Ole and Clara (Peterson) Sunde

As I was going through old files and making sure that I had them cited in my database, I came across several obituaries for the children of Ole and Clara (Peterson) Sunde.

They had 12 children... (1) Herbert (2) Alama Sunde Pulver, (3) Ann Sunde Hartley, (4) Mertle "Billie" Sunde Glahn, (5) Norman Sunde, (6) Clarence Sunde, (7) Chester Sunde, (8) Walter Sunde, (9) Temon Sunde, (10) Josephine Sunde Bahr, (11) Loura Sunde Bonnett and (12) Viola Normanda Sunde Kirley. These are not necessarily listed in order of birth.

I had copies of Clarence, Josephine and Walter's Obituaries. I had these file under my Kirley surname since I first spotted Viola as a surviving sibling. But as I looked over the other siblings names, I noticed the surname of Bahr and it looked familiar. So I turned on my Family Tree Maker and using the name index, I typed in the surname of Sunde to see what I would find. I found Viola, Josephine and Walter along with Ole. However, I didn't have Josephine tied to Ole. So I checked out how the Bahr name fit into my tree.

I found that Josephine's husband, Warren is the son of Herman and Neva (Kuehn) Bahr. Neva is the granddaughter of John Thielke and Johanna Sophia Fredreca Wilhelmina Buss. John and Wilhelmina are my 2nd great grandparents.  Which is on my mother's father's family.

Walter's obituary showed that he was married to Lorene Bahr the sister of Warren Bahr husband of Josephine who is the sister of Walter. So I have yet another pair of siblings marrying another family siblings.

Viola who married a John Bernard Kirley who is the great grandson of Edward and Rose (Kirley) McMahon and they are my 3rd great grandparents. Which is on my father's father's side.

When all was said and done, I figured I need to file these obituaries in different location than just the Kirley side of the family. Therefore, the two Sunde/Bahr marriages are going into my Thielke surname folder and Clarence will go into the Kirley side of the family. While looking for some more information, I found that Viola has passed away as of Aug 17, 2011. Even though this is a sad event, she lived a long life of 98 years and left many Kirley descendants (3 children, nine grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren) all named and I just need to figure out where they all fit into the big picture of things.

I learned that it is important to re-look at our records. Names of people that I might not have known when I first looked at the record may mean something to me years later after my tree grows a little. I am also thankful for computers, because I don't believe I would have found the family ties as easy.

Good luck in your research!