Norma Deloris Egstrom (1920 - 2002)
DID YOU KNOW ... world star Peggy Lee with hit songs such as Fever, Lover, Big Spender and Golden Earrings originates from Sweden and Norway.
This story begins on January 11, 1844 when Jan Magnus Eriksson was born in Ör, Hjertungen, Älsvborg County, Sweden. The parents' names were Erik Ekström (1782-1849) and Maja Lisa Eriksdotter (1805-1855).
Jan was the youngest child of 6 and it was a tough upbringing. The father died when he was only 5 years old and the mother when he was 11 years old. This contributed to his having to start work early and support himself as a farm boy. I can read in the archives that he had difficulty adapting and it is noted several times that he is a vagrant and goes from farm to farm for work. The restlessness is surely to find something better, to stop being beaten and the longing for freedom and to decide for yourself.
In 1862, he flees to Norway, which is a union with Sweden, and is wanted in Sweden for not having appeared for conscription in 1863. After some time in Norway, he ends up in Froland, Aust-Agder. Here he meets the then three years younger Bertha Gurine Olsdatter (1847-1912). The couple married on 31 August 1866 and had 7 children, the first two of whom were born in Norway. The third child Marvin Olaf Erickson (1874-1950) was born in Chaseburg, Vernon, Wisconsin, USA.
During his upbringing, Marvin Olaf moves around with his family. The family commutes between Wisconsin, South Dakota and Minnesota. He takes back the family name Ekström (which is Americanized to Egstrom) after his grandfather. Like his father, Marvin also shows a restlessness with many female affairs resulting in many children. In total, Marvin had 19 children with three different women.
At the beginning of the 20th century, he finally meets Swedish-Norwegian-American Selma Amelia Anderson (1885-1924). Selma and Marvin had 8 children before Selma tragically died on August 7, 1924, aged only 39.
In the group of children and as the sixth child was born on May 26, 1920 in Jamestown, Stutsman, North Dakota. Norma Deloris Egstrom. Norma grows up without a mother and an absent father.
She shows an early interest in singing and music and who would have thought that she would become a world famous singer, songwriter and actress. With hit songs like "Fever", "Lover", "Big Spender", "Golden Earrings" and many other songs. When she sang as a teenager on the local radio station in Fargo North Dakota, the stage name Peggy Lee was suggested.
Peggy Lee's big breakthrough came when she got a permanent contract in Benny Goodman's orchestra and quickly gained star status.
In 1989, the record "Peggy Sings the Blues" was nominated for a Grammy.
Norma Deloris Egstrom, aka "Peggy Lee" a world star, with an amazing voice and musicianship passed away on January 21, 2002 in Bel Air, Los Angeles, California, USA. She was 81 years old.
