Too many obits of late.  This is from a local (Eagle River?) paper:

Founder of Nordic Ski Center, Bert Kleerup, dies at age 74

Bertel “Bert” Kleerup of Three Lakes, instrumental in developing the sport of cross-country skiing in the Eagle River and Three Lakes areas, died at his home Monday, Dec. 3, 2007, at the age of 74.

Kleerup, a former management consultant in applied mathematics at Stanford Research Institute in California, quit his job to move to the family cabin on butternut Lake in Eagle river.  With his wife LaNora, he developed and ran the Eagle River Nordic ski Center.

His ski operation began in the mid-1970s with a small warming hut and 10 miles of groomed trails in the Nicolet National Forest and grew to include a 30-mile trail, a retail store in Eagle river and a lodging program at the Northernaire Hotel in Three Lakes.  The warming hut located at the trailhead offered equipment rentals and was the base for his ski school.

By 1979, the trails and ski school helped the area receive national ranking for cross-country skiing and by 1987 his Nordic trails were ranked among the top 10 best places in the country, drawing 12,000 skiers annually.

Trail fees paid by cross-country skiers were used to develop and maintain an excellent trail system which was used by Olympic and U.S. National ski teams for training. Races, sanctioned by the United States Ski Association, were also held on the trail system during this time.

Through his center, Kleerup sold skis through the mail using the latest computerized technology to match the skier with the right ski based on the skier’s size, strength, ability and style.  His business was a major supplier of racing skis in North America.

Kleerup was born Feb. 9, 1933, in Chicago, Ill. A lifelong visitor to the area, he has been a resident on Butternut Lake for the past 35 years.  In addition to being an avid cross-country skier, he was a reader and storyteller.

Survivors include his wife; three daughters, Dianna (Sal) LoDolce and Cindy (Stan) Penwell, both of Scottsdale, Ariz., and Sharon Carbone of Littleton, Colo.; a brother Jim (Ginger) of Villa Park, Calif.; and five grandchildren.

A funeral service was held Dec. 7 at Gaffney-Busha Funeral Home in Eagle River with the Rev. William Trosien officiating.

Obit for Uncle Edo, 27 October 2007, in the Santa Barbara News Register.

Edo was born August 6, 1913 and died October 21, 2007. He was the son of Italian immigrants Luigi and Marianna Reginatto.

Edo lived all his life in Santa Barbara except the years he served his country, 1941 to 1945 with the Army. He was stationed in the Aleutian Islands, Alaska with the Tactical Fifth Grate Detachment Unit. He was a member of the Teamsters Union from 1962 to 1975 working those years for Jordano’s delivering throughout the Tri Counties.

Many years his biggest joy was his boat. Taking friends and family fishing, water-skiing, or just a leisurely ride around the harbor. Edo loved his flower garden, always planting colorful sweet peas and beautiful roses. For years those were shared every Monday morning when he made his rounds taking flowers to the office of his dentist, doctor, bank clerk and favorite checker at the grocery store. He had a special charm about him and never lost his sense of humor. Edo was always happy to have the children of the neighborhood come by for their treat of cookies.

He is survived by his sister Lydia Vial, brothers Al and Corado. Nieces Gloria Hill, Carol Voorhis, Nadine Nichols Virleen Hand, Karen Vari and nephew Leon and Mark Reginatto.

A memorial mass will be held at 10 AM Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2007 at St. Barbara Parish at the Old Mission. Interment at Calvary Cemetery. For those who desire, memorial donations may be made to a charity of your choice.

The obituary is located in a pay archive.

This was the obit for my Nona, in the Santa Barbara News-Press on 8 December:

Lidia Louise Vial was born June 21, 1915, and died December 1, 2007.  She was the only daughter of 6 children born to Italian immigrants Luigi and Marianna Reginatto.

On December 29, 1935, she married Mario Vial.  They had one daughter, Gloria.  Mario passed away in 1989.

Lidia lived most of her life in Santa Barbara.  For many years she wzs a trusted employee in various capacities for families in Montecito.  She enjoyed her home, sewing, cooking and golf.

She was a member of the Women’s Golf Club at the Santa Barbara Golf Club, YLI, Italian American Boot Club, and Italia Nuova.

Lidia was a woman of great faith her loved her family and friends and was always there for them no matter what their need.

She is survived by her daughter, Gloria Hill, son-in-law Hal Hill, brothers Al and Corado, grandsons David and John Hill, great grandchildren Robby and Sean Hill, Katherine Hill, and Joe Chavez. , and two great grand daughters Allyssa and Kylie Chavez.  Also nieces Carol Voorhis, Nadine Nichols, Virleen Hand, Karen Vari and nephews Leon and Mark Reginatto.

Friend may visit at 3:00pm Monday, December 10th, at Welch-Ryce-Haider downtown chapel.  The Rosary will follow at 4:00pm.  Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Tuesday, December 11th, at St. Barbara Parish at the Old Mission at 10:00am.  Interment will be at Calvary Cemetery.

In Lieu of flowers, for those who desire, memorial donations may be made to a charity of your choice.

The full article is still behind a pre-archive firewall, so I’ll take another look in a few months to see if there’s a clean link.

Note that the obit spells Nona’s first name as “Lidia.”  That was actually the spelling on her birth certificate, and the one she preferred over the last few years (vs. the “Lydia” she used most of her life).  For that matter, her middle name was (according to my mom) actually “Luigia” (after her father Luigi), which got anglicized to “Louise” somewhere along the way.

PDF of Obituary

Typewritten manuscript (photocopied), rcvd from Virginia Kleerup c. 2006.

ROBERT SALISBURY — MY FATHER

By Lillian Salisbury Austin, his daughter, as told to Evelyn Burrill Lewis

My father, robert Salisbur, was born in 1826 at Aurora, New York, on Lake Cayuga near the larger town of Auburn. He was one of nine children, five girls and four boys. The family moved to Ohio which then was attracting so many settlers. They lived on a farm near Norwalk, a small town near Cicinnati.

When Mr. Salisbury was a young man he accompanied his brother Mort one day to the village school. mort had just accepted the positio nof teacher and a group of children had assembled, doubtless to pass judgment upon him. One little brown-eyed nine year old on sseing the two gentlemen said: “I hope the handsome one is to be our teacher.” The “handsome one” chanced to notice her and, putting his hand on her head, said to her: “You are such a pretty little girl! Will you wait for me till you are grown and then marry me?” She replied: “Yes,” and that was exactly what happened, for Lydia Sanford did wait for Robert to come back from his many travels, and did marry him.

The lure of the West which called so many young men to 1849 did not go unheard by Robert Salisbury who made altogether five trips to California. Twice he sailed around the Horn, once he crossed the Isthmus of Panama, once he went with a covered wagon train overland, and — later in life — made the journey by rail. On one of the trips around the Horn, after the sail boat was well along in the Pacific, the winds failed and the ship was bealmed for two long months. Food and water were running very low as well as the spirits of all on board when finally, it semed almost by magic so used were they to being motionless, the breeze sprang up and once more they were on their way.

The land trip across the Isthmus must have been full of adventure and hazard as it would have to have been made thru mosquito and reptile infested jungles, but no memories of this remain.

Robert was not attracted by the gold crze, and did not become a prospector, but adventure of another sort lured him. The excited, teeming population in the gold field regions had to have their human needs satisfied. This was the field he entered. A store could supply food and other demans. So Robert and his brother opened one in Sacramento where Col. Sutter’s fort was located and where so many of the prospectors gathered. To be sure, prices were high — eggs $1. a dozen, milke $1. a quart — but gold dust was plentiful and the store never lacked paying customers.

Another of the needs certain to be felt in this new, raw community was that of dental attentoin. A toothache can be very demanding! Robert was a trained and experienced dentist, but not anticipating their need he had not brought tools with him. Hoever, being mechanically clever, he was able to make his own. (These still, in 1954, can be seen in the San Diego Museum.) On his last trip to California he chanced to meet one of his patients of forty years earlier. The woman proudly assured him that the filling he had made in one of her teeth was still there.

After his return to Kansas City, to which town he and some members of his family had moved from Ohio, Robert went into the real estate business and did not again practice dentistry except to car efor the teeth of his family, which he did nost expertly.

A memento of the California days was a ring of pure gold which Robert always wore. He and a friend had identical ones made in Sacramento. The ring was similar in shape to a large seal ring but consisted only of gold. There was sufficient of this to provide material for the wedding rings of both of his daughters.

In the decade before the fall of Fort Sumpter the young town of Kansas City was in the center of one of the violently troubled spots of the [continued on next page]

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