Randi Nilsen Kirkemo was born on January 1, 1910 in Larvik, Norway, a town south of Oslo. She had three brothers and sisters, and her parents were Dina and Carl Nilsen. Her father was a sailor and left home when Randi was 4 months old; she did not see him again until she came to the U.S. when she was 12. She started school at age 6. Her father had been writing to her mother from the U.S., and Randi, her mother, and her sister Margit left from Larvik on July 22, 1922. They stayed with friends in Oslo until the boat arrived and took the "Stavangerfjord" to New York. They took the train and stopped in St. Paul, MN; Randi's aunt lived in Clear Lake, WI, and they visited her there for seven to ten days. They then reboarded the train and her father met them in Seattle. He was working on an oil tanker for Standard Oil in the Puget Sound, and they lived in a house he had bought in West Seattle. Randi was put in first grade when she started school in September, but she quickly moved up to the grade she had been in when she left Norway.
From the description of Randi Nilsen Kirkemo Oral History Interview 1982. (Eugene Public Library). WorldCat record id: 184845463
