Gunder J Ougendal
1863-1943
Gunder Jakobsen was 23 when his father died. Including the two children who drowned,
they were six children, of which he was the oldest.
He married Ingeborg Hansdtr Birkeland on March 31st 1887.
Their first two children, twins that were born in October that year died at birth, and when
their third child was born just after Gunder's youngest brother and sister had drowned,
they named her after her late uncle and aunt, as Johanne Gurine.
Gunder and Ingeborg had 8 children who lived of whom four emigrated to America.
According to Mandius David Golf, his grandson, Gunder was a well respected man in the area,
and he had a diplomatic way of giving his views on different topics.
Another grandson, Olaf Puntervold, recalls that during harvest at summer in the late
1930ies the whole family would eat in the basement of the house with Gunder sitting at
the table-end like a chief.
Gunder also was a skilled craftsman and made clogs in the barn at Åvendal. These had a
distinctive decoration, which made them easy recognisable.
There is a story going that Ingeborg almost had a heart-attack one Christmas Eve when Hans
Kristian and Sine, both living in the US, suddenly appeared in the kitchen at Åvendal without
giving any advance notice that they were coming home to visit. They had chatted about it one
afternoon, and then decided to go instantly
Ingeborg died in 1935, while Gunder passed away eight years later.
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