Soren Sorenson, prominent farmer of the Denmark District, died Tuesday afternoon [December 29, 1931] at the hospital from a heart ailment after an illness that confined him to his bed for little more than two weeks. The end came peaceably and while it was a great shock to relatives and friends was not unexpected.
Soren Sorenson first entered the hospital on December 11 for the second serious illness of his entire life. He was taken there suffering from a heart ailment that terminated in a blood clot. After a bad two or three days during which time his life was despaired of, he apparently rallied and attending physicians had told him that he might go home in a short time. Tuesday noon, however, he became much worse and he finally fell into a sleep from which he never awakened.
Mr. Sorenson had been a resident of the Kittitas Valley for 43 years, coming here from Minnesota after two years spent there where he located after coming to the United States from Denmark at the age of 18. Shortly after arriving in this valley, he engaged in farming. His first place being just southeast of town. From there he moved with several local farmers to the community known as the Denmark District which at that time was settled almost entirely by farmers of that nationality. From that time he has always been a leader in the community in which he lived and found time from his many interests to lend sterling service to the affairs of the city of Ellensburg and the county at large. He served as president of the local and state farm bureaus and was one of the organizers of the Kittitas County Fair of which he was president at the time of his death. He was an active and faithful worker in the Chamber of Commerce and it was largely through his efforts that this body and the farmers’ organizations have cooperated.
Soren Sorenson was married to Nielsine Pedersen in 1890 who survives him. Mr. Sorenson was born near Aarhus, Denmark, March 17, 1868. Besides his wife he leaves to mourn his death six children, two brothers and four sisters. The children are: Mrs. R. A. [Bertha] Lynch, J. O. Sorenson and S. A. Sorenson of Ellensburg and Mrs. [Agnes] Richardson, Grand Rapids, Mich., Dorthea and Harold Sorenson of Seattle; Sisters: Mrs. Anna Paulsen of Longsdale, Minn., Mrs. Jens Pederson, Mrs. Laura Nicholsen and Mrs. Sena Pedersen, all of Denmark; Brothers: Peter Sorenson, Ellensburg; Marius of Denmark.
Judge Austin Mires, a close personal friend of Mr. Sorenson, has written a eulogy of Mr. Sorenson’s life which will be found on the editorial page.
Contributed by: Shelli Steedman