Anna Malena (Tweiten) Hopen was born on either November 13 or 25, 1913 in Lemon's Beach, Washington, which is now University Place in Tacoma. Her parents are Ommund Karlson Tweiten and Pauline Amelia Liland. Her family moved back to Norway in 1920; she attended first grade in Tacoma and then continued school in Norway. After school, she spent two winters trapping ptarmigan, an expensive delicacy in England, and lived with Ingeborg Tveiten. Her brothers and sisters began immigrating back to the U.S., and Anna returned in 1931, traveling through Quebec, Canada to reach Tacoma. She did housework for various people before marriage, and she met her husband, Anton Hopen, at Normanna Hall in Tacoma during a snowball fight. Anton fished in Alaska in the summer, and they were married on May 21, 1936 in Cordova, Alaska. They lived in Alaska for three months and then rented a house in Tacoma. They have six children: Junis, Sigvald Dagfin, Phillip Obed, Alf Magnus, Ruben Harold, and Bruce Leon. Anna did part-time catering for parties after marriage and was head cook for Smorgasbord restaurant in Gig Harbor for thirteen to fifteen years. She joined the Daughters of Norway in 1932 and also belongs to the Sons of Norway, and she visited Norway in 1970, 1975, and 1979.
Lineage
Full Name: Anna Malena Hopen. Maiden Name: Anna Malena Tweiten. Father: Ommund Karlson Tweiten. Mother: Pauline Amelia Liland. Paternal Grandfather: Karl Pederson Tveiten. Paternal Grandmother: Marte Lunde. Maternal Grandfather: Ommund Pederson Hampland Liland. Maternal Grandmother: Anna Malena Jonsdatter Espeveit. Brothers and Sisters: Carl Tweiten, Oscar Tweiten, Bertha Tweiten, Thor Bernhard Tweiten, Martha (Tweiten) Handeland, Alma Johanna Tweiten, Jørgen Tweiten. Spouse: Anton Magnus Hopen. Children: Junis Hopen, Phillip Obed Hopen, Alf Magnus Hopen, Ruben Harold Hopen, Bruce Leon Hopen, Sigvald Dagfin Hopen.
From the guide to the Anna Malen Hopen Oral History Interview, 1981, (Robert A.L. Mortvedt Library Scandinavian Immigrant Experience Collection Archives and Special Collections Department)
