Noel and Jan Stenoien

Janice C Stenoien

Janice was born on the Sorenson Farm on Long Lake near Sauk Centre, Minnesota on May 30, 1938. Dr DuBois assisted in the delivery process.

Her earliest memories included her father spotting Santa Claus behind trees on Christmas Eve and her never being able to find him. She was also a tom boy, preferring to play with skates, etc., instead of dolls. Her father pulling her on the ice as he checked out his muskrat traps. As she grew older, she helped with the chores, milking as many as 4 or 5 cows every morning and night - before and after school. She got paid a nickel a cow. When her dad had a baseball practice, she and her mother had to milk all of the cows.

Janice was her daddy's little darling and never got a spanking - except, once. She had gotten into the habit of going over to her girl friends house when school was out without letting her parents know. This happened once too often when, on another whim, she went home with a friend during a snow storm. Her parents were pretty sure that she was okay but didn't know whether she was at one friends house or another's. When her dad finally found her after driving through the storm with his horses, she finally received her first spanking.

Living on a farm had a number of advantages. Janice was able to ride horseback, swim in the lake, ski, skate, listen to favorite programs on the radio, and play baseball with neighbor kids. She remembers the tragedy of finding four of their horses killed by lightening when she was ten years old.

She graduated from a one room rural school that was half a mile from her home. She had the second fastest sled in school but could never beat out Jerry Thull who was 2 years older than her. She attended High School in Sauk Centre, Minnesota and graduated in 1955. Her Dad would
always make sure she made it back to watch high school games.

After graduation, Jan worked for a time in Sauk Centre and then moved to Minneapolis to live with her friends Kooch and Germaine. Her first job was with Pillsbury but soon she was able to get a job with The Minneapolis Gas Company as a clerk/secretary.

Noel E Stenoien

Noel was born in Williston, No Dakota, where his father farmed and filled in by doing barbering and butchering. The family moved to Fergus Falls, Minnesota when Noel was 6 months old. His father, Ole Stenoien, fought in France under General Pershing and was exposed to mustard gas which weakened his lungs.

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