WILLARD AND DORIS LINDORFF

Lindorff is a good German name and Doris and Willard’s families are actually not that long from the old country.  Both of their grandparents came from Germany.  Willard’s came straight to Minnesota.  Doris’s Grandfather came to Wisconsin from Germany before he was seven years old and eventually moved to Minnesota.

Willard, who was born November 8, 1925, was raised near Henderson, Minnesota.  His Dad bought a place on the river valley and brought his family to a home there with no electricity, no running water, and a “path out back” to the outhouse, much to his Mother’s chagrin.  They hung food in the cool well for refrigeration.  Fortunately, when the kids were sent to the well to lift a board off and get the food or water, no one fell in.

Doris was raised in Gaylord, Sibley County, Minnesota about fifteen miles from Henderson.

Willard and Doris met in High School but a lot happened before they married June 16, 1950 in Gaylord, MN.  World War II was going on and Willard joined the Navy and went to D12 Officer’s Training Program at the University of Minnesota and to Gustavus Adolphus.  Also, he went to a radio school for awhile and continued studying in Mississippi.  He was assigned to the Battleship Alabama.  In the meantime, he wrote lots of letters to Doris.

Doris attended the University of Minnesota in the Cadet Nurse Corp where they were treated like service people with about the same benefits.  She did her last six months of training at the Veteran’s Hospital in Chicago.  In the meantime, she wrote lots of letters to Willard.  Later she worked at the Old Park Hospital outside of Chicago and went on to Hanford in Washington working in Pediatrics.  She was home only a week when she was called to work at a local eight bed hospital there.

Finally they were able to marry and settled in Gaylord.  Willard worked for the North Western Bell Telephone Co. in unlocated construction work, and traveled quite a lot.  He was paid $7.50 a week traveling expenses out of his $40 a week salary.  Doris made $200 a month plus one meal.  They paid $45 a month for a nice apartment above a funeral home.  Life was good.

CHILDREN:    Jeff Lindorff                  Born 1954

                        Mark Lindorff               Born 1958

Jeff, now living in Hillsboro, did work for Sequent High Tech for a long time.  Now he is waiting to undergo a stem cell operation.  As a hobby, he learned to fly after his Dad got his license.  Mark lives in Tuscon, TX and works for Raytheon in missiles.

In 1955 Lindorffs decided to come to the Northwest and so they did in a 1953 Studabaker.  They had looked at all the possibilities and settled at Astoria, OR. Willard transferred to Pacific NW Bell Telephone CO. and Doris worked for Columbia Hospital part time.  The family lived in Astoria but attended the Lutheran Church at Seaside.

In Astoria, one day Mark, who was three or four, followed a women going up the hill, who looked like Mom.  He was crying when the lady finally saw the little boy.  She thought he looked familiar and that he was in trouble, so she took him around the neighborhood searching for his parents.  No luck.  In the meantime, Mom was searching for him.  The police got involved.  Later Doris and the lady discovered they both belonged to the same church in Seaside.

Willard had taken a radio training correspondence course.  This involved radio telephones in log trucks, etc.  When the Oct. 12 storm came, his company transferred him in 1962 to Tillamook and the family moved again.  This time, however they lived in Tillamook for thirty years and continued to attend the Redeemer Lutheran Church.  Willard also took private flying lessons and got his license.

For fun Doris was a Charter member of the “Sweet Adelines” singing group for twenty years, which had started in 1972 or 1973.

In 1985, Willard had by-pass surgery and in 1987 Doris had a mastectomy.  Lindorffs came to Forest Grove to retire where their good friends, Burton and Dagny Melstad lived.

In Forest Grove, Willard sang in the “Tualatin Valley Harmony Masters”.  He sang base and wore weird costumes.  He and his group sang for the first time in Spokane in competition and he dressed as an Indian in a loin cloth.  This group sang for fourteen years.

Doris and Willard read mystery stories and she does needlepoint and embroidery.  She loved to travel when she was able going to Hong Kong, Thailand, Nepal, and Israel.  They both have traveled Europe.  Willard also has done some very fine woodworking.

And finally, the Lindorffs have five grandchildren, two boys and three girls.