Below is information on Victor from multiple sources
Victor was born in Karlskrona on April 5, 1887.
According to Katarina Moller, a genealogist who works at the Karlskrona culture department, Victor lived on Ronnebygatan in Karlskrona, in the same building as Viktor Balk (where Ahlens is now). His father owned the building. The family attended Fredrikskyrken. Ms. Moller also said that Crondahl is a very unusual name, and anyone with that name is related.
This information is from his son Christie:
Victor was always happy, and made everyone around him happy. Victor’s happiness is what made him great. [Victor's son Jay is the same way; no matter what’s going on in his life he’s just naturally happy.]
Victor had several cases of bad luck, but it never seemed to bother him. When Victor was a boy he suffered several accidents that stayed with him his whole life. The first injury occurred when he was quite young: he drank some diluted lye that was left out in the kitchen. He had to be fed through a tube for a while after that. He overcame that injury but was very thin and weak. His parents didn’t know whether he would live. He was put in a class with invalids, but his goal was to not be in that class. Victor worked hard to get stronger, and after a few years, he was able to attend regular classes, and became the leader of his class.
Victor’s other injury that bothered him his whole life was a knee injury that he got playing soccer when he was young.
Victor got in trouble a few times when he was young. He and a group of boys from his school got in a fight with a group boys from another school when the boys from the other school stole his school’s flag. Victor hit a boy who then hit his head on the sidewalk, and the other boy was in a coma for several weeks. Luckily, the boy recovered. After that, Victor didn’t fight any more, and always tried to break up fights.
Another time that Victor got in trouble is when his parents were entertaining some guests from Germany. The guests had a yacht in the harbor, and Victor and the guests’ son decided to have a party on the yacht. Victor got some wine out of his parents’ wine cellar and they invited some of Victor’s friends down to the yacht. They made so much noise that the police came. But the boys invited the police to join the party, so the police joined the party and got drunk. Victor and his friends got in trouble with their parents for the party.
Victor had opportunities to be successful in business, but he never took advantage of them. His father owned the building that he grew up in, and had a store on the ground floor of the building. His parents wanted him to be a doctor, and gave him money to attend school in Germany. But he loved travelling too much to settle down. (End of information from Christie.)
Victor was very active in sports. He participated in gymnastics, swimming and life-saving, diving, fencing, and sailing (According to his son Jay). In 1912 he was in the Olympics in Stockholm for diving. He came in 4th.
Gunilla Lyden from Sveriges Centralforening for Idrottens Framjande (SCIF) said that of all the divers in the 1912 Olympics, Victor dove from the highest height. She said during the Olympics Victor got to have dinner with the King of Sweden. Also at the dinner was Jim Thorpe.
After the 1912 Olympics Victor travelled to Palo Alto California and built a sailboat with several teammates from the Olympics (Ernst & Felix Brandsten, John M. Dahl, and Gus Ryberg) and sailed to Alaska. He went back and forth between Alaska and California for several years, before finally settling in Juneau Alaska.
An article from the Alaska Daily Empire on July 18, 1916 titled "Tiny Boat Has Made Long Trip" states: Yawl 'Fearless' Arrives From San Francisco with Four Hardy Seamen on a Prospecting Trip; Is buffeted By Gales; First Half of Trip Made in 29 Days but Voyage from Seattle to Juneau is made in Five.
The Article in full: "Buffeted by gales and making the first leg of their 2,000 mile trip in 29 days, then experiencing the finest kind of weather and sea and taking only five days for the second thousand miles, the auxilliary yawl Fearless arrived in Juneau last Saturday afternoon from San Francisco via Seattle.
The Fearless is one of the smallest vessels ever to make the trip from San Francisco to Seattle, being only thirty-six feet long and with a beam of eleven feet. She is equipped with an eighteen horsepower gasoline engine.
The craft sailed from San Francisco May 27 with Capt. Felix Brandsten, John M. Dahl, Gus Fyberg [sic Ryberg] and Victor Crondahl, all members of the California Yacht Club, of San Francisco, and all seamen and yachtsmen of years' experience.
The second day out of San Francisco the boat was compelled by terrific head winds to seek shelter, and throughout the voyage to Seattle the wind prevailed with such force that she made so many runs for safety that few of the harbors or lighthouses on the coast were without visits from her crew.
Yawl's Dingy Lost. In the heavy seas that prevailed off Point Reyes the yawl's dingy was lost. From Point Reyes north the crew tackled the sea with knowledge that if under the battering of wind and sea their craft went to pieces it meant almost certain death. Clearing the California coast, the crew expected milder weather. In this they were disappointed. Along the Oregon coast it was necessary to head for safe havens on numerous occasions, and several times treacherous bars were crossed with all sails set and the engine working as fast as possible.
According to Capt. Brandsten, lighthouse keepers along the Coast declared they had never seen such weather at this season of the year.
As a mascot the yawl carries a large black and yellow cat. When the elements were doing their best to send the yawl to the bottom, the cat added to the general uproar by yowling in a loud and penetrating voice.
Start for Juneau. Finally Seattle was reached and the Fearless showed little outward signs of her long and perilous voyage.
Capt. Brandsten, after replenishing his larder and gasoline tank started for Juneau Monday forenoon, July 10th.
"The Trip north was splendid," said the captain this morning. "Practically no rough weather was encountered and we reached Ketchikan last Wednesday night. Taking aboard a supply of gasoline we then came direct to Juneau not stopping at any port between Ketchikan and here."
"When we sailed from San Francisco we intended to go out to the westward and prospect. Owing to the long time on the trip between San Francisco and Seattle we will remain in Juneau and make this city our temporary home, chartering our boat for all purposes and also devoting our time towards mining pursuits."
"I have heard so much about this northern country and I can say positively that I like it and my companions express the same satisfaction."
The fearless is in the slip north of the City dock. [End of article]
According to an article on Ernst Brandsten (Felix's brother) on the International Swimming Hall of Fame, one of the things Victor and his friends did with their boat was to help chart the coast of Alaska for the U.S. Coast & Geodetic Survey.
An article in “Pacific Motor Boat, Volume 8, 1915” says: “After more than three weeks buffeting head winds, which at times attained a velocity of a gale, the auxiliary yawl ‘Fearless’ arrived in Seattle recently from San Francisco, safe and sound on her way to Ketchikan and Juneau, Alaska. The ‘Fearless’ is one of the smallest boats that ever made the voyage from San Francisco Bay to Puget Sound. The craft was sailed from San Francisco on May 27 by Capt. Felix Brandsten, John M. Dahl, Gus Ryberg, and Victor Crondahl of San Francisco, and all seamen and yachtsmen of years’ experience. The second day out of San Francisco the boat was compelled by terrific head winds to seek shelter, and throughout the voyage north the wind prevailed with such force that she made so many runs for safety that few of the harbors or lighthouses on the coast were without visits from her crew. The party are going north on a prospecting trip.” [End of article]
From Kinky Bayers’ Journal: “Daily Alaska Dispatch, 19/July/1916: Capt. Felix Brandsten, John M. Dahl, Gus Ryberg and Victor Crondahl arrived today from San Francisco on the small gas boat ‘Fearless’ 36 feet by 11 feet, and powered with an 18 horse power engine. They left San Francisco May 27.”
Victor married Dora Louise Irish in January 1927, and they had three sons. Their first son, Victor Ture was born in November, 1927. Their second son, Allen Jay, was born in February 1935, and their third son, Christie Creighton, was born in April 1937.
Victor held various jobs in Juneau, including lumber grader (deciding what quality lumber was), a card dealer, and working in the gold mine. He owned his own home (according to the 1940 census), and owned two other properties (according to his son Jay).
Jay doesn’t remember very much about his dad, but he remembers that Victor never spoke Swedish after he came to the U.S., he cooked all the holiday meals, he was a strict but not very active parent, he was very neat and could walk downtown wearing a white suit on a wet muddy day and return home without a spot of mud on him, and he remained athletic until he died.
Victor died in Seattle Washington on January 3, 1953, while
Jay and Christie were still in high school.
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