THROUGH THE YEARS...The Stocklands
    Roland C. Stockland   1914-1992

A KIND AND WITTY MAN
 My personal Viking role model.  Roland C. Stockland stands in front of the famous landmark in his hometown of Colfax, Wisconsin.  Roland  Stockland (1914-1992) is my father.  At various times he was a railroad section hand, a farm worker, a dairy truck driver, a soldier, a flour mill worker and a forklift operator.  Like most of my Norwegian ancestors he knew how to work hard and he knew how to laugh.  He once told me with a twinkle in his eye that  the population of Colfax and other local towns never changed.  To my quizzical look he said: "Every time a girl got pregnant a man left town!" 

"GIVE US A COUPLE LEINIES."
This photo was taken on his last visit to Colfax the year before he died.  My wife and I  took him to Colfax and he and I sat at a bar in a familiar looking tavern and drank the same brand of beer he drank as a youth.  Leinenkugel.  He ordered us a couple of "Leinies" and we turned back the clock.  I can't ever recall a beer tasting better. I wish I could turn the clock back far enough now to sit at that same bar with him.  This page is lovingly dedicated to him and to all of those other "pioneers" who worked so hard in  difficult times.   All in all, they left a better world than they found. 
 


 

EARLY YEARS
Elizabeth and William Stockland pose with their children, Wilda, Doris and Roland about 1923.  The parents were hard drinkers...I've heard this from a number of sources including my father.  At times strictness crossed the line to abuse.  One oft repeated story has an older Roland clobbering William with a frying pan when he abused Elizabeth.  In any event, Roland and his sisters left home at the first opportunity.  They had little contact with their family after they left although Roland returned to give aid to his parents after the 1958 tornado.

 
 

LITTLE VIKINGS
Roland with his sisters, Age 6 or 7.

 

Roland at 16 with family.

 

Seated L to R: William Stockland, Ole Olson, Anna Olson.  Standing L to R: Elizabeth Stockland, Wilda, Roland, Doris.

 
 

Ruth and Roland in Chicago, World War II.
 Roland and his namesake, Chicago 1944.

 

Roland (right) with his WWII ambulance in Chicago.
Roland with sons Roland and Bill, 1952.

 
 

Roland with brother-in-law, 1952

 
 
 

Roland at 34.

Roland in early 1990's.

 
 

Last family photo 1988.  Front row:  Shannon, Harriet, Glenna, Karen
Back: Steve, Roland, Ruth, Roland, Bill (Me).

 
 

THOSE NORWEGIANS AND THEIR BELOVED RAILROADS
 

Roland poses in front of an old locomotive in Colfax, 1991.  He had  a life long love of the railroads.  In his early days he worked on The Soo Line as a laborer.  It was very hard work but he was proud of it.  It was sort of the family tradition to work on the railroad.  Later, he would collect model trains and delight in constructing displays.

See more about the Stocklands at:   Railroad Days
Last photo.  Roland died the next day, 1992.

 
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Contact Me At: billstockland@cox.net
 

Photos 2-4 are provided by Barbara Olson who is responsible for inspiring this genealogical search
and has maintained and created a marvelous record of the Olson Family in Wisconsin and Norway.