Janice Knutsen, Joanie Holm, and Lois Johnsrud
Recorded
July 14, 2025
37:57 minutes
0:00 / 0:00
Id:
mbb000610
Description
Lois Johnsrud (97) speaks with her daughters Joanie Holm (75) and Janice Knutsen (71) about her life growing up in Sioux Falls, South DakotaSubject Log / Time Code
Lois Johnsrud speaks about family trips in an Airstream-like RV. They lived in the RV while in Rapid City, SD.
- Janice Knutsen asks Lois about attending Washington High School in Sioux Falls, which was on the site where the StoryCorps Airstream was parked and this conversation recorded.
Lois shares the story of being in high school when President Roosevelt announced that the USA was a war due to the bombing of Pearl Harbor. She speaks about young men and their fathers enlisting in the military.
Lois speaks about her husband, Arthur Homanberg, who signed up for the Navy. She recalls the story of when he called her after he returned from World War II.
Joanie Holm asks Lois about her marriage, which took place across the street at the Lutheran Church.
Lois speaks about living with her in-laws after marriage and her relationship with her mother-in-law.
Lois shares that her husband became ill and she insisted that they visit the MAYO clinic for his care after feeling like the doctors they were visiting in Sioux Falls didn't know what was going on. He was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. She tells the story of how he died young, after 25 years of marriage.
Lois speaks about her second husband, Selmar Johnsrud, to who she was married to for 35 years before he also died from Parkinson's disease.
Lois speaks about their family's travels to Hawaii, Alaska, the Caribbean, and Europe. She reminisces on when they visited Normandy, where her second husband Selmar served.
Janice tells how Lois taught them to do the twist and jitterbug. The sisters share that their mom loved to sing and dance.
- The sisters share their mom's favorite song. They share their wisdom to accent the positive, eliminate the negative and don't mess with Mister in between.
Participants
- Janice Knutsen
- Joanie Holm
- Lois Johnsrud