There's a treasure in the Rolfsrud relicsWhen Karen Rolfsrud Kirmis and Linda Rolfsrud Letnes casually perused the Rolfsrud Relics Repository in Tucson last winter they had no idea that they were looking directly at a treasure whose appraised value may one day tear the lid off of harmonious family relationships.
Until now no one knew that co-mingled with these modest keepsakes in the Tucson display case is an item of undetermined worth, said to have the potential for a generation of wrangling and inter-familial strife.
It was Carolyn Veeder who put light to the ignorant Rolfsrud curator and may have triggered a rush for riches heretofore unknown to the passive Rolfsrud heirs and assigns.Who knew that this Erling Rolfsrud legacy, only hinted at in an obscure chapter of Extraordinary North Dakotans, would be so casually displayed in an unlocked case without benefit of catalogue, appraisal or occasional dusting?
How could it be, in this age of EBay and The Antiques Roadshow, that this family jewel could have escaped the attention of an otherwise circumspect family?Carolyn Veeder just shakes her head.
The identity of this object will be revealed after a pledge has been received from Tucson. Presently only one family member is physically near enough to the heirloom to put his gloms on it. When a solemn promise is received that this family member will not opportunistically slap a sticker "Property of SPR" on its bottom, a description will be published and hopefully a moderate level of trust established as a basis for further negotiations.
It's complicated. For example, if you are out of the country for the second time in one year, and are in Belize at the time of discovery, are you still entitled, under U.S. Law, to a full one-sixth share?
