Bjarne Oscar Thorkelson was born in Valley City, North Dakota, Barnes County, March 25, 1888. He grew up in Fingal finishing school there then worked in the Fingal Bank for two years. He married Florence L. Crowell who was a teacher in Fingal.
Later he went to the western part of the state where he helped to organize the First State Bank of South Heart and in 1928 operated a Dickinson Real Estate business. He moved to Bismarck where he became Manager of the Bank of North Dakota's Collection and Land Department where he served twelve years and at 69 he retired. He moved to Chicago for a few years and spent his remaining years in Delray Beach, Florida, where he died in March 1971. His wife preceded him in death. They had two daughters, Daphne of Delray Beach, Florida and Dorothea of Moscow, Idaho.
Source: Barnes County History 1976 Page 248