The “SVANOE” Family Tree shows only those (by first name) who are blood related to our founding father, Ole Torjussen Helling Svanøe. The descendents list includes full name, birth date, birthplace, death date (if applicable), spouses’ full name, birth date, birthplace, marriage date, death date. Children (blood related “Svanøes”) are then shown on the Family Tree and listed as the next generation in the descendents list. All of this information is needed to make sure that the Family Tree and descendents list are as complete as possible. When you send your information please indicate which generation of “Svanøe” you (or your children) are, Ole Torjussen Helling Svanøe being generation number One (1).

The third document that we must keep up is the address list. The list I have is current as of December 2003. That is the last list that I received from our genealogist/family historian, Tommy Svanøe, now deceased. If your address, phone number, email address have changed since then, or you think you may not be included in that list, please send that information to me also so that we may be able to contact you about any upcoming family events.

Keeping all of this information current is a tremendous task to which Tommy was very dedicated. I don’t know of any one person who can fulfill all of these tasks but I am willing to collect as much information as I can and hope that some computer knowledgeable person will come forward to continue Tommy’s efforts to fully document our family history. I will then forward to that person all the information that I have collected.

OTHER FAMILY NEWS

In April 2005 my wife Genine and I were privileged to meet with Helge and Liv Jordahl from Bergen Norway who were visiting in San Francisco, California, USA. They had also attended our reunion on Svanøy last year. As a psychologist in Bergen, Helge had spent several weeks in Long Beach, California studying at a mental health facility. When his studies were completed, Helge and Liv spent some time visiting. Helge is not shown on the family tree or listed in the descendents list. I was able to gather some family tree information from him which eventually will be shown on the tree and appear in the descendents list. We also met with several members of the Hafstad (“Svanøes”) family who live in the San Francisco area. Some interesting family information was also gathered from them.

So, please send me family update information so that we can keep all of our records up to date. If you have family news, please write an article or use the bulletin board on svanoe.com.

I also have recently received a letter from Ken Helling who lives in Seattle, Washington USA. For many years he has attended Hallinglag meetings in the USA and in Ål Norway. He hopes to invite the “Svanøes” to the centennial meeting of the Hallinglag in Moorhead Minnesota USA in June 2007. Anyone interested in attending?????

Hilsen,
Richard F. Svanoe, Jr.
South Lake Tahoe, California, USA.