Lasting Memories

Elderid Everly
May 4, 1921-March 10, 2018
Mountain View, California

Elderid Adeline Johanne Everly was born in Hatton, North Dakota, the 6th of 8 children of Olaf and Elise (Lismoen) Kordahl. A child of immigrant parents, she grew up in a Norwegian-speaking community and learned to speak English only when she began attending school. Because there was no high school in her rural community, Elderid left home at age 15 to continue her education. For 3 years, she worked as a maid for room and board and graduated from Grand Forks Central High in 1939. She lived in Kewanee, Illinois during WWII and moved back to Grand Forks, North Dakota in 1945. There she worked as a sewing instructor and salesperson for the Singer Company. In 1954 she moved her family to Palo Alto, California. In 1960 she became owner of the Koffee Pot Donut Shop in Mountain View, later opening Menlo Square Coffee Shop in Menlo Park, and the Gingham Girl Delicatessen in Mountain View. By the mid-1960s she had sold the restaurants but continued to work in food service. In 1972 she began working for Palo Alto Unified School District. Her favorite school assignment was Bessie Bolton Children’s Center where she made sure the preschoolers had freshly baked bread every day. She retired in the early-1990s. Elderid and her husband Harold moved to Mountain View in 1968. They loved their home and made numerous remodeling improvements over the years. Together they traveled to every state in the USA (except Alabama was somehow missed) and made annual trips to the Midwest visiting family and friends. Much of this travel was in their motorhome. They toured Great Britain, Russia, China, Jamaica, the Bahamas, and enjoyed a Caribbean cruise that included the Panama Canal and Central and South America. They also made multiple trips together to Scandinavia including a roundtrip coastal voyage on the “Hurtigruten.” They had a wonderful life! Elderid was very proud of her Norwegian heritage and loved sharing the skills and knowledge she had learned from her parents, especially making “lefse,” a traditional potato flatbread. In 1975, she was the first of her family to make a pilgrimage back to Norway and for 29 years made return trips almost yearly. She was a tireless volunteer and officer of Sons of Norway Nordahl Grieg Lodge, as well as Daughters of Norway Sigrid Undset and Anne Grimdalen Lodges. She served as president of Nordahl Grieg’s Solveig Club for many years and was instrumental in establishing and growing their scholarship fund. From childhood, Elderid enjoyed sewing and dressmaking and fashioned clothing for herself and her family. In later years, she created over 100 quilts for family and friends; projects she considered to be her legacy. She was an enthusiastic storyteller and penned more than 120 short stories about her life, with many focused on her depression-era childhood and growing up with immigrant parents. Since 1954, Elderid was a member of Grace Lutheran Church in Palo Alto. Her greatest desire in later years was to live to be 100; sadly, a fall in late October began a 4-month spiral of failing health. Elderid had a very quick wit, was determined (refusing to use the word stubborn), generous, a devoted friend, and extraordinarily proud of every member of her 5-generation family. Elderid was loved by many and will be intensely missed. She is survived by her 4 children: Paul Kennelly of Newman Lake, Washington; Linnea Williams of Mountain View, California; and Sharon Bratton and Vicki Everly, both of Fremont, California; 10 grandchildren; 19 great-grandchildren; 13 great-great-grandchildren; numerous nieces and nephews; and cousins in both the USA and Norway. She was predeceased by her husband Harold; brothers Bennie and Edwin Kordahl; sisters Laura Skarison, Doris Knutson, Evangeline Dufault, Ruth Olson, and Rachel Gregoire; stepson John (Jack) Kennelly; and grandson Christopher Kennelly.