Obit: Bjornstad, Arnold #2 (1912 - 1961)

Contact: stan@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames: Bjornstad, Karye, Grant, Amerling

----Source: OWEN ENTERPRISE (Owen, Clark County, Wis.) 11/30/1961

Bjornstad, Arnold #2 (25 APR 1912 - 23 NOV 1961)

The death of Arnold Bjornstad on Thanksgiving Day came as a shock to his immediate family and relatives, and stunning surprise to his many close friends.

Apparently in good health he left with a group of friends on their annual deer hunting expedition to northern Wisconsin and returned early Wednesday afternoon.  Enroute home he told a close friend that he was having trouble taking a good deep breath, but reasoned, "maybe I’m catching a cold."

While watching the Packer-Lions football game on Thanksgiving Day at his home he was suddenly stricken with a severe heart attack.  Dr. Peden was immediately summoned to the home.  He was then taken in the city ambulance to the hospital in Marshfield where he passed away early that evening.

Death was attributed to a coronary infraction.

Funeral services were held Sunday afternoon from the Hoeper and Kraut Funeral Home.  Rev. James Stone, pastor of the Alliance Church, Owen, read the final rites with burial being made at Riverside Cemetery.  Serving as pallbearers were Toivo Makkinen, Newell Wilson, Claude Wilson, William Wilson, Alvin Bangle and Clarence Kitze.  In charge of the floral offerings were Mesdames Toivo Makkinen, Newell Wilson, Claude Wilson, Alvin Bangle and Clarence Kitze.

Arnold Bjornstad was a lifetime resident of Owen (Clark Co., Wis.), being born April 25, 1912, the son of the late Mr. and Mrs. Sever Bjornstad.  He was graduated from the Owen Public school system and for the past 18 years was employed as a truck driver at the Owen terminal of the Western Condensing Co.

Last April 4^th he was elected to the common council of the city as alderman of the First Ward, taking a seat once occupied many years by the late Sever Bjornstad.  He won the seat in a three-way race, by a two to one margin and has been in charge of Flood Control and Public Property.

Mourning his sudden and untimely passing are his wife, the former Elsie Karye, whom he married Jan. 8, 1937, in a ceremony performed in Owen.  Also surviving are two sons, , james and William, both of Owen; two sisters, Mrs. Borghtil Grant, Racine, and Mrs. Alice Amerling, Flint, Mich.; three brothers, Arthur, Cadott, and Melvin and Selmer, both of Owen, and two grandchildren, Tami and Lauri Bjornstad.