Christ and Olena presumably met when he was working on the farm belonging to her uncle and his cousin. They were married on June 27, 1884 in the Aurora Lutheran Church in Havana Township. Christ and Olena had nine children, all born in Steele County (names are taken from the family Bible): Kristina Gjertina (Christine), born March 20, 1885; Nilda Malina (Nelda), born August 2, 1886; Iver Andreas (Ed), born May 19, 1888; Richard Theodore, born May 2, 1890; Clarence Obert, born February 16, 1892; Cora Aneta, born May 8, 1894; Ruth Josephine, born December 10, 1898; Joseph Olendar, born April 14, 1903; and Maurice Christopher, born January 23, 1906. The family farmed in Havana until 1919 (the date reported in her obituary) or 1920 (the date recorded in his obituary), when they moved to Owatonna. I believe they moved to town shortly after a fire destroyed their farmhouse, a fire from which Cora and Ruth saved the family piano. Christ died of pneumonia on May 4, 1934 in Owatonna. Olena moved in with her daughter Ruth in 1951 and died in a hospital in Red Wing on March 26, 1956, age 92. Christ and Olena are buried in the Thompson Cemetery in Havana Township, a little place just across the road from their old farm.
1. Christine Hillestad (b. March 20, 1885) married Adolph Theodore Thompson on June 24, 1908 at the Aurora Lutheran Church in Havana Township, Steele County, Minnesota. He was born October 1, 1883 in Havana Township to Anders Larsson Nedste Lj�sno and Anna Pedersdatter Lj�sno, immigrants from L�rdal, Sogn, Norway who were known in America as Andrew and Anna Thompson. He was presumably named after two older brothers, Adolph and Theodore, who had died before he was born. Christine and Theodore farmed in Havana Township, and Christine was the organist at the Aurora Lutheran Church at one time. They had two children: Andrist Christopher, born April 5, 1912; and Osman Anthony, born March 23,1918. Christine died of some sort of obstruction on March 6, 1929 in Rochester, Minnesota, age 43. Eventually, Theodore moved to Owatonna, Minnesota, where he died January 19, 1961. Both are buried in the Thompson Cemetery, which is located on Theodore's family's farm.
2. Nelda Hillestad (b. August 2, 1886) married Almin Rudolph Mellem, the son of Robert R. and Gertrude (Osterberg) Mellem on June 3, 1914 at the Aurora Lutheran Church in Havana Township, Steele County, Minnesota. Almin's mother came from Sweden, while his father's family came from Hafslo, Sogn, Norway. He was born March 17, 1889 in Rutland, North Dakota. Almin and Nelda had one son, Clayton Russell, born February 16, 1921 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Almin was a member of the Minneapolis police department. Nelda died March 2, 1927 of an embolism, and Almin remarried a widow named Reah Decheine Swanson, probably between 1938 and 1941. Almin died November 7, 1968. He and Nelda are buried in Hillside Cemetery in Minneapolis. Reah died in August of 1971 and she is buried in the St. Anthony Cemetery.
3. Ed Hillestad (b. May 19, 1888) moved to Amery, Wisconsin in 1917 and served in the army during World War I. He married Guro Gjernes, an immigrant from Voss, Norway, on August 4 or 12, 1920 in Minneapolis. She was born October 12, 1898. Ed and Guro had a son and a daughter, both born in Amery, Wisconsin: Mildred Christine, born May 25, 1921; and Kenneth Orlene. Ed worked as a building contractor and served as a volunteer fireman. He died February 9, 1982 in Amery, age 93. Guro died June 21, 1985 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Both are buried in the Amery Cemetery.
4. Like his brother Ed, Richard Hillestad (b. May 2, 1890) also served in World War I. He married Grace McIlveen (born September 15, 1899 in Marshalltown, Iowa, the daughter of Samuel McIlveen and Hannah Schnell) on June 18, 1934 in Denison, Iowa. They had no children. Richard was a businessman who dealt in farm implements. Richard died of cancer June 9, 1966, and Grace died October 26, 1988, both in Lake Mills, Iowa. Both are buried in the cemetery at Wall Lake, Iowa.
5. Clarence Hillestad (b. February 16, 1892) was also a veteran of World War I. He married Olena Brithena Moe (born August 1, 1898), on September 24, 1919. Olena was the daughter of Halvor Halvorson Raa, who was known in America as Halvor J. Moe, Jr. He emigrated from L�rdal in 1878 and appears in the L�rdal Bygdebok in v. 2 p. 356. Olena's mother was Randy Nelson, the daughter of Thomas and Olena (Mellem) Nelson. They had three children: Harold Clifton, born September 21, 1920; Orlean R. (Ole), born November 17, 1921; and Ruth Olena. Clarence took over his parents' farm in Havana Township after they moved to Owatonna. He was killed in an elevator accident while visiting his brother Richard in Rock Rapids, Iowa on December 23, 1935. Olena then moved to town and worked at the Enterprise Cleaners and then the Elwood Star Cleaners until her retirement in 1960. Olena was 89 years old when she died January 3, 1988 in Owatonna. Both she and Clarence are buried in the Thompson Cemetery in Steele County.
6. Cora Hillestad (b. May 8, 1894) had brown hair and green eyes that she disliked, calling them cat's eyes. Cora loved to entertain, and she did all sorts of handicrafts, including needlepoint, embroidery and knitting. I believe I remember hearing that she was the organist at the Aurora Lutheran Church, like her sister Christine before her, probably in the early 1920s. On July 3, 1923 in Waseca, Minnesota, she married Henry Mellem. The son of Robert R. and Gertrude (Osterberg) Mellem, he was born on June 27, 1895 in Rutland, North Dakota. Henry, who claimed to have no middle name, was a baseball fan and a history buff who liked to fish, play "penny ante" poker, and feed crackers spread with peanut butter to the squirrels. According to his military discharge, Henry was 5'8" tall, with blue eyes, brown hair, and a fair complexion. He enlisted in the army at Waseca, Minnesota on February 24, 1918 and sailed for France with Company B of the 39th Engineers on June 7, 1918, landing at Brest on June 18. Stationed at Camp Marcy (Marseilles?), Henry worked on the trains and was not engaged in the fighting. Henry and Cora wrote to each other in code while he was in France. After the war was over, he sailed from Nazair, France on June 27, 1919 and arrived in Hoboken, New Jersey on July 7. He was discharged at Camp Dodge, Iowa on July 12, 1919. After Henry and Cora were married, they moved to Minneapolis, where their two children were born: Milton Alan, born June 25, 1924; and Leona Gertrude, born June 17, 1928. They first lived at 635 Sommers St. NE, and later, around 1938, they moved to McKinley Street in Northeast Minneapolis. While they lived there Henry earned his living delivering coal. Approximately 1940, the family moved to Wanamingo in Goodhue County to run an IGA grocery store. This was the tail end of the Great Depression, and according to family story, the grocery store went out of business because Henry was "too generous" with credit for struggling families. Times were tough after they lost the grocery store, and the family moved to Fairmont, Minnesota where Henry sold Watkins products door to door and Cora and Milt worked in a canning factory. Soon they moved back to Minneapolis, settling down at 4001 45th Ave. S., a house they bought from Cora's brother Maurice. Henry went to work at an ice plant, where he worked until he retired. Henry was a member of the USS Yorktown VFW Post No. 178, and Cora belonged to the Daylight Chapter 264 of the Order of the Eastern Star, Degree of Honor Banner Lodge 22, Ambrose Kelly VFW Auxilliary No. 429, and Mill City Barracks Auxilliary No. 233. Cora died February 6, 1964 of breast cancer. Henry developed lung cancer, and after his surgery he lived for a while with his daughter Leona. Later his nephew Harold Hillestad stayed with him at his house. Henry died on July 10, 1971. Both he and Cora are buried in Hillside Cemetery in Minneapolis.
7. Ruth Hillestad (b. December 10, 1898) graduated from Mankato Business College and afterward worked for Dayton Hudson Corp. in Minneapolis, where she met Clinton Albert Lundberg. They were married on October 27, 1928 in the Aurora Lutheran Church in Steele County. Clint was born May 1, 1904, the son of John and Ida Lundberg. He graduated from the University of Minnesota with a degree in mortuary science, after which he worked at the O.E. Larson mortuary in Minneapolis for 10 years. In 1937, he and Ruth moved to Cannon Falls, where they ran their own combination furniture store and funeral parlor from then until retiring in 1973. Ruth worked in the store and did the bookkeeping while Clint arranged the funerals. They also ran Cannon Falls' ambulance service, which they sold to the town in 1968. They had no children of their own, but they raised a foster son named William Farrier. Clint was a Shriner and was involved in numerous civic activities, and Ruth was active in the Eastern Star. Ruth died February 12, 1979 of Parkinson's Disease. Clint was remarried to a widow named Agnes Eiler Johnson on March 21, 1981, and he died December 17, 1983. He and Ruth are buried in the Cannon Falls Cemetery.
8. Joe Hillestad (b. April 14, 1903) married Carrie Marie Anderson August 24, 1927 in Steele County. She was born June 20, 1907 in Aurora Township, Steele County, the daughter of Peter and Christina Anderson. They had one child, a son named Merlin Eugene. Joe worked in the insurance business in Steele County until he and Carrie moved to Phoenix, Arizona around 1951. He died May 18, 1962 in Phoenix. Carrie returned to Owatonna and died there July 8, 1992, age 85. Both are buried in Forest Hill Cemetery in Owatonna.
9. Maurice Hillestad (b. January 23, 1906) graduated from the University of Minnesota School of Pharmacy in 1927. He married Hazel Josephine Johnson (born May 14, 1902 in Milan, Minnesota) on July 14, 1933 in Milan. The daughter of Tosten and Johanna Johnson, Hazel was an elementary school teacher. Maurice worked as a pharmacist in Owatonna and for the McKesson-Robbins Wholesale Drug Co. before joining the army in World War II. In 1946 Maurice and Hazel moved from Owatonna to Fairmont and opened the Hillestad Drug Store, which they ran until 1974. They had one son, John Curtis. Maurice was a Mason and a Shriner, a member of the American Legion and the Kiwanis Club, and he was active in other organizations as well. Maurice died of cancer on June 20, 1977, and Hazel died October 4, 1989, both in Fairmont, and both are buried in the Lakeside Cemetery there.
