Gunderson and Davis family, University of Wyoming memorabilia, 1932-2011

Thea Fae Davis was born in Harrison, Nebraska, on December 18, 1912. After graduation from high school at Chadron State Prep School, she enrolled at the University of Wyoming, and was a member of Alpha Phi Pi sorority and Kappa Phi. She graduated in 1937 with a degree in education. She taught school in Douglas, Wyoming. In 1949, she moved to San Jose to be closer to her sister Bonne Jeane. She continued teaching at San Jose until her retirement in 1977. She passed away in 2008.

Bonne Jeane Davis was born in Harrison, Nebraska, on September 1, 1918. After graduating from high school at Chadron State Prep School, she enrolled at the University of Wyoming and graduated in 1940. She was an active member of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority. In 1939, as part of a university sponsored excursion, she attended the 1939 World’s Fair in San Francisco will other classmates. She taught school in Douglas, Wyoming, until her marriage in 1942 to Norman Ole Gunderson. They had two children, John and Cherielyn. The couple moved to San Jose in 1948, where she continued to teach grade school. She passed away in 2011.

Norman Ole Gunderson was born in Laramie, Wyoming, on September 10, 1918. He and his older sisters, Alice and Olga, were the children of Scandinavian immigrants, Ole and Esther Amalia (Persson) Gunderson. They came to American via Ellis Island in 1905. Norman graduated from Laramie High School 1935. He graduated from the University of Wyoming in 1939. He was active in the Iron Skull and was a member of Sigma Chi and Phi Beta Kappa. After graduation, he worked for the Wyoming Highway Department, and the Soil Conversation Service in Nebraska. He also worked for the Bureau of Reclamation on the Friant Dam project. Before entering service during World War II, he married Bonne Jeane Davis in July 1942. After the war, the couple returned to Laramie where he earned a master’s degree in Engineering in 1947. He joined the faculty of San Jose State in 1948 where he taught engineering. He also was department head and dean in the College of Engineering. He retired from San Jose State in the 1980s and passed away in February 1996.