TedRavndalen

Ted Ravndalen

Theodore Ravndalen was born to Ingeborg (Jenson) and Ole Ravndalen on November 18^th, 1918 in Ross, MN. There were six boys: Olaf, Jergen, Gunval, Theodore, Alvin, Otto, and the two girls were Tillie and Marie. His father was a dairy farmer and his mother stayed at home, as did all the mothers back then. They canned their own vegetables and meat, made their own butter, made their own bread, and had their own milk and eggs. They didn’t have much money or modern day conveniences, but Ted believed they were a lot happier than people are today. They ate better food and got together with family and neighbors for parties and baseball.

Ted moved to Roosevelt, MN at a young age. He attended school in a one-room schoolhouse through the 8^th grade. The same teacher taught all grades. She was a Norwegian schoolteacher because the children didn’t learn to speak English until they went to school. The teacher’s living quarters were in the back of the schoolhouse. The focus in schools then was on learning reading, writing, and arithmetic. There were also other things taught, like lessons in history. There were no sports, but the children of his day still got plenty of exercise.

Ted told of how many grouse there were back then. His mom would give the boys two bullets and expect them to come back with some meat for supper. They never disappointed her. Ted talked much about his mother and how hard the women of her day had to work. He had an extraordinary amount of respect for women and the work they did. Ted built a house and moved his parents in with him. When he married, his father had since passed and his mother moved in with his brother, Jergen.

He also spoke of his wife, Betsy, and how well she kept the house, always had a meal waiting, and was a great companion to him. He missed her so much. He said the house seemed so empty without her. Many a time they went ice fishing in the winter. Betsy would always catch more than Ted because he would wander around talking to neighboring fisherman. Ted loved to visit.

Various things such as family, school, and WWII influenced Ted throughout his years. His success in life was due to the type of person he was - hard working and persistent. Ted’s family was everything to him. All the boys in Ted’s family lived close together and helped each other throughout life. Four of Ted’s brothers were farmers. Although they owned their own farms, they worked together. If any of the brothers needed help in the fields, the other brothers would pitch in and never expect payment.

Throughout Ted’s life he was always a farmer, but he was also a trucker, logger, and a ‘slave to the government’ in WWII for three years. He was in his early twenties when he went into the war. The war taught him, and almost all of the men of his time, survival; which was an important quality to have when farming was tough. He was stationed on the carrier ship, the USS Intrepid, as a forty-millimeter gunner. Their ship was a take-off station for aircraft that bombed the beaches to clear them before troops landed. They were in the South Pacific fighting 'Japs' and took a torpedo in Guam. Ted’s arms and hands showed the scars of battle, with all his fingers on his left hand one length because they were severed and reattached; his hands and arms scarred from burns. Ted also had an artificial wrist because of his injuries. He earned an accommodation for shooting down at least ten suicides in one battle and also a Purple Heart. He feels that he was a lucky shot, but sometimes not lucky enough. The Intrepid was badly damaged at different times. It made three trips under the Golden Gate Bridge for repairs. While the sailors were home for ship repairs, they spent some time in ‘Francisco. Ted said that the ladies always bought drinks for him.

After the war, the government gave Ted $300 to get home. He started out trucking and got a contract to cut and haul Christmas trees to Fargo. After the Christmas season, he started selling farm machinery. He bought a Caterpillar and started clearing land. He also continued to log. He owned and operated a logging camp that employed many men. They had a camp in the woods that consisted of a cook shack and bunk houses. Meanwhile, Ted bought state land at auctions and cleared the timber off of it to expand his farm. He put six to seven days a week into his work. Ted said that sometimes it was all he could do to stay home a half a day on Sunday because there was work to be done. He had to pick sticks and rocks and clear timber before the land could be tilled. Then there was the farming of the land. It was all done the hard way.

Farming Farming was a common job in the 1940’s, but has changed drastically in the last 60 years. After WWII, technology started to change, changing farming along with it. Many people couldn’t make it and sold out to larger farmers. Ted believed that with all the changes in culture and technology, farming is too risky of a business to gamble with. The overhead costs are too high and the profit too low. He said, “You might as well bring your money to the casino than try farming today.” Years ago, farmers started out small and gradually acquired more land. Ted and his brothers all logged every winter to keep farm expenses going. Since there was no insurance and no handouts when the crops failed, they had to be very careful not to spend more than they could afford to lose. Technology has changed the equipment used in farming. In earlier years, the Ted worked on small cab-less tractors, putting up with weather and dust. Now farmers ride in air-conditioned tractors that cost in the six-figure range and all their other equipment is expensive, too. Ted’s advice to people seeking to become a farmer is, “Don’t do it. You’ll lose your ass.”

Fr From childhood to later years in life, Ted was always a fighter. But his love for his family, strong will, humor, and experiences of life made Ted the man who touched the hearts of so many.