Betsy Laila Tynning Brekken

Betsy Laila was born at Tynning on 22 April 1897, the eldest of Isak and Brita's nine children. A photograph from the Haugland summer pasture in 1915 shows her as a young milkmaid. It ties her to the work that followed the seasons on the farms in Brekke: animals, milking, cooking and long working days at the pasture.

In 1922 she married Hans Brekken (1894–1978). They settled at the Brekken farm in Ikjefjord and had five children: Lovisa, Magne, the twins Inger Sigrun and Brita Astrid, and Ingebjørg Halfrid. Her life was anchored in the farm and the family, but the sources also show a woman engaged far beyond her own doorstep.

In 1953 the Lavik municipal council appointed Betsy to a public baths committee together with the district physician Sverre Roald and nurse Oline Grønhaug. It is a small piece of information, but it shows public trust and practical community work. Her voice grew clearer later. When the closure of the Lavik nursing home was debated in 1995, the 98-year-old Betsy protested publicly and announced that she would take the matter straight to the mayor.

Betsy worked to preserve language and everyday memories. In 1989 her booklet «Kvardagsliv i Ytre Sogn i tida kring 1900–1910» appeared. A contemporary newspaper account tells that for nearly thirty years she had collected dialect samples and material from Ytre Sogn. As a young woman she had wanted to become a journalist, and she hoped the material could be of use both locally and to students. The cultural heritage plan of Høyanger municipality later uses the booklet as an example of valuable documentation of intangible heritage.

When Betsy turned 100 in 1997, the newspaper Firda described her as clear-minded, active and quick with a cheerful remark. Around 70 relatives took part in the celebration. By then she had 27 great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren. The paper also related that she remembered the first motor car and that she still held firm opinions about society. The following year she was still living in her own unit at the Lavik health and social centre, making her own supper among other things.

Betsy died on 9 December 2001, aged 104. She left behind not only a large family, but also a rare written testimony to women's work, language and everyday life in Ytre Sogn at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Betsy died on 9 December 2001 at Høyanger nursing home, 104 years old, and was followed to her grave from Ikjefjord community house on 18 December.

From her last year: on 11 April 2001 Firda printed a picture captioned «OLD AND YOUNG: Betsy Brekken, soon 104 years old, and the pupils of years 1–4», and on 11 August 2001 the paper reported that member of parliament John Alvheim, visiting the care service in Lavik, «also took time for a chat with the users […], among them Betsy Brekken, who with her 104 […]».