Person Page - 366

     Mary VanKirk Tonkin was born on 25 July 1917 at Clarksburg, Harrison Co., West Virginia.¹ She was born on 25 July 1917.² She was the daughter of Loring Lombard Tonkin and Norma Madeline Smith. Mary VanKirk Tonkin married Merrill Nathaniel Davis Jr. on 9 September 1939 at Pittsburgh, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania.^2,1 Mary VanKirk Tonkin died in 2003 at Naples, Collier Co., Florida.¹

     Nancy Sturdevant Stewart Tonkin was also known as Nancy Stuart.¹ She was born on 16 May 1954.^1,2 She was born on 16 May 1954 at Clarksburg, Harrison Co., West Virginia.³ She was the daughter of John Barnett Tonkin and Nancy Stewart Sturdevant. Nancy Sturdevant Stewart Tonkin graduated circa 1976 at West Virginia University, West Virginia, bachelor's degree in Social Work. She graduated circa 1978 at West Virginia University, West Virginia, master's degree in Social Work. She lived in March 2006 at Nitro, Kanawha Co., West Virginia. She died on 29 November 2017 at Nitro, Kanawha Co., West Virginia, at age 63.² She was buried at Bridgeport Cemetery, Bridgeport, Harrison Co., West Virginia.²

     Norma Smith Tonkin was born on 14 August 1923 at Clarksburg, Harrison Co., West Virginia.¹ She was born on 14 August 1924 at Clarksburg, Harrison Co., West Virginia.² She was the daughter of Loring Lombard Tonkin and Norma Madeline Smith. Norma Smith Tonkin married Robert Doyle Brigham on 10 February 1945 at Chicago, Cook Co., Illinois.^1,2 Norma Smith Tonkin also went by the name of Dickie.³ She lived in March 2006 at Williamsburg, Virginia.⁴ She lived in December 2009 at Williamsburg, Virginia.⁵ She died in 2012 at Williamsburg, Virginia.

     Brynn Torkelson is the daughter of Joel Allen Torkelson and Brooke Marie Swearingen.

     Christopher Steven Torkelson is the son of Jerome E. Torkelson Sr. and Patricia Jean Wenger.¹

     James D. Torkelson was born on 29 January 1895 at Sioux City, Woodbury Co., Iowa. He was the son of James D. Torkelson and Matilda Larson. James D. Torkelson married Estelle Marie Sklenar, daughter of Frank James Sklenar Jr. and Mary Matilda Kocourek, on 17 June 1929 at Pierce Co., Washington.¹ James D. Torkelson died on 6 May 1946 at Seattle, King Co., Washington, at age 51. He was buried at Evergreen-Washelli Memorial Park, Seattle, King Co., Washington, Section 5.²

     James D. Torkelson was born on 3 July 1850 at Norway.¹ He married Matilda Larson. James D. Torkelson died on 18 November 1922 at Seattle, King Co., Washington, at age 72.¹ He was buried at Evergreen-Washelli Memorial Park, Seattle, King Co., Washington, PLOT     Section 5.¹

     James D. Torkelson Jr. is the son of James D. Torkelson and Estelle Marie Sklenar.¹

     Jerome E. Torkelson Sr. was born on 8 May 1935 at Seattle, King Co., Washington. He was the son of James D. Torkelson and Estelle Marie Sklenar. Jerome E. Torkelson Sr. married Patricia Jean Wenger. Jerome E. Torkelson Sr. lived in January 2009 at Burien, King Co., Washington. He died on 11 February 2009 at Seattle, King Co., Washington, at age 73. He was buried at Evergreen Memorial Park, Washington.

     Jerome Edward Torkelson Jr. was born on 1 March 1965 at Seattle, King Co., Washington.^1,2 He was the son of Jerome E. Torkelson Sr. and Patricia Jean Wenger. Jerome Edward Torkelson Jr. died on 5 August 2008 at Ipswich, Edmunds Co., South Dakota, at age 43.² He was buried on 8 August 2008 at Evergreen-Washelli Memorial Park, Seattle, King Co., Washington.^1,2

Jerome E. Torkelson, Jr.
March, 01, 1965 - August, 05, 2008

Jerome "B.J." E. Torkelson Jr.
Born March 1, 1965 in Seattle; died suddenly August 5, 2008 at age 43. Survived by his father, Jerome Torkelson Sr. and mother, Patricia Wenger Schnaidt; siblings, Michael W. and Christopher S. Torkelson; Jason and Albert Schnaidt Jr., Darla Clark, Alfred Green Jr., and many aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins and friends. B.J. was a wonderful son, brother and friend to many. He will be missed by everyone. Graveside Service will be held Friday, August 8, 1:00PM; Evergreen Memorial Park 11111 Aurora Ave N. Seattle. In lieu of flowers, contributions suggested to the American Heart Association.¹

     Joel Allen Torkelson married Brooke Marie Swearingen, daughter of Gary Lyle Swearingen and Denise Marie Richards, on 24 February 2012 at Wright Co., Minnesota; Certificate Number:      F52-105.

     Michael W. Torkelson is the son of Jerome E. Torkelson Sr. and Patricia Jean Wenger.¹

     Quin Marie Torkelson is the daughter of Christopher Steven Torkelson.

     Jose Fidel Torres was born on 5 November 1893 at New Mexico. He married Elviria Struck, daughter of Francisco Grant Struck and Rumalda Aragon, circa 1921. Jose Fidel Torres died on 13 July 1969 at Ranchos de Taos, Taos Co., New Mexico, at age 75.

     John Erling Torske was born on 1 November 1902 at Bud, More Org Romsdal Co., Norway.¹ He was the son of Olaf Kristian Torske and Olise Olsen Bjørnsvig. John Erling Torske married Esther Alvina Halvorson, daughter of Henry Theodore Halvorson and Siri L. Nelson, on 2 October 1970 at Parshall, Mountrail Co., North Dakota. John Erling Torske lived in 1992 at New Town, Mountrail Co., North Dakota. His Social Security Number was 502-07-6458. SSDI lists born 01Nov1902 and died 19Oct1997, and last residence as New Town, ND. He died on 19 October 1997 at Tioga Medical Center, Tioga, Williams Co., North Dakota, at age 94.

     Olaf Kristian Torske married Olise Olsen Bjørnsvig.

     Mary Ellen Toth also went by the name of Mariska. She was born on 28 August 1922 at Carteret, Middlesex Co., New Jersey. She married Frederick James Albertson in 1943 at New Jersey. Mary Ellen Toth died on 22 February 2010 at Westfield, Union Co., New Jersey, at age 87.

     Estella Marie Tourville was born on 13 December 1897 at Washington Co., Minnesota. She married Joseph Veno Jr. on 31 July 1916. Estella Marie Tourville died on 4 January 1987 at St. Paul, Ramsey Co., Minnesota, at age 89.

     Charles Howard Towers was born on 7 July 1884 at Stewartville, Olmsted Co., Minnesota.¹ He married Gertrude Abbie Tripp, daughter of Merritt Tripp and Sarah V. Perkins, on 5 November 1913 at Goodhue Co., Minnesota. Charles Howard Towers also went by the name of Bud. He died on 16 March 1974 at Minnesota at age 89.¹ He was buried at Riverside Memorial Park, Aberdeen, Brown Co., South Dakota.¹

     Jack Howard Towers was born on 15 November 1914 at Bradley, Clark Co., South Dakota.^1,2 He was the son of Charles Howard Towers and Gertrude Abbie Tripp. Jack Howard Towers graduated circa 1932 at South Dakota State College, South Dakota. He married Rhoda Marian Sime on 21 September 1940 at Brown Co., South Dakota. Jack Howard Towers began military service in 1942. He ended military service in 1946. He died on 23 December 2010 at Rockville, Montgomery Co., Maryland, at age 96. The cause of death was Parkinson’s disease.

Jack Towers dies at 96; USDA broadcaster won Grammy for rare Ellington recording

By Matt Schudel
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 28, 2010; 9:51 PM

On Nov. 7, 1940, Jack Towers and his friend Dick Burris arrived early at the Crystal Ballroom in Fargo, N.D., to set up their recording equipment. The Duke Ellington Orchestra, their favorite jazz band, was scheduled to play that night.
Mr. Towers and Burris were young radio broadcasters and engineers who, in the days before tape recorders had been invented, hauled a bulky Presto-S disc cutter from the trunk of their car into the ballroom. Duke Ellington allowed them to record the evening's performance, a dance for more than 600 young people, as long as it was not sold commercially.

The discs of that night's performance sat for decades on a shelf in Mr. Towers's basement in Hyattsville, where he lived for many years. He was 96 when he died Dec. 23 at Montgomery Hospice's Casey House in Rockville. He had Parkinson's disease.
For decades, the Fargo recordings, preserved on 16-inch aluminum discs coated with acetate, were known only to Mr. Towers's friends and a few jazz insiders. Some bootleg versions were released.

When the recording finally came to light and was commercially released nearly 40 years later, it was considered a musical and engineering miracle. "The Fargo performance," critic Will Friedwald wrote in 2007, "still resonates as one of the greatest concert recordings in all of jazz."
It was one of the first live jazz recordings and captured Ellington and his band at their artistic pinnacle.

The revelatory recording, "Duke Ellington at Fargo, 1940 Live," won a Grammy Award in 1980 for best big-band album and established Mr. Towers's reputation as one of the foremost restorers of musical recordings in the country.
On Tuesday, Library of Congress recording engineer and jazz radio host Larry Appelbaum called Mr. Towers's Fargo recording "a landmark because with his disc cutter he captured what is arguably Ellington's finest orchestra, not in the studio, but on one fantastic night on the bandstand."

For Mr. Towers, remastering rare recordings became a second career, after he had spent decades in charge of radio broadcasting at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. He was working for what is now called USDA's Cooperative Extension System in South Dakota when he traveled to Fargo to record Ellington in 1940.
"We had a disc recorder that the extension service used for recording farm programs for agricultural colleges," he told The Washington Post in 1980. "It was advanced equipment - up to snuff."
At the time, 78-rpm commercial recordings could contain only about three minutes of music on a side. Mr. Towers's discs could capture 15 minutes of music per side. It revealed the Ellington band in its full glory, stretching out in extended solos on 45 tunes that sometimes reached nearly seven minutes.
Mr. Towers and Burris had no plans to make music history that night. School friends from Brookings, S.D., they had worked at the college radio station at South Dakota State University and had become devoted jazz fans, particularly of Ellington's.
"Ellington is as much a part of my life style as the family Bible," Mr. Towers told The Post in 1980.

Before the performance at the Crystal Ballroom in Fargo, Ellington told Mr. Towers that his trumpet section was in "rough shape." Ray Nance, who became a longtime mainstay in the trumpet section, was making his first appearance in the band that night.
Afterward, Mr. Towers and Burris played back parts of the recording for Ellington and his bandmates. Seventy years later, it still sounds magical, with tight ensemble work and inspired solos throughout by saxophonists Ben Webster and Johnny Hodges, trombonist Joe "Tricky Sam" Nanton and Ellington on piano.
For Ellington, it was just another night on the road. "We weren't thinking anything beyond getting something we'd have a good time with, something to play for our own amazement and enjoyment," Mr. Towers told the Washington City Paper in 2001.
"But I'll always remember that when we were driving home, ol' Dick said, 'Boy, we probably don't even realize what we've got here.??"

Jack Howard Towers was born Nov. 15, 1914, in Bradley, S.D. His interests included photography, radio and flying, and he once considered becoming an airline pilot.
After joining the Agriculture Department in South Dakota, he moved to Washington in 1941. He served in the Army from 1942 to 1946, then returned to USDA.
He became the head of radio broadcasting in 1952, developed programs for broadcast on major networks and designed features on crops and agriculture that were aired for decades. His voice was often heard on radio stations throughout the nation's farm belt.

He retired from USDA in 1974 to devote himself to remastering rare recordings, primarily of jazz groups. Before the arrival of the digital era, Mr. Towers removed pops and hisses from reel-to-reel tapes by using an X-acto knife, scraping away the imperfections one at a time.
In the late 1980s and 1990s, he restored the celebrated tapes of jazz great Charlie Parker made by Dean Benedetti in 1947. Among his hundreds of projects, Mr. Towers remastered rare works by Count Basie, Benny Goodman, Glenn Miller and other greats.
Engineers and music aficionados from around the world found their way to his Hyattsville basement and later to Ashton, where he had lived since 1991.

A son, Richard C. Towers, died in 1989.
Survivors include his wife of 70 years, Rhoda Sime Towers of Ashton; and two daughters, Martha Caudill and Jean L. Kemp, both of Ashton; and a granddaughter.

"It was amazing to watch him," Patricia Willard, a former jazz consultant to the Library of Congress, said Tuesday. "What Jack achieved in sound restoration was beyond what anybody did before and, I think, since."
Washington Post, 28Dec2010
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/12/28/AR2010122804198.html.¹


He was buried at Norbeck Memorial Park, Olney, Montgomery Co., Maryland.²

     Jean Ann Towers was born on 11 January 1918 at Clark Co., South Dakota. She was the daughter of Charles Howard Towers and Gertrude Abbie Tripp. Jean Ann Towers married Peter Ernest Hansen on 6 November 1938 at Flandreau, Moody Co., South Dakota. Jean Ann Towers lived in October 1968 at Flandreau, Moody Co., South Dakota. She died on 17 September 1990 at Cambridge, Isanti Co., Minnesota, at age 72. She was buried at Graceland Cemetery, Ogilvie, Kanabec Co., Minnesota.¹

     Jean Louise Towers married male Kemp. Jean Louise Towers is the daughter of Jack Howard Towers and Rhoda Marian Sime.

     Martha Towers married male Caudill. Martha Towers is the daughter of Jack Howard Towers and Rhoda Marian Sime.

     Patricia J. Towers was born on 26 May 1923 at South Dakota. She was the daughter of Charles Howard Towers and Gertrude Abbie Tripp. Patricia J. Towers married Reuben George Schweigert on 10 September 1948 at Spink Co., South Dakota. Patricia J. Towers died on 27 June 1965 at California at age 42.

     Richard C. Towers was born in 1946.¹ He was the son of Jack Howard Towers and Rhoda Marian Sime. Richard C. Towers died in 1989.^1,2 He was buried at Norbeck Memorial Park, Olney, Montgomery Co., Maryland.¹

     Daniel Higgins Towle was born on 12 April 1841 at Maine.¹ He married Amanda Smith Ellsworth, daughter of Thomas Ellsworth and Miriam Maddocks, on 22 March 1864. Daniel Higgins Towle married Mary Ann Crandall on 1 January 1884. Daniel Higgins Towle died on 24 November 1918 at Minneapolis, Hennepin Co., Minnesota, at age 77.¹ He was buried at Hope Cemetery, Red Wing, Goodhue Co., Minnesota.¹

     Diane Dorothy Towle is the daughter of Ellsworth Merton Towle and Dorothy Gustava Johnson. Diane Dorothy Towle married Allen Glen Nelson on 14 June 1964 at Rice Co., Minnesota; Certificate Number:      M13-171.

     Ellsworth Daniel Towle is the son of Ellsworth Merton Towle and Dorothy Gustava Johnson. Ellsworth Daniel Towle married Marilyn (?)

     Ellsworth Merton Towle was born on 2 February 1914 at Hennepin Co., Minnesota.¹ He was the son of Merton Daniel Towle and Luella M. Larson. Ellsworth Merton Towle married Dorothy Gustava Johnson on 13 September 1937 at Hennepin Co., Minnesota. Ellsworth Merton Towle died on 15 November 1952 at Waterford Twsp., Oakland Co., Michigan, at age 38.¹ He was buried at Lakewood Cemetery, Minneapolis, Hennepin Co., Minnesota.¹

     Emma Electa Towle was born in 1868 at Minnesota.¹ She was the daughter of Daniel Higgins Towle and Amanda Smith Ellsworth. Emma Electa Towle died in 1944 at Long Beach, Los Angeles Co., California.¹ She was buried at Hope Cemetery, Red Wing, Goodhue Co., Minnesota.¹