His marriage to Pam ended in 1967, and he later married Georgette Ziel. A son, Tom, was born to them in 1969. They relocated to Southern California and “discovered” Santa Paula. In 1974 Dr. Forland brought his orthopedic skills to the communities of Santa Paula and Fillmore. Dr. Forland’s patients included those who flew from overseas to be treated specifically by him. According to Dr. Forland, none of his patients ever had any medical infections or complications from his treatment. He had a special interest in the diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the spine. He was highly respected by members of the medical community. Dr. Forland, orthopedic surgeon, retired June 30, 1990.Dr. Forland has always been a devotee of fine arts for as long as he remembers. He enjoys the visual arts, especially paintings, and tremendously admires local artists Douglas Shively, Jessie Arms and Cornelis Botke, Gail Pidduck, Judy Klements, Pam Shelley, Virginia Gunderson, and others.“The Murals of Santa Paula” is indeed grateful to Dr. Forland for further supporting the arts in Santa Paula with this generous gift.
Trygve Ingolf Forland, M.D. is benefactor of latest mural
October 08, 2004
Santa Paula News
By Ernest Carlson, MD
Member, Murals of Santa Paula CommitteeDr. Trygve Forland, by his gift of $10,000 to the mural entitled “The Early Artists and Architects of Santa Paula,” became the first individual to be a “Benefactor” of a mural in Santa Paula. The only prior Benefactor of the murals was Limoneira Company, which made its donation in 1998 toward the mural entitled “Citrus Capital of the World.”Dr. Forland was born in Haugesund, Norway in 1925. He has fond memories of his childhood in Norway, walking in the mountains and valleys and crossing the streams. His father, being the youngest son and therefore not eligible to inherit the family farm, immigrated to the United States in 1927. Two years later, at age 4, Trygve and his middle brother, Erling, age 1, with their mother followed their father to New York. They arrived on the day of the historic market crash, which created the Great Depression starting in 1929.Fortunately, that was not a portent of things to come regarding Trygve’s life. He learned English very quickly and became an excellent student, entering college at age 16 and completing four years in only two. In 1943, at age 18, he was accepted into medical school, while also being drafted into the Army. During an Army Reserve break, he hitchhiked across the U.S. to San Francisco, returning to New York in six days, one day less than the bus required, because he was picked up more readily when he wore his Army uniform.In 1948 he graduated from NYC’s Long Island School of Medicine, and Trygve then married Pam Marty. They moved to San Francisco for him to start his internship at Stanford University Medical School. A year later, at age 24, he was the chief resident in the orthopedic service, supervising the work of others who were ages 28 to 41! During this time their daughter, Sue, was born.The following year, Dr. Forland, Pam and Sue moved to Seattle to complete his residency with world-famous orthopedist Dr. Roger Anderson. Dr. Forland practiced orthopedic surgery at “Group Health Cooperative” for 20 years. Their daughter Becky was born in 1951 and Nancy was born in 1952 while the family lived in Seattle.