For all his life, he was C. O. Ruud, known as Oliver, with the nickname "Ole". A bit before he died, it was discovered on his birth certificate that his first name was spelled Karl. He was asked how he wanted it spelled, and he said, "Just like it is on my birth certificate." So it is. Oliver was born on the ranch three and one half miles south of Waterville, Washington, where his father had homesteaded in 1883. He grew up in the typical manner of all farm boys, doing chores and helping with the work as well as attending school. At the age of 14 or 15, he graduated from the Eighth Grade. At that point, lhis father told him that he was to go to work on the farm, and that his brothers and sisters would all go on to school, and then to college. But Oliver was to be the farmer and would be on the ranch. This was to be, and all the brothers and sisters did go on to High School, and at least two of the brothers went to universities. Lewis studied Electrical Engineering at the University of California, and Otto studied Agriculture at the University of Washington. Adolf went to Business School in San Francisco, and Albert became a butcher in Placerville, CA. Sisters Agnes married John Berg, and Synneva married Einer Berg. They were brothers from Norway. When my Grandmother Augusta got quite old, she consented to sell Oliver the ranch for $50,000 in 1945. For all the years my father rented the ranch from his father and then his mother, the rental agreement required that he provide room and board for any family member that chose to live there. That is what his father Ole and his mother Augusta had done for Ole's cousin Edward Berg with daughters Hilma (Nelson) and Annie (Jensen), and for Ole's brother Martin. No wonder the "family" instincts run strong.