Norway House Honors Noted Public Servants
at 6th Annual Midtsommer Celebration

The ceremony was far from solumn as the Master Presenter, Honorary Consul General Walter Mondale, spoke heartfelt words of respect about the honorees reviewing the highlights of their careers with humor and insight. Each of the honorees shared personal stories about their childhood, the values they learned at an early age, and how their Scandinavian influenced their lives and careers. 

Norway House had asked the honorees to write a short piece about how their upbringing had informed their public service. Click here to read     In their own words...

Speaker of the House Margaret Anderson Kelliher
Growing up on a farm, I learned at a young age that there was work and always more work to be done.  I grew to love our land nestled in the Minnesota River Valley and figured I would also live my life farming near the Bend in the River in Mankato.  My father, the great grandson of Swedish immigrants, had a different plan for me.  He was raised with a strong belief in the value of education.  There was no question in his mind that I would go to college.

These were the values of the Scandinavians who moved to this country after the Civil War.  Their ancestors had battled for more control of the schools in their homeland.  They brought that interest in local self-government and education with them as they settled some of the richest farming areas of Minnesota.  It was not long before they began to guide the direction of our state through the creation of schools like Augsburg, Concordia, St. Olaf, and Gustavus Adolphus, where I attended college.

I learned the value of community attending Bethany Lutheran Church of Judson near our farm.  My mother has told me she knew I was headed for a life in public service when, as a 4th grader, I organized a petition drive to preserve the bus route that led to my school.  Within a few years, as the farm crisis threatened our way of life, I rallied at the State Capitol with fellow farmers.  Throughout my upbringing, I had a strong desire to understand and impact the events that would change my life.

The Scandinavian faith in education remains a key Minnesota value today, no matter our heritage.  Earlier generations sacrificed to build a nation-leading public education system.  I believe the future prosperity of our state will depend greatly on our desire to provide a strong public education for all of Minnesota’s children.

Congresswoman Betty McCollum
My Great-Grandfather and Grandmother Hinjum immigrated from Norway in the early 1900s, settling in North Dakota.  It was their daughter (my grandmother) and her mother who fostered my early interest in public affairs.  My Grandma Goldie and my mother, who were Republicans, taught me by example that individual viewpoints matter and need to be respected. 

The art of civil discourse is a Scandinavian tradition, and one that we honored and were expected to live by in my family.  While we didn’t always agree about how to solve a problem, we talked about it in an open and respectful way, whether it was around our kitchen table or in the backyard.  Hearing each person’s unique vantage point helped me to better shape my own beliefs.

Another Norwegian ethic we shared that translates into my policy decisions was a compassionate approach to policies aimed at ending injustice in our community.  I value this special gift from the elders in my family, especially now during current health care debate in Congress.  Throughout my career in public service, I have been a champion for excellence in education, protecting the environment, expanding health care access, and fiscal responsibility.

Roger Moe
All four of my grandparents were born in Norway.  I will use one for the purpose of this brief story.  My mother’s fathers, Lars J. Njus, left Leikanger on Sognefjorde in 1888 after graduating from high school.   After a couple of years as a farm hand he attended Sioux Falls Lutheran Normal School.  He taught for a few years then entered Luther Seminary in St. Paul in 1899.  He was ordained in 1901 and began his ministry in a number of churches in Minnesota.  From 1922-1929 he was the associate editor of the Decorah Posten in Iowa.  In addition he tried his hand at farming and was a candidate for county treasurer in the early 30’s.  My Grandfather was a prolific writer and community activist.

This was written about him, “Rev. Njus believed implicitly in reverence, humility and the humane worthiness of all individuals.  He accepted the necessary doctrine for the times; hard work, seasoned with a straightforward practicality in the teachings of human goodness (godliness).  A widely respected and remembered member of the community and an individual who met full front the rigorous responsibilities and challenges of the times.”  His background and example had a big influence on me and I hope that in my lifetime I can meet his high standards.

Al Quie
Being Norwegian was natural when I was a child. I grew up on our farm on the border of Rice and Goodhue County and we were surrounded by Norwegians. My Great Grandfather and his son, Truls, were to the south of us, Grand Uncle Ole to the southeast, Uncle Henry to the east, and my Mother's family to the northeast. People from Hallingdal were to our west. People from Valders farmed east of the Quie farms. It was early in my life that I began sensing that each thought they were better than the other.

When my Mother prepared her children for first grade she taught us with charts both in the English and the Norwegian language. It was not till I visited Hallingdal in 1961 that I realized I had learned Halling dialect. There were two churches in our Lutheran congregation. One the pastor preached in English and the one in the country it was in Norwegian. Our prayers at meal time were in Norwegian and at bed time in English. Everybody attended church and we had religious instruction each Wednesday during the public school year and Bible school during summer vacation. The latter is where Halling and Valders children mixed.

The results were born out in the fact that my parents fed the hobos in our dining room, not on the back steps. Right away they taught me about tithing. They were very active in community civic affairs, local government and carried out discussions and debates on theological and politics when they gathered at meal times and Sunday afternoons. This developed my interest in national government and international affairs, respect for the powerless, anti-discrimination, and stewardship of the soil, trees and all of nature.

Stories of life in Noway were passed down which caused such a love for mountains that Gretchen and I spent a 5 weeks honeymoon in the Rockies and I rode horseback from Canada to Mexico along the Continental Divide after leaving public office.

Martin Olav Sabo
Both my parents were born in Norway in the Stavanger area. My Dad originally went to Canada and then migrated to Northwestern Dakota to homestead near where his brother already had a farm. He returned to Norway in 1926 to visit his parents. It was there he met my mother.  They were married and returned to farm in Alkabo, ND.  My sister was born in 1928. Then, ten years later,as the drought and depression were beginning to end, I was born. My Dad used to say that was then things started to look up. I remember REA coming with electricity in the mid-1940s.  It was an exciting time with lots of innovations coming to rural America.

TheAlkabo community was primarily Norwegian and life centered around the church and the school. The school building had 3 rooms for all the grades 1-12 and there were 3 students in my graduating class. We were so fortunate to have an excellent teacher for grades 9-12 whose sole purpose was to make us think.  Many of my fellow students went on to college – not to leave the farm, but to learn.

Somehow in this background of solid family connections, hard work, and appreciation of knowledge, I developed an early interest in politics and political issues. That interest grew as I attended Augsburg with its history of Norwegian immigrants who were pietistic and politically progressive.  From that background came a belief that government is there to serve the people, but must also be efficient and pay the bills. I can’t say that one particular thing influenced my decision to go into public service. It was just a natural thing for me to do my part.