Gunvald F. Gunderson

The following selection is taken from "Norwegian Sailors on the Great Lakes" published by the Norwegian-American Historical Association (NAHA)in 1928.

G. Gundersen was born in Christiansand, Norway, in 1875. After he had served as a sailor on the ocean for five years he came to America in 1891, and settled in Oklahoma. In 1896 he moved to Milwaukee, and began to sail on the lakes, as an able seaman on lake schooners. He was owner of the schooners "Ehenezer" and "L. M. Mason," and when he became captain in 1899, he sailed these schooners as master. The last schooner which he sailed was the "Penobscot," belonging to the Ohio Cooperage Company of Cleveland. As the schooners gradually disappeared from the lakes, he shipped on a steam freighter, on which he served as mate for some years. In 1918 he entered the United States lighthouse service, in which he has since remained. He is now captain of the lighthouse tender "Amaranth," stationed at Detroit, Michigan. Vessels of this type are engaged in placing buoys and other guides and signals to aid navigation. Captains in the United States lighthouse service receive $4,000.00 a year, together with an annual allowance for rations. They have one month's leave each year. In 1906 Captain Gundersen married Lally Fossmo of Oslo, Norway. Their home is in Duluth.