Arne Johan Lunde was born May 7, 1916 and moved with his family to a homestead in the LaGlace, Ab. area in 1927. As a boy Arne helped his dad on the homestead in the “Hungry Thirties”. In 1936 rheumatic fever laid him up for some time and upon recovery he went to work for Bernard Liland, doing farm work and custom grain hauling.
In 1940 Arne began truck driving for Sven Swanberg on the Alaska Highway. In 1943 Arne was called in to the Army. He trained in Nova Scotia, served in Canada, England, and Europe and was discharged in 1946. He returned to Grande Prairie and worked in garages for several months.
On March 30, 1950 Arne and Nell “Marie” Rohn of Valhalla were married. Arne bought a quarter section and began farming in 1946. In 1953 the Lundes bought another quarter of land from the VLA and in September of the same year Arne became a County of Grande Prairie school bus driver, a position he held for more than 30 years. The Lundes continued farming until they sold their land in 1973, moving into La Glace in 1974. Arne and Marie moved to Grande Prairie in 1992 and Arne died April 14, 2010 at the age of 93 followed by Marie on February 26, 2011 at the age of 81. Arne and Marie had five children: Arden (born 1950), Janis (born 1952), Janis (born January 1954), Lola (born 1958), and Iris (born 1964). Arden and the elder Janis were tragically killed in a house fire January 18, 1953.
Arne is interred at the Valhalla Centre Cemetery.
Sources: LaGlace Yesterday and Today p. 122