Elvira was Gus’s only offspring, delivered in Silverton, Colorado in 1902 by Gus’s wife Mary (Grahn) who were wed in Pueblo, Colorado just nine or ten months earlier.
We don’t know the exact date Gus moved Mary and Elvira to La Plata, but we do know it was prior to Mary’s death in 1916-17 from the influenza epidemic, when Elvira was just a teenager.
The Silverton connection remained (friends/family ?) because Elvira met and wed a young Swedish lad named Arvid Alexander who lived and worked in Silverton. Arvid and Elvira eventually moved to La Plata City, Colorado to work in Gus’s Black Di’Mond gold mine (mostly deducted through pictures). Together Elvira and Arvid produced just one offspring named Arvid Junior.
At some point, Arvid and Elvira moved to Durango, Colorado where Arvid eventually became a class “A” steam locomotive mechanic working for the Denver and Rio Grande West (D&RGW) railroad. This is where Arvid lived for the remainder of his life. Elvira and Arvid are buried together in the Greenmont Cemetery, Durango Colorado.
Following are images of Elvira and Arvid:
All images copyright Ekburg Family Archive.
