ROUND LAKE - When they arrived in Round Lake, it was the 1920s, and the Baldwin sisters were definitely “foreigners.” They came from Costa Rica, via New Orleans.
Their dad, Arthur Baldwin, was from Sibley, Iowa, and had gone with his brother to Central America to work on the Panama Canal. While there, he met his wife-to-be, Grace, who was from Costa Rica and was attending music school.
Arthur and Grace came back to the area, bringing their six daughters and settling in Round Lake. The six girls were Olga (Jacobsen), Mireya (Koning), Nora (Vance), Bessie (Sommerfield), Nellie (Meineke) and Maria (Ross).
Family members recently gathered to honor the two who are still living: Olga is almost 103; and Nora will soon be 99. Olga recently moved to South Shore Care Center in Worthington. Nora left a number of years ago and now lives near Chicago.
