Gastineau Channel Memories

Lindegaard/Griffiths/Cartmill/Dau

Peggy Lindegaard Cartmill

Harry Eric Lindegaard was born in Calgary, Alberta, on November 9, 1917, to Margaret Ingeborg Jacobsen and Christian Emil Lindegaard, both of Denmark. A daughter of Rasmus Jacobsen and Kirstine Larsen, Margaret was born in Praesto, Denmark on April 2, 1893. Christian Emil Lindegaard, the son of Niels Christian Frederik Lindegaard and Mathilde Jensine Christine Hansen was born in Odense, Denmark, on April 26, 1887.

Margaret and Christian were married in Calgary after meeting through a mutual friend in London. Both had at different times traveled to London to learn the King?s English which was different than learning the language in school. Although both wished to return to their beloved Denmark, the first world war was going on and neither were allowed to return to their homeland. Christian decided to travel to Calgary, Canada, to purchase land in the Peace River area. Margaret later joined him in Calgary where their only child, Harry Eric was born.

The Peace River land was not suitable for farming so they sold it, staying a few more years in Calgary, then moved to Terrace, B.C., where they lived a few years before arriving in Hyder, Alaska, on July 1923. Eric attended school in Hyder and high school in the nearby town of Stewart B.C. He left high school to enroll in a mechanic?s school in Seattle and then returned to Hyder. Eric?s father, Christian Lindegaard died on March 21, 1926, at Premier, British Columbia and was buried at Hyder.

Myrtle Rose was born in Sutherland, Saskatchewan on January 13, 1915, to Ralph Tomas James Rose of England and Florence Myria (Stuck) Rose of England. Myrtle had a brother Cecil and a sister Florence who were also born in England. The family moved from their home in England so that Mr. Rose could continue his employment with the railroad. They moved to Prince Rupert where Myrtle attended grade school and high school at King Edward High School. Her mother Florence died in Prince Rupert, and after a few years Myrtle visited Hyder, Alaska, near where her brother was working at the Premier Mine in B.C. Upon approval from her brother, she met H. Eric Lindegaard. Leaving her father in Prince Rupert, she moved to Hyder.

Myrtle and H. Eric were married in Hyder on November 6, 1936. They left Hyder for Seattle where they lived for a few months in order to book passage to Juneau. They arrived in Juneau in January 1938. Two children, Peggy J. and L. Eric, were born to Eric and Myrtle, both in Juneau.

Eric wanted to work for the A.J. Mines. He however, did not work at A.J., but instead worked many years for Sommers Construction as a truck driver and was one of the first drivers to dredge the pond which is now called Dredge Lake. Eric worked for the Army Engineers during the World War II as a civilian and traveled throughout Alaska. In 1946, he worked for the CAA for three years. In 1949, the Lindegaards bought the school bus business from Pete Christensen. Pete had two buses and L. Eric, Eric and Myrtle?s son now has 42 buses, and celebrated fifty years of service in 1999. The family home and business are at Auke Bay.

In 1939, Eric?s mother Margaret joined the younger Lindegaards in Juneau. She began her residence at the Knight Apartments. On December 24, 1939, Margaret married Arthur A. Griffiths, who had been born in Wales on March 30, 1899. He died in Seattle on September 18, 1952. In Juneau, Margaret worked as a pastry chef in the Baranof Hotel Coffee Shop from 1942 to 1948, and later worked for the prison system as matron and cook from 1949 to 1959, when she retired to Auke Bay. She died on August 26, 1985, at St. Anns Nursing Home in Juneau.

Margaret I. Lindegaard, her son H. Eric Lindegaard and Myrtle (Rose) Lindegaard all received their U.S. Citizenship at the U.S. Court House in Juneau. All three were members of the Pioneers of Alaska. Eric died August 22, 1982, and Myrtle died September 2, 1996, both in Juneau.

Charles Milton Cartmill was the son of James Thomas Cartmill and Eva Julia Wilkinson from Sidney, Iowa. Charles had two brothers and two sisters. Charles married Lucile Wofford, the daughter of Boyce L. and Juanita (Webb) Wofford, in Tucson on October 2, 1937. Lucile?s parents had moved to Tuscon when she was young and Charles had moved from Iowa to be closer to his brothers, Gus, who had a homestead in Maranna and Robert, who lived in Casa Grande, Arizona.

Charles worked for Associated Grocers, then worked for the Park Service in 1941, at the Grand Canyon. The family moved in 1946, to Flagstaff so Charles could work for the Department of Ordinance (Army) in civilian capacity. In 1948, they moved to Williams, Arizona, and worked for the U.S. Forest Service, then in 1951, moved to Silver City, New Mexico, also with the Forest Service, before coming to Juneau in 1954. Lucile was a teacher by profession but was a homemaker for her family. Charles Cartmill died in 1977, and Lucile in 2000.

Charles and Lucile had three children, James, Mary Kathryn and Robert. James and his wife Andrea have two daughters, Mary Kay Ali and her husband have one son, and Robert L. is married to Peggy J. Lindegaard, of Auke Bay. They have two daughters, Cindy and Mary Margaret, and a son, Jim. Cindy and her husband Mike Dau have two daughters, Brenda and Wendy. Jim is married to Kathy Senecal of Manchester, New Hampshire, and they have a son Samuel and a daughter Rhyle.

	My wonderful family, taken June 9, 1961.