Bjorke

My parents, Bruce and Arlys Bjorke, live in Tucson, AZ (pictured at left with Avery by the river near our house). They headed south from Spencer, Iowa, where I attended 3rd-12th grade. Looking for warmer weather for biking year-round and relief to dad's arthritis, they moved to Tucson in the fall of 2001. The house I grew up in sold shortly thereafter and they bought an Arizona home just a mile or so from my sister Gina, who has since married and moved to the opposite end of the city. My sister Lora bought the house with her husband and rent it out now.

I have three sisters: Nita Brainard, who has three sons and a daughter in northern Wisconsin; Gina Fields, who is recently married and now has a step-daughter, but still attempts to keep my parents out of trouble in Tuscon; and Lora Powell, who has two daughters and a son.

My parents own the Beehive Crafts & Framing business downtown Spencer. My mom worked for a quilt shop until it closed, at which time she bought the machine she was using there to do quilt finishing in their home. My dad keeps busy with a lot of different activities, and is still doing the behind the scenes work for the store as well.

The Bjorkes have a Norwegian heritage and we are proud of it! We celebrate each Christmas with a table full of lutefisk (fish), Swedish meatballs, potatos, lefsa (my personal favorite) and rummegrut (pudding).