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As I was going through photos, I found this one dated 1980. I'm not sure what year your G'ma and G'pa Schultz bought this 120 acre farm, but, this was the house as it was when they first moved into it. They later put yellow aluminum siding on and changed the front porch somewhat. The new owners of the farm have now removed that siding, added a large room on the west side, and are planning to build a huge summer porch all the way around from what I have been told. This house had that beautiful front entry with the large open staircase that I loved. And then there was that lovely leaded glass window !! Although I did not grow up in this home, it has some wonderful memories of Mom and Dad attached to it !!!

Emil and Emma

Here is one more old family wedding portrait - your paternal great grandparents, Emma Moege and Emil Schultz, on August 7, 1911. The vintage wedding gowns and veils are just absolutely gorgeous and unique. It was my understanding that the Moege family were quite "well-to-do" and gave this couple their farm and home as a wedding present. I like to look at the facial expressions and imagine what the couple might have been thinking at the time the photo was taken. G'pa looks somewhat scared and G'ma looks like she has everything "in her control". According to my Dad, she did "rule the roost". They raised a family of seven sons and one daughter on that farm in South Dakota. Four of the boys remained bachelors and helped on the family farm until they were in their late 30's. I'm sure G'ma and G'pa had their hands full with all those children !!

Elton and Esther

On October 2, 1933, my Mom and Dad kind of eloped. It was the time of the great depression, Dad was "riding the rails" back and forth from South Dakota to Iowa to work for a farmer. It was harvest time and days were filled with picking corn. In those days, corn was picked by hand and the more bushels you could pick, the more money you made. Dad made a fast trip home one week end -- he and Mom had conspired to get married. Neither of their parents approved of the other, so being they were in love with each other, they made their own plans. It was fast and quick and Dad was on his way back to Iowa. It was three weeks before they saw each other again. Dad went back for Mom, they took off for Iowa together and their life as a married couple began. Dad told me this story at their 60th anniversary dinner. All the years while growing up, I knew their parents were against the marriage and sometimes made life difficult for them, but, they survived. Love conquers all !!!

My Dad's Big Family

This formal family portrait of the Schultz clan was also taken in the early '30's. Dad is the guy on the right in the center row, the oldest of seven sons and one daughter. L. to R., top row, Urban ( aka Slim) and Bill, center, Lehman, Lloyd, Delbert, Elton (Dad), bottom row, Elda, G'pa Emil, G'ma Emma, and Calvin, the youngest. Dad outlived all his siblings except for Calvin. Calvin Schultz was an artist, teacher, and musician. He contracted polio as a young boy which left one of his legs weak and needing a brace to be able to walk. There is a celebration in Mitchell, South Dakota every August - The Corn Palace Festival. A community building resembling a palace has murals inside and out with scenes designed and then covered with ornamental ears and kernels of corn, and grains and grasses to give them color. Uncle Calvin was commissioned to design these scenes, which can be viewed year round, from 1977 through 2002. Visits to South Dakota as a child were always fun filled -- with all of these uncles, there was never a dull moment.

The Schultz Family

This photo is dated 1951. Mom was good about having professional photos of us kids when we were very small, then the yearly school photos kind of took over. There was never a professional family photo taken until Mom and Dad's 50th wedding anniversary in 1983 when we had a photographer come to the house the day of the celebration. A snapshot of just the five of us together is rare -- this is the only one I have and my memory fails me as to who might have taken it. We appear to be "dressed up" for an occasion and the setting is not our home. I do know the vest and slacks I am wearing were red gabardine made by my Mom and I absolutely loved that outfit. I wore it every time we went anywhere. My brother can still get that funny little smirk on his face !!