Alf Løvoll was born on October 9, 1901 on a farm in Koparnes, Søvde, on the West Coast of Norway. His parents were Martin Løvoll and Birta Bjørlykke, and there were ten children in the family. Alf was the oldest son, but he left home and became a fisherman. He emigrated in 1920 with an aunt and an uncle, John Lowell, who owned a fishing boat and fished in Alaska. Alf worked with this uncle in Alaska and also was a whaler in the Antarctic with the Union Whaling Company of South Africa; his job was kokeri, cooking whale bones. He married a Norwegian woman, Astrid Aase Løvoll, and bought a farm. They had three children; Magnar, Odd, and Svanhild, born in 1931, 1934, and 1937, respectively; all were born in Bjørlykke, Sande, Norway. Alf continued fishing halibut, tuna, and crab off the West Coast of the U.S. until he retired in 1966.
Lineage
Full Name: Alf Løvoll, Alf Lowell. Father: Morten Løvoll. Mother: Birte Bjørlykke. Paternal Grandfather: Lars Olsson Brudevoll Løvoll. Paternal Grandmother: Anne Olsdatter Løvoll. Maternal Grandfather: Bent Olsson. Maternal Grandmother: Dorte Knutsdatter Bjørlykke. Brothers and Sisters: Louise Løvoll [+1899], Borghild Løvoll, Bendikk Løvoll, Dina Løvoll, Peter Løvoll, Berta Løvoll, Alvhild Løvoll, Kjellaug Løvoll, Lars Løvoll. Spouse: Astrid Aase Løvoll. Children: Magnar Løvoll [+1951], Odd Løvoll, Svanhild Løvoll.
From the guide to the Alf Lowell Løvoll Oral History Interview, 1984, (Robert A.L. Mortvedt Library Scandinavian Immigrant Experience Collection Archives and Special Collections Department)
