| Parents:
Education: Marriage: Divorced: |
Sigurdt Berger Qvale Mayme Nockels University of Minnesota Graduated 1931 Degree in Engineering Verna Wright September 25, 1935 At the home of the bride's mother Litchfield, Meeker County, Minnesota James M. Burns, Methodist Episcopal Minister, officiated Witnesses were Gertrude Crosby [friend of the bride] and E. L. Ellyes [cousin of the groom] Early 1939 |
 |
| 2nd Marriage:
|
Alice Ruth Anderson (née Stickney)
March 13, 1939 Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Minnesota Paul J. Carroll, Judge of the District Court, officiated Witnesses were Donald Bain and Dorothy Erpenbach |
| Widowed: | May 12, 1967 |
| 3rd Marriage: | Helen "Queenie" Virginia Bussell (née Close) |
| December 21, 1968
Excelsior, Hennepin, Minnesota By Father Garvey |
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| Vocation:
|
Engineer at WCFL, The Voice of Labor; worked for the government in aeronautical electronics during WWII; project director for the first underground nuclear testing site; chief engineer and plant manager; administrator for Boswell Hospital in Sun City, AZ; explained the process behind eye operations on live television to prospective patients and their relatives at the Dulaney Eye Clinic. |
| Notes: | Enjoyed gem-cutting as a hobby and loved animals. |
At the time of the April 4, 1930 U.S. Federal Census, Richard was 19 years old and living with his parents in a rented apartment at 1616 Summit Ave., St. Paul, Ramsey County, Minnesota. The family did not have a radio. Richard was attending college. His father Sigurdt was working as a Prohibition Administrator for the U. S. Government [Source: 1930 U.S. Federal Census, Roll: T626-1119; Page: 5A; E.D. 101]. At the time of the Apr. 15, 1940 U.S. Federal census, Richard B. was 30 years old and living with his 26-year-old wife Alice R., 7-year-old stepdaughter, Diane, and his 53-year-old widowed mother-in-law, Ruby Stickney, in a home rented for $35/month located at 2600 Tenth Avenue South, Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota. In April 1935 he had been living in St. Paul, Ramsey, Minnesota, but his wife, stepdaughter and mother-in-law had been living in the same house in which they were currently residing. Richard had had five years of college education, his wife had attended high school through her junior year, and his mother-in-law had completed her freshman year of high school. Stepdaughter Diane was currently in first grade. In 1939 Richard was employed as a draftsman for Northern Pump. He worked 40 hours a week for 13 weeks and earned $225, although he had additional income from other sources. His wife was employed as a saleswoman at a retail store; she worked 15 weeks in 1939 and earned $175. In 1941 Richard and his wife Alice were living at 2600 10th Ave. S. in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was working as a draftsman for General Mills. [Source: 1941 Minneapolis, Minnesota City Directory] Rae Bordua reminisces on her Grandpa Butchie: "He was in charge of managing the engineers and technicians who conducted underground nuclear tests for the U.S. government. Although the U.S. stopped underground nuclear testing in 1992, it wasn't until early this year [2000] that a nuclear blast's ignition was simulated in three dimensions for the first time by computers at Los Alamos -- a major step toward replacing the tests in which Grandpa was involved in the late 1940s and early 1950s." Shirley Howe reminisces on Dick and Alice Qvale: "I didn't know him very well but I do have memories about your grandmother and Dick. Your grandmother was such a 'classy' lady and Dick was a good partner for her." -- from Jan. 7, 2002 letter to Rae Bordua |
| Ancestry: | The Robert Stickney Line [through marriage] |
| The Stephen Webster Line [through marriage] | |
Grandpa Butchie and Rae "Little Miss" Stimler, Wayzata MN, May 1953Grandma Queenie, Grandpa Butchie and Rae, Sun City, AZ
Dick and Queenie Qvale
On back: "Christmas Eve - 1969
"Dick says to tell you that he's the one whose sitting down!"
Minnesota
Richard Qvale, head of the mining engineering phase of the nuclear underground testing project for E. J. Longyear Company, recalls the Rainier shot conducted 19 Sep 1957 at the Nevada Test Site.
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