Apparently Torbjørn and Mette lost a daughter named Gurine Elisabet at a very young age. So they named their next daughter Gurine Elisabet but lost her in 1902 at about age eight. Happily, their last daughter, likewise named Gurine Elisabet, was born shortly thereafter and seems to have survived her childhood.

If a child was lost in infancy, it was not uncommon for the parents to give the same name to a subsequent child.

Gurine studied some in Oslo, Norwegian and bookkeeping, and worked some in Bergen. Thereafter she lived at home as a working housewife.