From Lakkegata to Skjønheim
Ruth was born on January 28, 1916, to smith Olaus Johnsen and Marie Sofie Anstensen. Her baptism at Petrus/Sofienberg on April 2 records the parents’ home at Lakkegata 64 in Kristiania.
Her younger brother Alf was born while the family lived at Østre Halsen in 1918, and Ragna followed at Skjønheim in 1920. On December 1, 1920, all four children—Alfhild, Ruth, Alf and Ragna—were with both parents at Skjønheim 3, Strømm.
That census gives Ruth a conflicting birthday, February 28, 1915. Her contemporary baptism entry and the later official death record agree on January 28, 1916, the date used here.
Ruth’s birth and baptism, Petrus/Sofienberg, 1916 · The family at Skjønheim 3, census of 1920 · Ruth Nikolaisen, official death register, 1974
Ruth and Ragnvald at Stub
In August 1934, Ruth and Ragnvald Emmanuel Nicolaysen recorded their marriage banns in Sandar. Both lived at Stub. Her distinctive full name, January 1916 birth in Oslo, and father Olaus among the witnesses connect the bride to Alfhild’s sister.
Ragnvald was an engine or mechanical assistant, born May 9, 1896, in Skien. Ruth was eighteen and he was thirty-eight. The banns were requested on August 24; a certificate was issued on August 25, when the newspaper also announced the banns. These are not a verified wedding date.
Ragnvald’s own earlier records include a registered departure for Canada in April 1926 to seek better earnings. The 1934 banns place him back in Norway. That journey predates their banns and does not establish a Canadian home for Ruth.
Ruth and Ragnvald’s banns, Sandar, 1934, entry 83 · Banns announcement, Sandefjords Blad, August 25, 1934 · Ragnvald’s registered departure for Canada, 1926
Leif, Eva and a family across distances
Ruth’s 1974 family notice explicitly names Leif and Eva as her children and Gerd and Birger as children-in-law. Its two-column arrangement pairs Leif with Gerd and Eva with Birger. Grandchildren and siblings are mentioned collectively. The children’s full birth records and parentage have not yet been verified.
A 1967 notice for Ragnvald reports his death in Bristol and names Leif, Eva and Birger. The matching names and his age strongly connect it to this family. The notice does not explain why he was there or establish his precise death date; Ruth’s absence from it does not establish a separation.
A wedding announcement adds a probable Australian connection: marine engineer Leif Ragnvald Nicolaysen and ship’s stewardess Gerd Helen Foseidberget married in Melbourne’s Swedish Seamen’s Church on June 20, 1967. Their names fit Ruth’s later notice, but the announcement lacks Leif’s parents and birthday. This remains a probable identification of her son and daughter-in-law.
Ruth’s family notice, Glåmdalen, July 10, 1974 · Ragnvald’s Bristol death notice, Varden, April 7, 1967 · Leif and Gerd’s Melbourne wedding, Glåmdalen, July 3, 1967
The last records of Ruth
The official death database records Ruth Nikolaisen, born January 28, 1916, dying on June 29, 1974, with Kongsvinger as her residence municipality. The family notice in Glåmdalen uses Nicolaysen, gives her maiden name as Johnsen, and repeats the death date.
The notice is headed Gjesåsen/Larvik and says the funeral had already taken place privately. Those place names do not by themselves establish her place of death or burial. Her work, the intervening moves after Sandar, exact wedding date and grave remain parts of her story still to be documented.
Ruth Nikolaisen, official death register, 1974 · Ruth’s family notice, Glåmdalen, July 10, 1974
