Julius Brekke came to Griggs County in the early 1900s, from Martell, Wisconsin.
He married Josephine Norderhaug in 1905. She came from Beldenville, Wisconsin.
Julius was a tinner and plumber and worked at Troseth's Hardware in Hannaford. He set up windmills on many farms in the Hannaford area.
Josephine cooked in restaurants and would also cook in cook cars for threshing crews around Hannaford.
Julius and Josephine had seven children: Minnie, Helen, Edith, Lillian, Alice, Maryon and Leonard.
Minnie, a telephone operator in Hannaford, left to work in the telephone office in Aberdeen, South Dakota. There she met and married Otto Ragsdale of Chicago. They moved to Chicago, where she died in 1942.
Helen also worked in Hannaford as a telephone operator. She married Norman Michaelson of Wimbledon, North Dakota, in October 1928. Helen and Norman had four sons, all born in Hannaford. Myron, Raymond, Donald and Eugene. Myron died at the age of 10. Helen and Norman moved to Lakeview, Oregon, in 1946, where they lived until retiring in 1973. They then moved to Forest Grove, Oregon, where they still reside.
Edith entered nurses training in Valley City, North Dakota, after graduation from high school in Hannaford.
While in training she met Harold Noecker of Sanborn, North Dakota. They were married in 1936. They had one child, a daughter Faye. Harold and Edith farmed at Sanborn until retiring. They now spend their winters at their home in Venice, Florida, and their summers on the farm at Sanborn.
Lillian also went to school in Hannaford and graduated from nurses training at Valley City. She moved to Lakeview, Oregon, where she worked in the hospital. While in Lakeview, she met and married David Dubose. They had three daughters and one son: Joanne, Linda, David and Carol.
Lillian worked as a nurse and Dave as a sawmill superintendent, until their retirement. They still reside in Lakeview, Oregon.
Alice also graduated from nurses training at Valley City, after finishing school at Hannaford. After working as a nurse, she went on to become a Lab Technician. She later became an airline stewardess for TWA.
She met and married Urban Kampsen, a pilot for TWA. They have an adopted daughter, Patricia. Alice and "UJ" lived in Shawnee-Mission, Kansas, until retiring. They now reside in Ottertail, Minnesota.
Maryon graduated from Hannaford High School, and went on to take nurses training in Bismarck, North Dakota.
While there she met and married Joseph Fix of Mandan, North Dakota. Joe was a pilot in World War II. After the war they returned to Mandan, where Joe worked as office manager for Gold Seal Glass Wax, until retirement.
Maryon and Joe raised 10 children: David, Donald, Cheryl, Joanne, Douglas, James, Mary Jo, Robert, Joyce and Steven. Their son, Jimmy, died of leukemia at the age of 15. They still reside in Mandan.
Leonard went to school at Hannaford. He moved to Lakeview in 1939. He served in the Air Force in WW II. After the war, Leonard met and married Janice Gifford. They had two sons, Dale and Richard. They were divorced in 1950. He married Ruby Perdew in 1953. They had four children, Katherine, Steven, Daniel and Douglas. Leonard worked in sawmills and construction work until becoming a truck driver. After a back injury and several spinal surgeries, he was forced to retire. They live in Gaston, Oregon. Ruby still works at Tektronix, where she has been employed for nearly 25 years.
Julius Brekke died in 1922. Josephine remarried in 1930, to Orville Bartels. They had two sons, Clair and Loren. They lived in Hannaford for several years, eventually moving to Cohasset, Minnesota, where she died in 1955.
Source: Hannaford Area History North Dakota Centennial 1889 - 1989 Page 95