Mr. Bill Carlson ~ Chronicling Lindsborg's earliest and later histories with a personal connection, 1867 >
        • 2011 "Lindsborg Then and Lindsborg Now" ~ The words of Bill Carlson in the first 5 chapters >
          • 2011 "Lindsborg Then and Lindsborg Now" ​ ~ The words of Bill Carlson in the last chapter: "Conclusion" >
            • "Lindsborg Then and Lindsborg Now" ~ Contents & Illustrations
        • 2016 ~ Mr. Calrson's account of "1976 King of Sweden's Visit to Bethany Home'"
      • Ms. Karen A. Humphrey ~ Chronicling highlights of Swedish Augustana Lutheran Lindsborg and Bethany College culture in the earliest years >
        • 2012 "Grace, Faith and the Power of Singing: The Alma Christina Lind Swensson Story" ~The Words of Ms. Humphrey
        • "Grace, Faith and the Power of Singing" ~ Contents & Illustrations
      • Mr. Chris Abercrombie ~ Remembering him as "The Historian," the SVHA president and his body of work
      • Rev. Eugene K. Nelson and the Bethany Home Writers ~ Chronicling the "only known" Smoky Valley story on Bethany Home since 1907
      • Smoky Valley Historical Association Members ~ Chronicling 1993 " Where Did They Live? " "Early Residences of Lindsborg, Kansas"
    • ​Honoring Them and Remembering Them ~ The ​Smoky Valley History Research Writers Website Designers
    • Honoring Them and Remembering Them ~ Lindsborg Smoky Valley People >
      • Revs. Drs. Swensson and Pihlblad ~ The founder and the presidents of Bethany College respectively
      • Mrs. Alma Christina Lind Swensson ~ Remembering her as Mrs. Rev. Dr. Swensson, the "First Lady" of Lindsborg, organizer of the "Messiah Chorus" and much more ~ From ​Ms. Humphrey's Book
      • Dr. Johan August Udden ~ "First" Bethany College professor, founder of Bethany College museum and Spanish chain mail, lead UT to $300,000,000+ ~ Account by Dr. Lungstrom
      • ​Samuel Thorstenberg ~ Remembering him as the "earliest" internationally acclaimed Bethany College "Messiah Chorus" conductor
      • Dr. Hagbard Brase ~ Remembering him as the second "earliest" internationally acclaimed Bethany College "Messiah Chorus" conductor
      • B.G. Gröndal ~ Remembering him and his photography in the earliest years of Lindsborg and Bethany College >
        • B.G. Gröndal ~ Accounts by Mr. Abercrombie and Mrs. Jaderborg with LINK to Mrs. Eddy, B.G.'s granddaughter's book review
      • International "NY Times" Correspondent Miss Alma Luise Olson ~ Remembering her as "First Honored American Woman by Sweden" ~ An account by ​Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg* >
        • ​​Miss Alma Luise Olson ~ Remembering her and the extraordinary life she led at home and abroad ~ An account by Ms. Karen A. Humphrey
      • Artist Birger Sandzén ~ Remembering him for "sharing his art with the world," starting "first" at Lindsborg's Bethany College >
        • Dr. & Dr. Mrs. Charles Greenough III ~ Remembering them for their gift of the Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery -- pending
      • G. N. Malm ~ Lindsborg's Swedish Renaissance Man ~ Accounts by Dr. Lindquist >
        • G. N. Malm and all he did for the Lindsborg community ~ An account by Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg >
          • G. N. Malm and his Lindsborg's national interior decorating company ​​~ An account by Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg​
      • William Holwerda, M.D. ~ Remembering him as "Doc Bill," a city father and loving citizen ~ Accounts by Dr. Lungstrom and Mrs. Jaderborg >
        • Dr. William Holwerda ~ Remembering their family doctor with Messiah Lutheran Church tributes ~ An account by Dr. Leon Lungstrom
      • Artist Lester Raymer ~ Remembering him as the renowned virtuoso artist and "behind the scenes" community supporter
      • Dr. Arvin W. Hahn ​​~ Remembering him for saving Bethany College from going under!​ >
        • Dr. Arvin W. Hahn ~ Remembering him handing me my Bethany College Diploma on Sunday, May 26, 1968
      • Dr. ​& Mrs. Elmer Copley ~ Remembering them and their 29 years of dedication to that Bethany College "Messiah" tradition of excellence >
        • 1976 Dr. Elmer Copley ~ Remembering him as the “Messiah” conductor for the Bethany College "Swedish King’s," Carl XVI Gustaf's, performance >
          • 1981 Dr. Elmer Copley ~ Remembering him as the "Messiah" conductor for the Bethany College "Centennial Celebration" performance >
            • 1986 Dr. Elmer Copley ~ Remembering him as the televised "American Easter" conductor of the Bethany College Oratorio Society Holy Easter Week
      • Mr. & Mrs. Hilding Jaderborg ~ Remembering them and their “Swedish Crafts Shop” of 65 years and 50 trips to Sweden
      • The Swedish Lindsborg Builders ~ Remembering them for the lovely homes they built
      • Mr. Chris Abercrombie ~ Remembering him for "first" shining an international light on Lindsborg and Bethany College, via YouTube
      • Dr. Greta Swenson and Mr. & Mrs. Mark Esping ~ Remembering them for founding Lindsborg's “first” "Swedish-American Folklife Institute of Central Kansas," 1986 >
        • Remembering their Lindsborg's Folklife Institute's "Swedish-American Heritage Center," 1996
      • Mr. Claude Koehn ~ Remembering him as restorer and preservationist of Smoky Valley stone farmhouses and other stone structures
      • Ms. Rebecca Copley ~ Remembering her as Bethany College's “first” graduate to become an International Concert & Opera Soprano >
        • Ms. Copley's "International Concert and Opera Soprano" ​~ The REVIEWS
      • Mr. Bruce Karstadt ~ Honoring him as a Bethany College graduate for heading up a major national Swedish American institution
      • Dr. Mark Lucas ~ Messiah conductor bringing the Lindsborg “Oberammergau of the Plains" to a "new" world audience
    • “Honoring Them and Remembering Them" ~ The Groupings and the Swedes from Sweden >
      • ​1882-1966 Bethany College Museum Science Professor Curators ​~ Their earliest collectors and the taxidermists
      • 1894-1962 Bethany College Graduates in Augustana Lutheran Synod World Mission Work ~ An account by Dr. Emory K. Lindquist
      • 1901-2014 The ​Bethany College Swedish Knights and Ladies ~ Honored by the Kings of Sweden
      • ​​1919 "Lindsborg Historical Society's" earliest leaders ~ Their mission and projects >
        • 1963 "Smoky Valley Historical Association" (SVHA) later leaders ​~ Some more recent preservation projects
      • ​1961 - 2021 ​"McPherson County Old Mill Museum" ~ A chronological historical summary
      • 1976 His Majesty the King of Sweden, Carl XVI Gustaf's Visit to Lindsborg April 17th >
        • The Lindsborg & Bethany College "Swedes" ~ Honored by the King of Sweden, June 6, 1976
      • 1977​ Swedish Emigrant Institute Staff from Växjö, Småland Visits Lindsborg October 16-18
      • 1978 Swedish Documen- tary Film Crew Visits Lindsborg October 2-9 >
        • "Lindsborg News-Record" Clippings of 1978 Swedish Film Crew Visit
  • Contacts
    • For 1869 Lindsborg CONTACT Today > > > > > > > > to Yesteryears > >
      • ​Lydia's Lindsborg Photography​, ​1900 - 1925 >
        • "A Time to Remember" 1882 - 1988
      • A Historical Count of Lindsborg Residents ~The Bethany College Presidents & Swedish Kings Honoring Bethany Swedes
    • ​For 1881 Bethany College CONTACT Today > > > > > > > > > to Yesteryears > >
      • Lydia's Bethany Photography, 1906 - 1925 >
        • "A Time to Remember" 1882 - 1988 >
          • Their "I WAS THERE" Coin ~ Bethany College 21st Year Celebration, 1902 >
            • "Bethany Campus Walk” ~ Remembering the buildings, the "Bethany Family" of their era, 1882 - 2015
      • A Historical Count ~The Bethany College Presidents & Swedish Kings Honoring Bethany Swedes
    • For 1957 Birger Sandzén Memorial Gallery CONTACT Today >
      • Sandzén: "Ecstasy of Color" ~ PBS Doucmentary ~ Aired 6/11/21
    • Closing Remarks >
      • Traveling through SWEDES ​~ The Table of Contents ~ The "Outline" "Online"
    • The 1941 "Smoky Valley 'Pioneer Cross Memorial' " ​~ ​By Mr. Thomas N. Holmquist
    • The 2009 "Smoky Valley Swedish People's Virtual Memorial"
"The Other Swedes"
​~ Honoring Them and Remembering Them ~
​
William Holwerda, M.D.
- a Dutchman -
1901-1964
 ~ Remembering him as "Doc Bill," a city father and loving citizen
​ ~ Accounts by Dr. Leon Lungstrom and Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg

(Dr. Holwerda was a Swedish Augustana Lutheran Christian.)

Dr. William Holwerda is remembered by Bethany College Biology Professor Dr. Leon Lungstrom who in his 1990 "History of Natural Science and Mathematics at Bethany College, Lindsborg, Kansas /\ writes: "While he continued as a physician in his community, his practice grew, and so did his stature and contribution to community affairs. He was instrumental in founding Lindsborg's fall festival, Svensk Hyllningsfest.  People still recount that
       
​       it took a Dutchman to awaken the Swedes to the realization of their great heritage of customs and traditions." *

​
Dr. Lungstrom recounts: "Dr. Holwerda was dedicated to civic duty and involvement in community affairs. He was willing to serve on committees and helped with projects in church." *  He continues:
"Dr. Holwerda was
an Augustana Lutheran Christian,
​a charter member and past president of the Lindsborg Rotary Club,
a charter member of the Community Coordinating Council of which he was the founder,
a charter member of the Lindsborg Rod and Gun Club,
a Vice President of the Messiah Lutheran Church Council,
an honorary member of the Sigma Nu Fraternity at Bethany College,
a member of the Kansas Centennial Commission in 1961, appointed by Governor George Docking.
 
He served
on

the staffs of
Saint John’s Hospital, Salina, Kansas;

McPherson County Hospital, McPherson, Kansas;
and was one of the
leaders in building the Lindsborg Community Hospital.


He served
as Bethany College’s physician for more than 20 years;

was secretary of the McPherson County Medical Society;
was local physician for Union Pacific and Missouri Pacific Railroad employees.

He always tried
​to live and practice the values imparted with his childhood heritage,
which were taught in his parents' home, 

to work humbly in deep respect and a devoted belief in the teachings of Jesus Christ.

​ He felt
a duty to his country to serve during World War II,
but was turned down due to the shortage of doctors in McPherson County,
so in addition to serving his community,
he also ministered to residents in Camp Phillips and nearby small towns." *


Dr. Lungstrom writes: ​"Leon Lungstrom remembers one event which happened about 1932, which impressed him with the professional dedication of Dr. Holwerda.  One evening Doris Anderson, a girl from a neighboring farm family, came running breathlessly to the Lungstrom farmhouse more than 1 mile away for the purpose of using the telephone to call a physician. According to her story, her brother John was desperately ill and needed a doctor immediately. Leon’s father, after learning the details, called Dr. Holwerda and described the situation to the best of his knowledge. The seven miles of country road at that time leading out from Lindsborg to the Anderson home in the West Kentuck area was nearly bottomless from consistent recent rains. The doctor came as quickly as the terrible roads would permit him to travel. His car was required to plow through the mud the entire distance. This incident impress the entire Lungstrom family in the true unselfish professional dedication of this man."  **
Dr. Holwerda's paternal grandfather, Jan Holwerda, from Friesland, Holland, worked as a farm laborer and married Jantji Schripsema.  Two of their oldest children first immigrated to the United States in 1881.  With their other five children they immigrated the following year and settled in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  Here, Dr. Holwerda was born on February 17, 1901, to George Holwerda and Fenna Stadt Holwerda and attended schools and graduated from Calvin College in three years with a Bachelor of Science Degree, after which he began his studies in medicine at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, and received the Doctor of Medicine Degree.  He interned in several nearby Chicago area hospitals, one being in Oak Park at West Suburban Hospital where he met his wife-to-be, Violette Nelson, who was studying to be a registered nurse and was from Salina, Kansas, the town north of Lindsborg.  Thus, began a 2 year courtship, followed by their marriage on March 22, 1930, in Salina, Kansas, and their return to Chicago for Dr. Holwerda to finish his surgical residency.

Violette's paternal grandparents, August and Lena Marie Nelson, were from the province of Småland in Sweden and immigrated to Chicago in 1897.  They were seeking religious freedom like so many other Swedish citizens.  After losing their home in the Chicago Fire of October 8, 1871, they moved to Salina, Kansas, where they were members of the Swedish Mission Church.  Her maternal grandparents, Jon and Caroline Norling, around 1874 settled in the Smoky Valley near Lindsborg after immigrating to Chicago from Värmland, Sweden.  (This was the former home also of Bethany Church and Lindsborg founder Pastor Olof Olsson who first settled in Lindsborg in 1869 with his group of Swedes.)  Violette's father, Charles Nelson, adopted the trade of his father, August, who was a stone mason, and built many of the first buildings in Salina and in Lindsborg, especially the public schools, the Brunswick Hotel, and Presser Hall.

It was in November 1931 that Dr. Holwerda began his medical practice in Lindsborg with his wife Violette, now a registered nurse.  Their arrival in Lindsborg was due to several insistent and persuasive Lindsborg citizens who convinced them to settle there, the year before when they were visiting.

Dr. Lungstrom writes:  "They decided to move to Lindsborg and at first live with Mrs. Holwerda's grandmother, Mrs. Norling, and also with Levi and Hagar Norling, until they would find an apartment. Their first apartment was on the first floor of Oscar Erickson‘s home, where they remained until 1932.  While living here, Dr. Holwerda's Model T Ford car was stolen while parked on the street one night. The police were called, but the car was never recovered. After Willis was born, they moved to a house on Normal Street. Having lived in rented houses for eight years, they moved to their own new brick house on North Washington Street. The brick work for the home was done by Mrs. Holwerda's father, C. A. Nelson, and her brother Harry. This home was sold in 1947 and they moved to a farm one and one-half miles northeast of Lindsborg. They felt that country living would be more desirable for the family. The 40 acre farm with a two-story house had been owned by John Gustafson. After purchasing this property, the family remodeled the house during the fall of 1947, which enabled the family to spend Christmas in the country." ***
   - The Rostad Estate of Kalmar, Sweden -
PictureSource: Bing.com Images
The home the Holwerda's moved into was originally owned by retired Rev. Erland Carlsson, the fourth president of the Augustana Lutheran Synod (1881-1888) and one of its founders. He had the home built to reproduce, to a smaller degree, an estate known as Rostad in Kalmar, Sweden, where his daughters had attended a famous girls school for four years.  Rev. Carlsson's home, that the Holwerda's had moved into, had gone through a few owners.  So restoration and remodeling work was necessary to bring it back to its former grandeur.

Their rural lifestyle included the care of an orchard of fruit trees and  horses, a Jersey cow and bantam chickens, for which a large barn was built.  Riding horses, and activities for their two sons, Willis Kent and James Robert in 4-H, and a pony for their daughter Mary Jane became part of there country farming experience.  ​​In 1955, Dr. Holwerda and Violette celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary with an open house in their lovely home.  Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg wrote a wonderful short story on the home found in her 1967 book, Living in Lindsborg, And Other Possibilities.  It is titled: "Rostad,"  She terms the home "an estate." It must have been just that, "an estate."  So, I term it: "the Rostad Estate of Lindsborg."

As lovely as it was to be out in the country, on many occasions, it was not at all a practical location for Dr. Holwerda when receiving emergency calls from his patients, especially during thunderstorms and heavy snowstorms with impassable ice-laden and muddy country roads to negotiate.  However, he most certainly would have persevered to meet his patients in their hours of need.

From Elizabeth Jaderborg was composed a most thoughtful and kind tribute to Dr. Holwerda that most all in Lindsborg and the Smoky Valley could certainly agree with.  It must have first appeared in the Lindsborg News-Record soon after Dr. Holwerda's death on October 2, 1964.  It became a short story titled, "A Tribute" found in her 1965 Lindsborg On Record. /\ /\ 

"A Tribute"
by
Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg
Picture
Source: 1965 "Lindsborg on Record" by Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg
"A person could not easily count the number of professional men who have given the best of their years in service to this community. For a town that has been incorporated less than 90 years, we have been fortunate, indeed – and in deeds.

"The country is fast running out of men who will answer calls in the middle of the night and on days "off." The professional world is fast running out of professional men who will mark "PAID" across a thousand-dollar medical bill, and wish you a Merry Christmas!”

"Yet such a man was Dr. Williams G. Holwerda. He lived in a way that befitted his professional standing, but he was humble about it – never pretentious. He loved the open country, and never had enough time to enjoy it when the sun was the cheeriest and the air was just right for breathing and the riding horses were raring to go.

"He loved art and beauty – saw it in a nurse called "Violette."  Together they surrounded themselves with beauty and love in their home and family.  He love to work with his hands on wood, furniture, electronics, plumbing and writing. Everything he did, he did well -- expertly. He loved good literature, partook of it, and passed it on. He loved to photograph that which he wanted especially to remember — and he did, in his dark room. Here he was called to the phone many times by anxious parents.

"Doc spent his whole professional life in Lindsborg. His first office was in a little house on N. 2nd Street. Violette was his first office nurse. His first case -- an ingrown toenail! It must have been painful for the patient, but Doc had a sense of humor, and the situation must have brought him down to earth from the dreams of what his future was to be!

"But his future was a fulfillment. He found satisfaction in unraveling the most complicated problems. One wonders how he could be patient with a colicky baby in a young mothers arms when there was a man at the hospital who had just had a farm tractor wheel roll over his abdomen. One wonders how he could go on with sniffles and shots after seeing a beautiful young woman with hardly a scratch, die from a fractured skull when she had hardly barely begun to live.

"Doc had more to give. He was told so, shortly before his unexpected death in the afternoon of October 2, 1964. He told us so in a message that was to have been printed in the Lindsborg News-Record while he was a patient at the K.U. Medical Center. He thanked us in that message. Ironically, we turn about and, along with Johnny Come Lately, say:

     'Thank you, Dr. Bill, for helping bring a new generation into this world, for seeing them through the measles, the croup, the flu and appendicitis. Thank you for caring for and about the older generation, and thank you for the scoldings, the advice and the philosophy which you gave, and which, for the most part, we had sense enough to take.'

"He went so completely.  But isn’t it astounding! He left so much of himself with us!"


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130 North Second Street
The last location from where Dr. Holwerda, 
with his wife and nurse Violette, saw patients was on the first floor.
After his death in 1964, Mrs. Holwerda lived on the second floor of this lovely home.

(It was destroyed by fire not long after this photograph was taken circa 2010 or 2011.)
Picture
Go HERE​ to Their 1941 "Svensk Hyllningsfest" and Dr. William Holwerda's role ~ Accounts by Dr. Leon Lungstrom,
​                      Mrs. Elizabeth Jaderborg, Dr. Holwerda, and Mr. Eric Lundstrom

Go HERE to Dr. William Holwerda ~ Remembering their family doctor with Messiah Lutheran Church tributes
                      ~ An account by Dr. Leon Lungstrom
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SOURCES:
​/\ On January 31, 2016, permission was granted by Mrs. Leon (Linda) Lungstrom the use of her husband's book in SWEDES due to the important biographies it has on early college Swedish professors, on Bethany College history, on the only recorded Bethany College Museum history, and Old Main and its blue prints.  Therefore, this information has come from Dr. Lungstrom's 13 pages on Dr. Holwerda, pages 213-226, much of what is verbatim which has been indicated throughout the text and referenced below:

​
  *   Pages  221, first paragraph,  219, first paragraph, 220, first 3 paragraphs
​ **   Page 221, paragraph 3
 
***  Pages 215, last paragraph and 216 first paragraph 
 Other information from Dr. Lungstrom's book: pages 214, 215, 222, 223 224  -- not verbatim

​/\ /\ Mrs. Jaderborg gives approval to use her story material as found in her 1965 Lindsborg On Record here:  "Permission is granted for use of material appearing in this volume providing credit is given." (Elizabeth Jaderborg) Selma Lind.
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