Elmer Albert Hendrickson
WWII U.S. Army
Conservation Corps
U.S. Occupational Forces

Elmer Albert Hendrickson was born on November 30, 1909 on the Hendrickson farm in Bittern Lake,
Alberta, Canada. He was the 11 th of 13 children born to Hendrik Olsen Hendrickson and Mathea Lyseng
Hendrickson. He attended Thordenskjold School and was confirmed at Scandia Lutheran Church before
attending high school in Camrose. Elmer went away from home for the first time at the age of seventeen
to Augsburg Academy in Minneapolis, Minnesota to complete high school and then attend college. After
college, Elmer owned a hardware store, taught math and coached football in Minnesota and later in
Califormia.

Elmer received his Master’s degree in Education from the University of Southern California (USC) while
living with his brother, Carl, in Bel Air, California. He became a United States citizen in the 1930s and
joined the army as a weather forecaster during World War II. After the war, Elmer served in the Civilian
Conservation Corps and with the U.S. Occupational Forces in Germany. He taught at the American high
school in Germany from 1948-1951, during which time he travelled throughout Europe, Scandinavia, the
Middle East, and North Africa. Upon returning from Germany, Elmer was employed by the U.S.
Geological Survey as a cartographer.