Jones Geneaology Report 2024.02.18 - Person Sheet
Jones Geneaology Report 2024.02.18 - Person Sheet
NameHelga Nygaard
Birth15 Apr 1892, Houghton, Brown, South Dakota
Death2 Feb 1966
BurialHoughton Cemetery, Houghton, Brown, South Dakota
FatherMarius Nygaard (1858-1915)
MotherHanna Martine Dahl (1863-1940)
Misc. Notes
Helga was the 2nd child of Marius and Hanna Dahl Nygaard. She was born in Houghton, So. Dak. where her parents were homesteading. At the urging of Marius' parents, Marius moved his young family back to Norway in 1900. That arrangement was short-lived as Marius, Hanna and the youngest three children (Rolfe, Minnie, and Maurice) returned to life in Houghton. The two oldest, Christen and Helga stayed behind in Norway and attended school in Oslo where their Uncle Johan Nygaard was principal and their Aunt Marie Nygaard was a teacher. During school vacations, Helga visited her Uncle Christen, a physician near Drammen. She completed her high school education in Oslo. In 1910, Marius traveled back to Norway to return with his daughter. Helga continued her education by attending St. Luke's School of Nursing in Fargo, No. Dak. and became a registered nurse. During WWI , she served with the Red Cross at Camp Dodge, Iowa and was discharged soon after the armistice was signed on Nov. 11, 1918. Eight months later on June 17, 1919, she married Rony Tunby, whose family were neighbors and friends of the Nygaards, from the Houghton area who had been stationed in Panama. They lived on a nearby farm and had 5 children born while there. The very first child, Marion, died 6 months after birth but the other four children moved with Helga and Rony to Westmore, MT where Rony had begun a homestead years before. Five more children were born to them, but John died the day of his birth. So it was that the family of 10 lived in Plevna until Helga moved into the town of Baker, MT in 1938 with the eight kids so that the oldest 4 could attend high school. Rony stayed at the ranch alone and the family would return on the weekends. Helga started out doing housecleaning in Baker until a position opened up at the hospital for her to do nursing. Those were difficult year for Helga and Rony to be separated and she had the responsibility of raising the children and working at the hospital. Helga also took on the responsibility of managing the hospital for several years because she felt that someone should keep it open and no one else stepped up to do it. In 1942, both Helga and Rony received a special recognition at the graduation ceremony for doing what they had to so that the oldest 4 could graduate in four years.
Spouses
Birth6 Apr 1887, Houghton, Brown, South Dakota
Death24 Oct 1960, Miles City, Custer, Montana
BurialHoughton Cemetery, Houghton, Brown, South Dakota
Marriage17 Jun 1919, Houghton, Brown, South Dakota
ChildrenElphie Ruth (1925-2020)
Marion Nygaard (1920-1920)
Gordon Otto (1922-2011)
Helen Margaret (1923-2015)
Roy Heyerdahl (1921-2020)
John David (1926-1926)
Marie Louise (1927-2020)
Maurice Odell (1929-)
Edith Erika (1931-2009)
(Private) (1933-)