Dagmar, Gunnar and Ingrid’s daughter, had a lot of family photographs which she very kindly allowed me to photograph with my digital camera when I visited Sweden in June of 2000. Some of the pictures were good, some bad. The one of her Mom and Dad’s wedding picture was especially good, for which I am thankful.

Dad and Mom had the opportunity to visit with all of Dad’s cousins during their visit in 1968. Mom writes about Gunnar and Ingrid:

Sunday, June 2nd, 1968:

Tyra [Dad’s cousin] and Joel picked us up and we took a long, beautiful ride through the country, then finally arrived at a lovely little red and white house - the home of Gunnar and Ingrid Magnusson. In front of it, and to one side of the house, was a huge pile of firewood - birch. Gunnar works in the woods. He lost part of one hand in an accident. He is a very somber man. His wife Inger (Ingrid) is a very sparkling woman. She is tall, very good looking. They have a two-story house, beautifully kept, flowering plants in every window. They have a garden, many strawberry plants. They also keep bees. I shall try to take home some rock plants, two varieties, like hen and chickens. We were surprised when one after another the rest of the family assembled, until Signe, Karl, Tyra, Hugo and Gunnar were all there. Lovely visit.

I too visited this wonderful place with Dagmar and Rolf on June 15, 2000. It is called Skärsägen, Tranås. Gunnar bought the property from his father (Emil) in about 1937. Gunnar worked both the mill and the farm with the help of his wife Ingrid. They had four cows, calves, one horse, pigs, hens, and sometimes sheep. Unfortunately Ingrid had to go to a tuberculosis sanitorium in Eksjö in 1948 and was away for two years. Signe, Gunnar’s sister, took care of the children (Erik and Dagmar) and helped with the farm in Ingrid’s absence. Ingrid recovered and lived for 28 more years.

The family moved to Västantorp in Östergötland in 1954 and Skärsägen is now used as a “summer farm” and owned by unrelated people. Dagmar has fond memories of Skärsägen and I can understand why. It must have been a wonderful place to grow up.