A Norwegian youth, who came to the United States in 1889 and later
became manager and partner in the Oleson Drug Company here, built this
house and resided there until his sudden death in 1941. He was Thorvald
S. Larsen, who was 18 when he arrived in this country.
After a short stay in Minneapolis he accepted a job as a pharmacy
apprentice with O. M. Oleson at his store here. That was the start of
Larsen’s long and successful association with Oleson, a pioneer Fort
Dodge pharmacist and noted philanthropist.
The Larsen home, a large white frame structure at 1302 4th Ave. N., was
built in 1903. It is now owned and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Leo Kelleher
and family who purchased it in 1953 from C. M. Bodensteiner. The
Bodensteiners acquired the residence in 1944.
Interior of the home is substantially the same as it was when built. The
downstairs has a large living room, library, dining room, kitchen and
pantry, half bath and hall leading to the open stairway to the second
floor. On the second floor are five bedrooms and bath. A large open
porch extends along the south and west sides of the house.
[Illustration: The Larsen home
1302 4th Avenue North]
Larsen studied pharmacy while working as an apprentice and became a
registered pharmacist. In 1900 he took over management of the Oleson
Drug Company store at Central Avenue and Eighth Street. The store
occupied the first floor and basement of the three-story Oleson Building
erected in 1894 and a downtown landmark until razed in 1971 to make way
for the City Green parking lot.
Larsen was married to May Larson of Fort Dodge, daughter of Olaf Larson
an early-day contractor and bridge builder. They were parents of six
children—Helen, deceased; Rolf, Dr. Harold Larsen, deceased; Dr. Frank
S. Larsen, Robert and Carl Larsen.
Larsen was a widely-known businessman of Fort Dodge. He was 70 years of
age when killed in an auto accident at Second Avenue North and
Thirty-second Street in 1941. Mrs. Larsen died in 1968 at age 89 at
Friendship Haven where she resided for a number of years.