A place in her heart

Corinne Jovaag Bustad wanted to go back to her old home to the place where she lived when she was young. That home was the Lutheran Parsonage in Gonvick where her father Rev. J.O. Jovaag served the Gonvick parishes.

She was one of five children born to Pearl and Rev. J.O. (Jonas) Jovaag. Their mother, Pearl, was born in Honan Province, China to Rev. Andrew and Anna Martinson. She married Rev. J.O. in Belmont, Iowa, That started the family moving from one congregation to another. They served in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Gonvick, Lakefield, St. James, Springfield, Austin and small parishes in Texas and Louisiana.

Harold the oldest and Jan the youngest both passed away from cancer. Her brother Jon died at the age of 16 from Muscular Dystrophy. That left Corinne and her brother Arvid.

Corinne met and married M. Arthur Bustad and they recently moved to Bemidji. She found a connection with Jay Johnson, a member of the New Salem Church at Turtle River where they both attend. He knew Les and Carol Torgerson who attended Gonvick High School and they made arrangements for her to visit her old home in Gonvick. Current residents of the house are Dick and Corrine Richards. Corrine was also named after Corinne although they are spelled differently. Pastor Jovaag baptized Corrine and Ardell Broin Maple together in the same house.

In 1937, Corinne’s father received a call to serve the Gonvick Parish. They were at the George Beito’s home across the street before they went to see the church and the parsonage. Her mother was adamant that she would not move in unless there was an indoor bathroom. She quickly checked that out and there was one. The family accepted the call and lived in Gonvick for the next eight years. She has many memories of her time as a young girl.

When making the arrangements to visit Gonvick she called her brother Rev. Arvid Jovaag and his wife Lois to come with to share their memories. On entering the house they remembered the banister going upstairs and the colored glass windows.  The dining room had space for the refrigerator. It was always warm around the chimney as it went through the middle of the house. Arvid remembered the Cream of Wheat that was fixed for them when their parents were away. It always had lumps and he still likes them but she did not.

Corinne would be upstairs and when people were talking downstairs in the dining room she would lie on the floor and listen through the floor vent until her cheeks had little square marks from trying to hear what was going on. 

On rainy days all the neighbor kids would be told to go up in the attic that had fold down steps. There were trunks of stuff and Corinne married Gene Beito, the neighbor boy. They found old curtains that she used for a gown. She even got a kiss at the end of the ceremony, but not on the lips.

The toilet had been built up- stairs and Corinne used the old abandoned outhouse for her playhouse with her friends. It worked perfect for that. They had goats in the back yard as well as a Victory Garden. The family spent the World War II years in Gonvick until 1945. Around one third of the vegetables produced by the United States during World War II came from Victory Gardens.

Corinne thought that the piano in the house was the same one as when she lived in the house and that the present owner should be paying a little rent. 

Corinne has a beautiful voice and she remembers that her father had her sing at a funeral for a little girl at the Berner Church, United Lutheran. She can still remember the pink bow that she had in her hair while she was laying the coffin.

Their years in Gonvick they remembered enjoying the woods in the back, the snow forts they built, skating on the Lost River, and roaming around town as their parents did not have to worry about them. They would go down to the Berge Store and watch the store owner kill chickens to be sold. They didn’t have cartoons to watch but that made them scream.

Corinne and her husband Art lived in Orlando, Florida. They had a ranch and there was a lot of organic peat which became more profitable to sell. Art was a contractor and Corinne took care of the house and was an actress at a dinner theater in Orlando. She was even an extra in a movie that was originally called “The Meal” but it was released in 1975 as “Deadly Encounter”. She played the part of Audrey Minton. Leading actors in the movie were Dina Merrill, Carl Betz and Leon Ames.

Their three children all live in Minnesota, son Marcus in Hastings, daughter Aana Bustad-Jahnke in Plymouth and son Jonas in Bemidji. They have two grandchildren Sarah and David.

When living in Florida she always felt like a visitor and they moved back to Minnesota to the Twin Cities area where they sold real estate. 

When they purchased their home at Bemidji the street was called Busted and the couple had the name changed to Loon Song Lane.They didn’t want to be a Bustad living on Busted.

They enjoy their move to Bemidji where they have the smell of the pine trees and she was able to go back to her roots.