Finnestad Ancestry

Just over 10 years ago I posted the death certificate of Lillian Thompson who had died as a result of a plane crash.   At the time, I was unable to track down a newspaper article with the details of the crash.    I recently obtained front page articles. During my search for the newspaper articles, I had been told another passenger, Lillian's fiancé (name unknown) was also in the plane and had died as a result.   The news reports confirm there were only two people on the plane, the pilot and Lillian.    Lillian was the daughter of Dena (Vallem) and Axel Thompson, the granddaughter of Rachel (Finnestad) and Lewis Vallem and great granddaughter of Mari (Iversdatter Nord-Skaar) and Ole (Olson) Finnestad Sr.   

While researching ancestors you realize how fortunate it is to live a long and prosperous life.    Premature deaths, especially those of infants and children must be extremely difficult for the families and unfortunately are fairly common.    But the following death is probably one of the most tragic I've encountered in my ancestral tree. Ole and Mari Finnestad's great granddaughter, Lillian Thompson, the 4th and youngest child of Dena (Vallem) and Axel  Thompson died due to a plane crash on March 4, 1945 in Weslaco, Texas. According to the death certificate, Lillian had lived in Texas for 9 years and was employed as a bank teller.   She was a few weeks shy of her 27th birthday and had never married.   According to her cousin Genevieve, Lillian loved to ride horses, which must have made Texas a great place for her to live after leaving Chicago. Lillian was the granddaughter of Rachel (Finnestad) and Lewis Va...

Iverdena (Vallem) and Axel Thompson's 4th child, Lillian was born March 31, 1918 in Chicago, Illinois. Here is the Cook County birth certificate.