I am so sorry to hear this Laura. One day you will be reunited with your Dad🙏❤️

This was taken in May 2017.  My dad was 94 years old and looking very good. 

Nothing brought my father more joy than his trucks.   We knew he loved them as much as he loved us, and we were ok with that.  He knew each truck as an individual.  This photo was taken in August of 2014.

We had many gatherings in my sister Rebecca's backyard in Seattle.  We would grill salmon and vegetables.   In this photo from May 2016 my father is going through a basket of sheet music while my sister Rebecca prepares the salmon and my sister Katrina looks on.

In the late 1970's my dad was running a few postal routes with pick ups.  Here he is standing between two of the pick ups we used on the routes.  Two of my sisters and I were driving for him at that point.  This photo was taken in 1979.  

My dad received a plaque for "Over-The-Snow", the most miles in a sno-cat.

My parents met at Timberline Lodge on Mt Hood in 1955.  My father drove a sno-cat and my mother worked in the dining room and sold lift tickets.   We all attended the 50th anniversary dinner. 

My father is also survived by nieces and nephews right here in Oregon.  My Tante Jenny had two children, Norman and Ellen, and my Tante Maalfrid has two children, Erling and Julie.   When we were growing up it was a weekly occurence to head to either Tante Jenny's or Tante Maalfrid's house.   At Tante Maalfrid's, we would walk in the door and my dad would say "What's the news from home" and Julie would yell out "Hide the grøt Uncle Kaare's here!"   There was always news from home - Norway - and food.  There was no more gracious host than my Tante Jenny.   My cousins Ellen and Julie have been loving and supporting through good times and tough times.

Father's Day 2015.   The wine glass is mine.   My dad never drank alcohol and only recently chilled out and allowed his daughters to have a glass of wine around him.  My brother takes after his father and does not drink alcohol.

My bother Nick's baptism in June 1965.   My father is holding my eldest sister Katrina's hand.   My mother insisted that we all be baptised in the Lutheran Church.

This photo was taken at my sister Katy's honor's ceremony when she graduated from Portland State in 2008.

Me and my dad in 2013, with one of his trucks.   Nothing put a bigger smile on his face than being around his trucks.

Kaare celebrates his son's first birthday in September of 1965.

Here is a photo taken in 1985...of dad, Bruder and a helicopter he owned for a few years.

I regret I never asked dad about this particular Ford. He would have remembered every detail about the car. 

Dad was a regular at many midsummer festivals around the Pacific Northwest.  He played the accordion for the evening dance at the Astoria festival for decades, often with his friends Jorgen Madsen and Sven Sundstrom.   He also played while we danced around the May pole, as you see in this picture.  And then there were those Saturday night dances at Norse Hall where Mom and Dad would go and Dad played with his band The Midnight Sons.  

This is Kaare with his two sisters Jenny Tollefsen (seated) and Maalfried Yontz.    The three siblings who moved from Norway lived within miles of each other for most of their adult lives.  This was great for Dad because his sisters always had coffee, his favorite Norwegian  goodies for him and news from home.  

Playing the accordion in the early days.  He played all of his life.

Early family photo: Hans Kristian (father), young Kaare ,  sister Ruth (standing in back), sister Jenny (in front), and mother Julia

Always a car guy..... from the taxi service in Norway, to the snowcat, to his mail truck driving, to his trucking company where he worked until recently.  He was always working in his shop or behind the wheel.

Newlyweds Kaare and Alice with their dog Kushka at Timberline Lodge. 

Celebrating Father's Day and Midsummer with a traditional floral crown and dinner in the garden.

Dad and Mom lived in Government Camp after they were married.  Dad drove a snowcat  and mom was a waitress at Timberline Lodge when they met.  Here is dad showing daughter Katy how to get in and out of the snowcat.    When he left Timberline Lodge he held the world's record for miles driven in a snowcat. 

Dad had a fun day with me and Becky at the wonderful LeMay Car Museum in Tacoma.  We though it was particularly appropriate that their photo car was a 1923 Buick.

My dad loved a good meal, and had a bottomless sweet tooth.   We spent many Father's Days together.   This photo is from Father's Day 2019 when we did the Portland Spririt lunch cruise.

Dad's car/truck pose did not waver over the years.   Here he is a few years ago with my 1946 Chevy pick up.

His 90th birthday at his trucking company office with son Nick, daughters Becky and Katy and granddog Vivian.   

This is a photo of my dad at 16 as a cadet on the Statsraad Lehmkuhl.  In 2015 my sister and I served as crewmembers on the very same ship during a Tall Ships race between Kristiansand, Norway and Aalborg, Denmark.   We brought along his original crew sweater and spoke with the captain about our father's history with the ship.  My father loved reliving those memories through his children.

When dad came to visit you put on the goodies but he had a sweet tooth.

   My dad with his granddog Vivian.    Dad had pets from the time he was kid, including  in Norway.  He loved his many granddogs. 

This photo was taken during my trip to Norway with my dad in the early 1980s.  This is a photo of him and his sister Ruth, on one of the ferries.  His brother Arvid was an engineer on the ferries and took us for a day's ride with him on a work day.

Another really awesome photo of my father.  It was taken in Norway when he was in his teens.

My father and I visited Norway together in the early 1980s.  We stayed with my Aunt Ruth in Sand.   I took this photo of my dad playing the old button accordion the family owned.

This photo is of my father and us kids with our horse Molly.

The Nielsen stance once again.  My father set a world record for miles in a snow cat on Mt Hood.

This is one of my all time favorite photos of my father.   We call his pose "the Nielsen stance."   This was taken in Norway with his 1935 Ford.

When my father first made his way to North America, he came into Canada.  He played the accordion in a band called The Western Rhythm Boys.  He told us many stories of their adventure crossing Canada and playing for dances.  I love this photo.

Besides his love of cars and trucks, my father loved playing his accordions.   When he made his way to Canada first and then the US, he brought with him a red accordion.   He gave that treasured instrument to my sister Rebecca.  He played many dances at Timberline in the 1950s, and continued to play for decades.

My father found this all original 1957 Chevy and knew he had to have it.   He passed it down to my sister.  Nothing made him happier than going to swap meets, car autions and antique car dealers.

My dad loved his children, but he loved his cars and trucks almost as much, and he gave that love to his kids.   This is a photo of me and my dad from 2011 with my 1946 Chevy pickup.

This photo is of his four little girls, me being the baby.   This last October my father said of these times, "They were tough times, busy times, but the best times."

I love this photo of my parents, Kaare and Alice.   This is their wedding picture.  They were married on Jan 17th, 1956.  To me they look like movie stars, totally in love.

He was friends with my father Odd Jensen. I remember him coming over for some parties and playing his accordion. Very nice man.

Kaare was a longtime friend to my parents, Odd and Margit Jensen, who are no longer with us. I remember many times hearing kaare play his beautiful accordion music. My parents loved and respected him as well as Joyce. I wanted to send condolences to the family in memory of my parents and myself. I hope they can continue to make music and dance in heaven once again.  Mona Horne 

OBITUARY

Kaare Marton Nielsen

March 7, 1923 – January 3, 2022

Finley-Sunset Hills Mortuary & Sunset Hills Memorial Park

Show your support

Add a Memory

Share Obituary

Get Reminders

Services