Occupations of my Langager Ancestors!

I will start with my Great Grandpa Simon Simonsen Langaker. He was a captain of a fishing boat in Norway.  He came to the United States in 1888. He walked 80 miles from a large community at Day County near Langford, South Dakota, to file his claim papers. It took his 3 days to walk both ways. He then began to farm his own land.  He was a very talented man. My great grandpa helped to build and found the Palestine Lutheran Church in 1893... it is now on the National Registar of Historical Places in the United States.

Dad and mom

My great grandpa Simon and great grandma Anna are buried at the church cemetery.

 One of their children were Sigvart Langager.... my awesome Grandpa (the only grandparent I ever knew). This guy could stand on his head at 80 years old. He was tall and thin and quiet... always handing out money. I looked up to this man in many ways. He worked for the WPA (Works Progress Administration) when he could no longer farm. WPA was the largest and most ambitious New Deal Agency, employing millions to carry out public works projects, including the construction of public buildings and roads. It fed children and redistributed food, clothing, and housing. Almost every community in the United States had a park, bridge or school constructed by the agency! He later retired from the Sioux Line Railroad.  His wife, my grandma Elizabeth, was a housewife.... but also cooked meals on the Wapheton Reservation and was paid by the B.I.A. (Bureau of Indian Affairs) 11 cents a plate!

Sigvart and Elizabeth Langager

One of their children... my dad, Leonard Langager, had two older brothers in WW2. My dad could not go to war because of his age, so he joined the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps.... which was another program created by President Roosevelt in 1933.  It provided clean cloths, hot meals and meaningful work for nearly 3 million men.  They would sign up for 2 years at a time (men 17-25). My dad made only $30 a month.... he sent $22 home to his parents and kept $8. It was a volunteer organization (no draft) but when you joined you were sworn in and took an oath. The U.S. Army ran this organization. During the time of the CCC, volunteers planted nearly 3 billion trees to help reforest America, constructed more than 800 parks nationwide, updated forest fire fighting methods, built thousands of miles of public roadways, and constructed buildings connecting the nation's public lands. Also they built dams.... which my dad was so proud to be a part of! We've seen this place many times with my dad!

My dad at Sheridan Lake

Sheridan Lake where they built the dam. One of the CCC projects was to build a dam on Spring Creek where what was left of Sheridan stood in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

After my dad and mom married and moved to Seattle my dad worked for Todd Shipyard and did concrete work.  He also was a backhoe operator for many years with Alderwood Water dept. and other companies before retiring.  Mom was a housewife and worked banquet dinners and also tended bar for several years.... some of those for our self proclaimed Godfather, Stan Bryson! We loved that guy!  After moving to Kingston she worked at Martha and Mary Nursing as an aide for 20 years before retiring.