Adventure, even on a toboggan, was always part of the Bollmans’ lives. Pictured are Fogelberg in front and Bollman in the rear of the sled. Submitted photo

Mary Ann Fogelberg’s first glance of the outside world took place at Jamestown General Hospital on Nov. 21, 1928. She was the only child born to Hjalmar and Anna Fogelberg.

Her parents had made friends with a group of Swedish immigrants. One of the men, Elmer Holmberg, and her father built a cabin on a farmer’s land in Ellery Center using reclaimed materials from buildings that had been torn down. She remembers playing with mice at the cabin and made friends with the squirrels, feeding them cookies. Fun times were had on an early version of a zipline the men had made by attaching a seat to a cable connected to pulleys.

Her parents moved the small family to Erie, Pa., when Mary Ann was in fourth grade due to a job opportunity for her father at a construction site. It was long before OSHA regulations protected workers from dangerous situations and, sadly, her father succumbed to injuries he incurred when he slipped from the large building project on a snowy day.

Anna’s family lived in Sweden. She and her young daughter returned to Jamestown where she had Swedish friends. Anna worked in a furniture factory, but being a woman of small stature, the work was especially difficult causing her to leave after five years.

She then found work as a mender in a worsted mill where she could use her sewing skills.

“She worked on a lot of khaki,” Fogelberg said.

As a teenager, Fogelberg enjoyed roller skating in Celoron and going to movies. She loved music and dancing and mentioned listening to Bing Crosby. She was also active in the YWCA and attended conferences in New York City.

Her mother never held a driver’s license, therefore they resorted to buses for transportation.

“There was a lot of bus service back then,” she said.

While a student at Jamestown High School, she took shorthand, typing and other appropriate courses to earn a business diploma when she graduated in 1946. Being of Swedish descent and since it was her first language before attending school, she took a year-long course to better speak and understand the Swedish language before graduating.

Her mother had her on a ship to Sweden to meet her family before she celebrated her 18th birthday.

“The minute she heard the Gripsholm had been put back in service, she bought two tickets,” said Fogelberg. “It was an elegant liner at the time.”

The M.S. Gripsholm had been a Swedish cruise ship prior to the United States chartering it for use as an exchange ship for prisoners during World War II. During the trip the mother and daughter experienced a rarity, when the ship was frozen in the North Sea and an ice breaking ship had to be sent to release it.

The entire family was waiting for them when they arrived at Sandoson, Fogelberg’s grandparents’ farm. The farm had a health stuga, a small house used for people to stay in while recovering from an illness. The grandmother baked in an oven that was heated with wood. The older woman impressed the young girl because she could tell when the oven had reached the correct temperature by feeling the heat coming from the open door. Sticks of wood were added, one at a time, until the right temperature was acquired.

Even though she thinks it was her mother’s desire to stay in the Scandinavian country, they returned to Jamestown after a few months, where the duo had friends and support. One of the first things she did when she got back home was to go to the school to see her former business teacher. At that time the local businesses would call teachers when they were looking for a new office employee.

“My teacher looked out for me,” she said.

She was hired at the city lab on Hall Avenue, where she did medical dictation for pathology and took a medical dictionary home with her to familiarize herself with medical terms.

“It was interesting and fun,” she said.

Later, she and a friend spent a winter in Florida where they worked for Swift Company and once again, on her return to Jamestown, the business teacher assisted her in finding a job. She was hired by Dr. Paul Cameron.

She returned to visit her Swedish relatives in 1953, again traveling on the Gripsholm. She stayed with an uncle and worked at a candy shop during her time there.

“They sold a lot of candy because everybody wanted to see that American girl,” Fogelberg said.

During her stay, she took a 500-mile bicycle trip.

For many years she had heard of Jim Bollman, her best friend’s brother. Finally, she had the opportunity to meet him at a family party. The couple was married on May 18, 1957 and lived for many years at 19 Blanchard St.

Bollman was a loan officer at Marine Midland Bank and retired from Norstar Bank as a manager. Fogelberg did not work until their youngest child was in elementary school, when she took a secretarial job at Falconer High School. She later went to work at the Department of Public Works, serving as secretary under two directors before she retired.

“Jim was the funniest man on earth,” she said. “My son-in-law called him a stand-up comedian.”

“My dad was not only known for his jokes,” said Lisa Greeley. “He was always wheeling and dealing selling a car.”

She with her sister Nancy Engleman told a story about a time when the family’s car was packed for a vacation they were taking the next day. At 8 p.m. their father announced that he had sold the vehicle.

The couple shared a love for adventure, having taken two trips to Sweden and traveling extensively with their RV in the states. They enjoyed their camp at the Vikings summer home for 48 years.

“They were always together,” Nancy said.

Fogelberg was a member of Beta Sigma Phi Sorority and the former Immanuel Lutheran Church.

They have three children. Nancy Engleman lives in Richmond, Va., is retired and volunteers teaching art to women prisoners, veterans, rural and inter-city children, Alzheimer’s patients and third year medical students. Greeley is a licensed social worker for Chautauqua County and resides in Gerry. Tom Bollman lives in Falconer and is a self-employed plumber. There are seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Bollman passed away in March of 2012. Before his death he said these words about his wife, “I was madly in love with her. She was so beautiful. I didn’t know what I what do if she said ‘no.'”

The couple had been living in an apartment on Aldren Avenue at the time of his death, a residence Fogelberg lived in for 10 years until a recent move across the street to Hultquist Place, an assisted living facility. She displays two of Elmer Holmberg’s paintings on her walls and has a parquet table made by her grandfather in the corner.

The family has stayed connected with their Swedish relatives.

“We used to practically run a hotel in the summertime,” said Nancy of her parents’ Jamestown home.

“We now have a fifth generation getting together,” she said of her recent visit from her mother’s cousin’s daughter from Malmo, Sweden.

The nonagenarian has no secret to living a long life, and thinks it was genes in her case, since her mother lived to be 96. She said if she could live her life over, she would not make any changes.

“I was lucky enough to pick the right man to marry. That pretty much settles your whole life. He was kind, gentle and thoughtful,” she said. “If you didn’t make a mistake that way, you were pretty good.”

“My mom always said, ‘you can’t live your life on fear,'” said Greeley.