Hulda Sjostrand Melbo

Hulda Sjostrand Melbo, age 101, of Rogers, passed away on February 13, 2015. She was born on July 7, 1913, the eighth of nine children born on a homestead farm to Martin and Lillie Sjostrand in Lancaster, Minnesota. Her father and maternal grandparents, Ola and Sophia Norland, were Swedish emigrants. As a child she did her share of work with her parents and brothers and sisters on the small dairy farm, enjoyed nature and all the wild things in the surrounding wilderness, attended the one-room school, ran a trap line to catch mink, martin and ermine with her younger brother to help earn money for the family, and taught herself to play piano. She married Ralph Melbo on October 11, 1936 and together they lived an adventurous life including fishing, hunting, canoeing in the wilderness of northeast Minnesota, golfing, and entertaining friends. In 1954 they moved to Anchorage, Alaska, where they began careers in the U.S. Corps of Engineers that lasted 20 years, and built a homestead cabin on a remote Alaska lake. They retired in 1974 to Rogers. She is remembered as being a wonderful wife and a beautiful, caring, talented and charming hostess, and a skilled artiest. She was preceded in death by her husband Ralph, their daughter, and her parents and eight siblings. She is survived by numerous nieces and nephews. Cremation arrangements are by Rollins Funeral Home of Rogers.