William (Bill) YliniemiMargaret Carol Yliniemi Hepokoski
Washington, D.C. B: 1/26/44 Married 1/1/65 to Warren Hepokoski (5/4/43) in Albany, CA Linda Jean Yliniemi Hillstrom Eden Prairie, MN. B: 4/10/45. Married 3/24/67 to Kenneth Hillstrom Willard Rodney Yliniemi Osage, MN B: 1/23/47. Married Janice Hill on 4/3/70. Judith Faye Yliniemi Hill Maple, WI B: 3/5/49. Married 12/15/68 to Glen Hill James Douglas Yliniemi Osage, MN B: 2/27/52. Married 7/1/72 to Mary Skarp. They live on the original Yliniemi homestead that Isak cleared and homesteaded over 100 years ago. William Nicholas Yliniemi Frazee, MN. B: 5/15/56. Married 2/13/76 to Ruth Ann Johnson. Bill Jr. is the youngest of the second generation of the Yliniemis. . | Bill was born on February 19, 1914 in the existing house on the Yliniemi farmstead located in Toad Lake Twp, Becker County, MN. He died on May 17, 1995 in Park Rapids, MN. He was the youngest child of Isak and Margaretta. He attended school for 8 years at District #83, a one room schoolhouse located one and a half miles from home. Bill grew to adulthood on the homestead and stayed to farm with his mother after his father, Isak passed away in 1932.
Bill joined the threshing crews at harvest time and worked in the surrounding communities where he made new friends and learned to enjoy the German and Norwegian cooking. On April 3, 1943 He married Eleanor Nelson in Detroit Lakes, MN. Eleanor was the daughter of Nicholas and Hilda Nelson who were born, met and married in Norway and came to the USA in the 20's settling on a farm near Toad Lake in Becker County, MN. After their marriage they purchsed and farmed the Yliniemi homestead. They had six children, all born at St. Mary's Hospital in Detroit Lakes, MN. Eleanor passed away in 1956 from complications of childbirth. Bill became a single parent and raised the six children on his own. Bill instilled in his children a great appreciation and respect of nature with many fond memories of fishing, hunting and berry picking. All of the children attended District #83 where Bill was on the school board. They all graduated from Frazee High School, Frazee, MN. Bill married Helen Johnson Skarp on October 27, 1973. Helen is from the Iron Range, the mother of four children, the younest (Mary) is married to James, Bill's son. Helen's first husband, Philip died in February 1960. Her other three children are Donald, Kathleen Lahti and Charles. They lived in a home they built in 1978, just west of the original homestead, off HWY #39. Helen passed away 11/29/94. Verniel Yliniemi Latto writes about Uncle Bill: When I think of Bill I remember his brown eyes, and how you could not help but grin yourself when you would see the twinkle in his eye, and the dimpled grin on his face. He liked to tease, and to tell stories. He liked to fish, and liked to eat them too. He would usually have smoked fish when we would visit there. |