Torval Harold Vik
T/5 in 3133rd Signal Service Co
ASN#31186750
Born 1920 in MA, Died 2002
Artist
County of residence at enlistment: Worcester County, MA
Other residence(s): Palmer, MA; Worcester, MA
United States Army, European Theatre of Operations
Occupation before the war: semiskilled occupations in building of aircraft, n.e.c.
College education after the war: Worcester Art Museum School
Torval Vik was born on February 17, 1920 in Palmer, MA, the younger of two sons. His father, a crank operator in a wire mill, had been born in Norway.
Torval's father died when he was 15, and his mother when he was 18, so he and his brother went to live with their uncle and grandmother.
He graduated from Commerce High School, where he met the woman who would later become his wife: Shirley Fjelman. In 1939 Torval was working as a bell boy, and, in 1940, he was working in a machine shop and his brother in the wire mill.
He registered for the draft on July 1, 1941, at which time he was engaged to Shirley and working at Leland-Gifford Co. in Worcester; the firm manufactured machine tools.
Torval married Shirley later that year (and his brother married the same year). He enlisted on October 27, 1942, and was called to duty on November 10. He served in North Africa, likely in 1943, ended up in the 3133 Signal Service Company, and saw service in Italy near the end of the war. He was discharged from the Army on November 25, 1945 with the rank of T/5 and returned to Worcester.
He used his GA Bill benefits to study at the Worcester Art Museum School, graduating in 1950. That year the census reports that he was working as a commercial artist in the advertising industry, and Shirley was working as a clerk/typist for an insurance company.
The couple had two children: Steven and Paula. Torval continued to work as a commercial artist in the Worcester and Boston areas throughout his career, and worked for Commonwealth Press Co., retiring in 1986.
He was an active volunteer with the Boy Scouts and Little League, and a member of Greendale Retired Men's Club, American Legion Post 204, and Disabled American Veterans. He also practiced fine arts and sculpting in his spare time.
Torval died on January 2, 2002 and is buried at All Faiths Cemetery in Worcester, MA.
Sources:
1920 Massachusetts birth index
1930 census
1938 mother's obituary in the Evening Gazette (Worcester MA)
1939 US city directory, Worcester MA
1940 census
1941 draft card
1941 marriage record
1942 enlistment record
1950 census
1959 US city directory, Worcester MA
2002 US Veterans' Gravesites
2002 VA death record
2002 Social Security applications and claims index
2002 Find a Grave record
2002 obituary in the Worcester Telegram & Gazette (MA)
2014 wife's obituary
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/telegram/name/shirley-vik-obituary?id=11764497