Ovall, John, minister – Portland – born in Melby, Elfsborgs County, on January 28, 1863. He was raised in Göteborg. At the age of 17, he traveled to England and America. He arrived in Galveston, Texas, in 1880, and joined the Methodist – Episcopal Church in Waco, Texas, in 1886. In 1889 he was licensed as a preacher and was accepted into the Austin assembly the same year 1891. On November 29 the same year, he was ordained Deacon by Bishop Hurst in Waco, Texas, and on December 2, 1894, ordained Dean by bishop Warren in San Antonio, Texas. After completing the assembly study course he completed another course at the Christian University in Canton, Missouri, and earned the degree of Master of Ancient Literature. In January 1891, he was appointed Pastor in Fort Worth and Dallas, Texas, and in December of the same year, sent as missionary to southern Texas, where he organized five congregations, built three churches as well as a stylish home in Victoria. In 1895, he was appointed Pastor in one of the congregations he had established in Galveston. He organized the Galveston Port Society and published their paper, The Gospel Herald. He became Pastor in Georgetown, Texas, in 1897, and was transferred to the Puget Sound assembly as Pastor in Tacoma, Washington State. In 1902, he was appointed Dean of the Swedish district, including Washington, Oregon and Idaho. During his three year tenure the church in Tacoma was expanded; a church property was purchased in Spokane; a church was purchased in Olympia; several churches were built in Edmonds and Seattle, and a chapel was built in Harmony. At this time Mr. Ovall also served the parishes of Tacoma, Fremont and Seattle. In November 1907 he was appointed Pastor of the first Swedish Methodist Church of Portland, Oregon. In 1910, he was appointed Professor of Swedish at the Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, and on September 17 of the same year, he was appointed missionary in Oregon and southern Washington. He is now serving in both positions. He has been very active in the temperance movement, and in 1887, he was elected president of the Scandinavian section of the prohibition campaign in Texas. During his residency in Tacoma he was elected president for the Scandinavian Social Reform Society three times. In 1904, he was elected presidential elector at the Prohibition Convention in Everett, and in 1906 he was appointed as the representative of the anti-saloon league in Oregon. He is the president of the Reform Department at the Civic Federation Society of Oregon, and has been their delegate at conferences in Washington, D.C., and New York. His home is located at 758 Borthwick St., Portland. He married Emma Nelson from Waco, Texas on May 1, 1887, and they have two sons. One of them is employed in a trade firm and the other is studying electrical engineering.