Orella McCalip

Orella Vivian (Gulbrandson) McCalip, one of 11 children born to Warner Theodore and Maude Adella (Hunt) Gulbrandson, was born on April 15, 1914 in Grant County. In 1928, at the age of 14, she was confirmed at Kongsvinger Lutheran Church, rural Donnelly. Orella attended local schools and graduated from Morris High School in 1932. She married Randolph McCalip on October 6, 1935 in Elbow Lake, MN. They had two children, Gayle was born in 1937 and Dallas in 1941. During the Second World War, they moved to Richmond, California, where Randy worked in the shipyards. The family returned to Minnesota following the war and farmed for another ten years, before returning once again to California in 1955. After retirement in 1975, Orella and Randy once again moved back to Minnesota where they settled in Donnelly and remained for 17 years, had an auction and then moved to Morris for two years. In September of 1996, they moved to Herman. Randy died on February 29, 2000. Orella remained in Herman until 2005, when she moved to Wheaton to live with Dallas and Sandy. In 2006, she moved to the Traverse Care Center in Wheaton, where she continued to live until the time of her death.



Orella was a happy homemaker who enjoyed sewing, knitting, crocheting and caring for her family. Orella worked for the Sebastopol Apple Cannery, canning Gravenstein Apples while living in California. Orella and Randy enjoyed traveling about the United States, and in 1995 took a trip to Alaska. They spent four winters in Arizona, two in Texas and one in Blythe, California.



Orella died on Thursday, February 28, 2008 at the Traverse Care Center in Wheaton, Minnesota, having lived to reach the age of 93 years



Orella is survived by one daughter, Gayle Anstine Christofferson (and husband Bob) of Mendocino, California; one son, Dallas McCalip (and wife Sandy) of Wheaton; three grandsons, Shawn Anstine (and wife Shelley) of Redding, California; Dr. D. Timothy Anstine (and wife Dr. Suzanne) of Boise, Idaho; and Bob McCalip (and wife Michele) of Wheaton; and one granddaughter, Sunnee McCalip Lampe (and husband Dean) of Wheaton.



Orella is also survived by 14 great-grandchildren: London and Luke Anstine; Jacob and Jessie Anstine; Dylan, Taylor, Shae, Danielle, Tina, David, Carly and Ashlyn McCalip and Brayden and Mason Lampe. She is also survived by two sisters, Grace Derby of Elbow Lake and Cleo Gandrud of Benson; and two brothers, Rudolph Gulbrandson of Wasilla, Alaska and Wilbur Gulbrandson (and wife Arlene) of Herman and many nieces and nephews. Orella was preceded in death by her parents, Warner and Maude Gulbrandson, by sisters Lyla Frarck, Mildred Miller and Audrey Sax, by brothers Lloyd, Orrin and Delner Gulbrandson and by one granddaughter, Tracy McCalip.