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Elwood Russell Romsaas
b.9 May 1919 Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, USA
d.29 Mar 2005 Minneapolis, Hennepin, Minnesota, United States
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m. 11 May 1911
Facts and Events
Master Sergeant Elwood Russell Romsaas (1919 - 2005 ), United States Marine Corps
 Elwood Russell Romsaas, aged 85 years, 10 months, 20 days, passed away Tuesday, 29 March 2005 at Augustana Nursing Home in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He had beaten cancer through chemotherapy summer of 2004 but could not regain his strength. Elwood was a first generation American, born 9 May 1919, the second son of a Norwegian Immigrant father, Emil Ericksen Sygard Romsaas, and first-generation Swedish-American mother, Ellen Johnson. A lifelong member of Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church in south Minneapolis, Elwood was baptized there and confirmed there on 9 April 1933. He is a graduate of Bancroft Elementary School, Folwell Junior High School, Roosevelt Senior High School, and Minnesota School of Business. Growing up in Minneapolis, Elwood and his brothers spent summers on the Romsaas Homestead in Lac Qui Parle County near Boyd, Minnesota. He was a member of the Boy Scouts of America during the 1930s. He enlisted in the United States Marine Corps on 15 November 1940 and sailed the South Pacific. Before World War II he had visited Fiji Island, Guam, Wake, Philippines, China, and Hawaii. He served on the USS Henderson troop transport ship and made 19 trips back and forth between San Francisco, California and Merry’s Point in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. On one occasion MSgt Romsaas’ duty was to guard the multi-million dollar payroll for the entire Pacific Fleet. He was given a Thompson submachine gun. He sat atop the bags of the money in the back of an armored car transporting the payroll to the ship for subsequent distribution to every sailor in the Pacific Fleet. The crew of the USS Henderson boasted (especially to battleship sailors) that the USS Henderson had the biggest gun in the Navy. They were technically correct although the gun had a flaw in it and had been laid along the ship’s keel for ballast. On 7 December 1941, having sailed from Pearl Harbor just two days before, the USS Henderson received the message that Pearl Harbor had just been bombed in a Japanese surprise attack. Its orders were to return to Pearl Harbor immediately. The USS Henderson was one of the first ships back to Pearl Harbor after the US Pacific Fleet had been nearly destroyed there by the Japanese. As they sailed into Pearl Harbor past Battleship Row Master Sergeant Romsaas observed first hand the sunken, smoking wrecks of the US Pacific Fleet including the USS Arizona. After the war, Master Sergeant Romsaas was stationed at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station, California. He was a member of the “Black Sheep Squadron” (VMF 214) made famous during the war by Major “Pappy” Boyington. The wartime escapades of the Black Sheep Squadron were depicted in a popular 1970’s television show called “The Black Sheep”. On 31 January 1948, Master Sergeant Romsaas transferred from active duty to the Marine Corps Reserves. During the Korean War he drilled with the Marine Corps Reserves at Wold Chamberlain Field (now the Twin Cities International Airport), in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Master Sergeant Romsaas was honorably discharged from the United States Marine Corps on 30 January 1953. As a good Marine, Master Sergeant Romsaas always recalled his rifle number “441441”. Always a patriotic American Elwood served his county before, during, and after the war. After his discharge from Active Duty in 1948, Elwood traveled to the Sygard Romsaas Farm in the Gudbrandsdahl Valley of Norway to visit family and the place of his father’s birth. He was the first descendant of emigrants from there to return to the family’s roots. Elwood always kept in contact with his Norwegian relatives and visited several more times throughout his life. With a strong sense of his family roots he was a member of the Sons of Norway as well as an associate member of the Norwegian Mindekirke in Minneapolis. After returning from his trip to Norway, Elwood joined his father and two brothers in the family furniture business (Romsaas Furniture Company, Inc.). His accounting skills from the Minnesota School of Business served Elwood well as the bookkeeper for the business. On 9 September 1950 Elwood married Mary Lorraine Burtness at Our Redeemer Lutheran Church in Minneapolis. In addition to working at Romsaas Furniture, Elwood worked as the general contractor to build a home in south Minneapolis where he and Mary raised three boys and a girl. He lived in the home he built until the year before he died. Elwood was an outgoing, dedicated family man. He served his church in many capacities such as Head Usher, Board of Trustees, and counting offering. He enjoyed fellowship with the brotherhood of the church and enjoyed the annual fishing trips to Leach Lake. Elwood was a very sociable man who enjoyed talking with people and opening his home to foreigners. As an amateur radio operator (WB0TSO) Elwood talked to fellow radio operators all over the world. Throughout the years he cared for the oldest and youngest members of the family and finally wife Mary in her last years. After they both retired, Elwood and Mary enjoyed traveling throughout the world. In addition to many photo albums they collected a rack of small flags from the 48 or so countries they visited in there travels. Elwood also enjoyed volunteer work as a Store-to-Door shopper, soap collection for charity, trimming stamps to support Norway’s Tubfrim humanitarian organization, and as a tour guide for foreign visitors to Minneapolis. Elwood was preceded in death by his wife Mary of 53 years. Elwood will always be remembered as a dedicated family man, a very sociable person, one who was always interested the world around him, and a faithful servant of God. Image Gallery
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