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Note: phy of Ole H. Westley in America. The only information I have on his years in Norway is what is recorded in two family Bibles, one preserved by the O.B. Westley offspring and one by the descendants of Hans Westley. These records are merely dates of births, baptisms, marriages and deaths. From the O.B. Bible I find that Olina's parents were Ola Tollefsen Aarestad and Marta Marie Tjensvold. Of course, I never knew my great-grandfather, but I have a faint memory of seeing my great-grandmother, Olina, when she was very old. I remember seeing her in the doorway of O.C. Westley's home in Hannaford. As I remember her, she did not converse in the English language, so I never spoke with her, but I remember her snow-white hair and soft, sweet look. Aiph Westley, grandson of Olina, has shared his recollections of Olina: "By the time I remembered Grandma she seemed immensely old to me, as fragile as Meissen china, with a head that shook and hands that shook coffee cups to a rattle as she pushed the cup toward Pa. But she could read without glasses when the light was good. She spoke only Norwegian and thought there must have been a lot of smart people who had translated the Bible into all those languages from the original Norwegian! "Grandma seemed to stay either with us or with O.C. Westley. She served a useful purpose in the household. Every day the cream separator parts had to be washed. They were slimy, slippery and covered with a gray film. Mother hated to work with it, so Grandma gladly took on the 'ekel' job so she could be useful. Sometimes the parts had to be washed once more, but it was a great relief for Mom not to have to cope with the original gunk. "Grandma was usually quiet and pleasant. The only thing that seemed to really upset her was the death of a young person, especially a young mother. One day a young mother in the community died suddenly and Grandma was very upset. She grumbled that it should have been her, she wanted to 'go home', and she grew more upset as the day wore on. Finally she announced she was annoyed with God (Eg oe morske pa Gud!) and asserted that she wasn't going to read the Bible all day. "She always dressed up in purple and liked to sit in the front seat in church. Another sharp, clear memory was to see her in the rocker by the window, her face close to her old Bible, her lips moving as she read the familiar scriptures. Then she would fold tier hands on one arm of the chair, bow her head and pray quietly, her lips moving, but making no sound. In Norwegian the personal pronoun 'you' is either formal (de) or familiar (du). Grandma refused to use the formal form ever, to anyone because, as she said, 'I say 'de' to God'." Ole H. Westley died in 1918 at the age of 83 and Olina in 1929 at the age of 92, he of 'old age , a touch of inflammation of lungs setting in' and she of 'old age' and 'a fall followed by a stroke' according to their death certificates. Olina's death was certified by their doctor son, Martin D., and Ole's by their son, O.B.
Note: BIOGRAPHICAl SKETCHES The whole preceding narrative is really a biogra
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