Borghild
Emelie Haven, 98, left this life peacefully at Cooperstown
Medical Center on April 14, 2010. Her wish for a
long life was fulfilled.
Borghild was born on July 27, 1911, in a small homesteader’s
house on the rolling prairie of Eddy County, North
Dakota, to Mathias and Nilla Haven, recent immigrants
from Fitjar, Norway. Over the next twelve years,
she was joined by three brothers and a sister. She
delighted in her role of big sister. Starting her
school years in a one-room rural school, she brought
her new learning home and began her lifelong teaching
career with her younger siblings. Her early and
deep roots in the Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran
Church (Gethsemane Lutheran) anchored her faith
and her life’s calling to service.
Her education at Mayville Teachers College, Lutheran
Bible Institute, Augsburg College and the University
of Minnesota was a foundation for teaching career
and learning quest. She taught at several small
town and rural schools in North Dakota as well as
in Minneapolis. As a single woman, she was denied
her wish to attend seminary but she found other
avenues of higher education and expanded cultural
experiences in the Twin Cities and extensive travels,
including trips to the Holy Land. Joining her parents
in a long trip to their home village in Norway in
1949 strengthened her ties to her family there and
her heritage.
In middle age, she accepted the call back to the
farm to care for her aging parents. Together with
her brother Clarence, Borghild was able to selflessly
provide Matt and Nilla the gift of long lives at
their farm home. Her ministry of nurturing the rural
community’s youth included teaching Sunday
School, confirmation classes, and Bible studies.
She led the local Luther League youth for three
decades, taking trips to national conventions, even
when she was in her eighties.
Borghild was loved and admired far and wide. Never
calling attention to herself, she was always keenly
concerned about the well-being of others. Even in
her last days, visitors were greeted with “Tell
me about yourself and your family.” Her life
was a testament to the new commandment of Jesus
when he said “... that you love one another;
even as I have loved you.” One of her past
students aptly stated: “She is a saint. But
you can’t say that because no one will believe
you. That is, unless they know her.”
Borghild was preceded in death by her parents, brothers
Rangvald and Clarence. She is survived by her sister
Clara Loge of Montana and brother Melvin Haven of
McHenry, sister-in-law Gudrid Haven of McVille and
many nieces and nephews. eight nieces and nephews
and countless numbers of people who considered themselves
part of her family.
