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At the age of 17 he boarded a ship to go to America.  While on the ship, he worked the machinery;  therefore, he became experienced in the operation and maintenance of such gear.  Once in America, he accepted a job in the North American Dredging Co. 

The North American Dredging Co. was hired by the Mexican government circa 1920 to dredge a canal to lead the Grijalva river in Tabasco, México into the gulf of Mexico.

One day there came a storm, and the dredge sank.   The tow boats assisting the now-sunken-dredge rescued the workers… among them my grandfather Toralv, and carried them - unharmed - to Frontera, Tabasco, for it was the closest shore at the moment.

He made a life for himself in this small town and, circa 1940, he came up with the idea that the machinery from that sunken dredge could be salvaged from the sea to provide energy for the town he now called home. He spoke to some friends in town to pull off his project and one of them agreed - a friend that had money because my grandfather had given him a prize-winning lottery ticket.

My grandfather Toralv offered to do the hard work by swimming and diving to dismantle the dredge to be able to free the equipment that was needed for this project.  He ended up salvaging two Worthington machines circa 1942.   A large one, and a small one.

He and his friend made every arrangement to build a site with whatever was needed to place the equipment and establish a power company… The small machine was more than enough to give Frontera the energy it needed but, since my grandfather was a foreigner, his name couldn’t appear on any legal document as part of the new business, so his friend - along with another guy - ended up as sole owners of the recently created company… my grandfather was then hired as a worker.

Circa 1946 Frontera, Tabasco saw the light.  They enjoyed electricity during night hours.   The equipment was on from 6 pm to 6 am. 

One late afternoon, as he was getting ready to power up the town - as he always did at dusk - there was an accident.  The equipment sort of got out of control destroying walls, ceiling and other equipment around it.  Frontera, Tabasco was in the dark once more.

He was not a man who gave up easily, so he then suggested getting the other machinery - the large one - to work.  It would not only provide enough energy for the town, but enough power to be used for something else; he thought it could be used for an ice factory, which would draw the shrimp boats into town - as they would pass by towards Campeche for the preparation and packaging of shrimp; subsequently, Frontera, Tabasco would benefit from this business and boost its economy.

But an ice factory wouldn’t be enough to attract the shrimp boats if there was no dock and the tables required to prepare the shrimp… so it called for a larger project and, of course, it was carried out under his supervision.

My grandfather did not only provide Frontera with energy, but also boosted the economy with the ice plant, and provided employment for the residents.