Smith, Elmer J.: 1FAMILYTREE Genealogy

1908 - 1986 (78 years)

Generation: 1

Smith, Elmer J. was born 26 Jul 1908, Freedom, Outagamie, Wisconsin, USA; died 7 Oct 1986, Freedom, Outagamie, Wisconsin, USA; was buried Aft 7 Oct 1986, St. Nicholas Catholic Cemetery, Freedom, Wisconsin, USA.

Other Events:

Biography: Aft 7 Oct 1986

Notes:

Biography:
ELMER JOHN SMITH (1909-1986) & DOROTHY VAN HOOF (1912-1996)Elmer Smith was the 10th of 13 children, but the 6th child and 2nd s on of John and Anna. This birth order was significant. When Elmer's next o ldest brother, Earl, was "on his own," four sisters were next in line, lea ving Elmer to manage the farm when their father could not. This occurr ed a number of times, due to John's ill health and accidents. When Elmer w as 14, for example, Elmer did the plowing when his dad was in the hospit al at Rochester, Minn. He continued farm work at home until age 22 wh en he joined his brother Earl's bridge building company. By then Elmer's t hree younger brothers, Harold, Florian and Ruben, were old enough to do fa rm work.Later in life Elmer admitted he didn't like farm work. "I had started t oo young and was working too long. I hauled in hay day after day. I miss ed a lot of days in grade school because of work, especially in the sprin g, for seeding. I also didn't go to high school because I was needed at ho me." But he liked bridge building and often talked about it. He continu ed that work from age 22 to 28 (1931-37).Elmer Smith and Dorothy Van Hoof met at a wedding in 1929. She was 17 a nd he was 20. Their dating was interrupted when Dorothy graduated from hi gh school and attended Badger Business College in Green Bay and boarded th ere (June, 1930). Dorothy, the oldest of five daughters of Anton & Elizabe th Schmitt Van Hoof, was told by her parents "no steady boyfriend whi le in school." They reconnected after her graduation (June, 1931), but dat ing became difficult due to their jobs. Elmer was working in constructio n, sometimes in N. Michigan, and Dorothy was employed in the fund raisi ng business office for the Salvatorian priests at St. Nazianz, WI, from 19 31-34. Every other weekend Elmer drove from his construction job to St. Na zianz, picked up Dorothy and continued on to Freedom. The route was then r eversed a day or two later. This continued for three years before they mar ried on May 1, 1934, at St. Nicholas Church, Freedom. Dinner was serv ed at the Van Hoof home. Dancing followed at the Nightingale Ballroom, ne ar Kaukauna, WI.There wasn't a honeymoon. The young couple stayed at Dorothy's parent's ho me for the night and then moved to Cavour, WI (near Laona) where Earl Smit h's bridge building crew was working. In July they moved again with the cr ew to Channing, Mich. Four others lived in a trailer with the newly wed s. Dorothy cooked for a crew of seven in a kitchen with a tar paper and st eel roof attached to the trailer. Rocks from the dynamite blasts would res ound off the roof. The kitchen had neither refrigerator nor water, which s he had to get from the creek, where she also washed clothes on a wash boar d. She also kept "business books" for Earl.Learning that Dorothy was pregnant (Bob), Elmer's mother, Anna, encourag ed them to move to the Smith Home Place. They lived in the upstairs of Elm er's parent's house, which now had running water for the first time (1934 ). Bob was born there (1935) during a blizzard. "To find us, Grandpa (Smit h) had to flag down the doctor on the highway."Elmer started his own trucking business, picking up cans of milk from farm ers and hauling them to his sister and brother-in-law, Berdina & Joe Konkl e's cheese factory. Later in the day, Elmer hauled coal to homes, business es and Freedom High School. For the next three years Elmer only worked pa rt time for his brother, Earl.Elmer and Dorothy decided to buy the farm that Elmer's parents had purchas ed across the road from the Home Place even though the farm buildings h ad not been used for some time. Elmer recalled, "The place was a shamble s. The stave silo was shot. We had to pull it down. The granary floor w as shot, so the house had been used to store grain. Mold was everywhere ." In the winter of 1935-36, while pregnant with her second child (Jack ), Dorothy used stain and varnish remover on the floors of that house. " We sanded and sanded." The walls were repaired by hired help who install ed "Upson Board." Grandma Smith helped by taking care of Bob.
Jack was the last Smith to be born on the Home Place. It was June, 1936, o ne of the hottest days of this hot summer. The temperature was 102 degree s. Jack almost died from dysentery. Dorothy's doctor told her not to ha ve another child for three years and suggested she talk to her pastor abo ut birth control since she was Catholic. She did. He recommended birth con trol and recommended a book on rhythm. Dorothy bought it, but "I didn't re ad it because I was already pregnant with Ron. I used rhythm all righ t; I had one after another." The remaining five children were born at a ho spital (St. Vincent's, Green Bay): Ron, Betty, Carole, Bill and Barbara.
Elmer farmed and continued his trucking business until his father, John, d ied, Dec.26, 1942. Elmer and Dorothy were reluctant to buy the Home Pla ce as were other family members. There was too much work on the large far m, a big house to "keep up" and 30 "unproductive" acres consisting of wood s, wetlands and a creek. Florian consented to do the chores on the farm, b ut told Elmer "If you don't buy this farm, I will quit today. I won't wo rk for anyone else." So they did buy in March, 1943.
Elmer sold his milk route to his brother, Earl, and his coal route to Haro ld Vandenberg, husband of Dorothy's sister, Mae. The farm "across the roa d" went to Elmer's sister, Berdina and her husband, Joe Konkle. Bob, Ja ck and Ron were happy to have cousins their age next door - Anita and Vern on Konkle. Their older brother, Urban, occasionally played baseball with t hem, too.
Renovations were needed on the Home Place, but nothing could be done unt il after World War II due to rationing and scarcity of materials. Then t he house was renovated, a double stall garage replaced the wood shed, a n ew machine shed was built as was a new milk house. The "lean-to" additi on on the north end of the barn was removed as were the horse stalls. Stan chions for cows, a pen for calves and for a bull and an automatic barn cle aner were installed.
To help pay for these improvements, Elmer and Dorothy leased land in 19 48 for a quarry to Elmer's brother, Florian, and their nephew, Elmer Konkl e, who needed rock to crush for a highway job for which they had contracte d. The quarry's production was short lived (a few years): the rock was ve ry hard, only low levels of dynamite could be used due to the proximi ty of buildings in the village, springs required constant pumping of wat er and Florian was disabled in 1952. So the hole filled with water and bec ame an excellent swimming and fishing spot for the Smith family. Elmer sto cked it with rock bass and other fish.
Elmer Smith began to develop heart problems in the 1950s. Heart attacks st arted in 1959 at age 50 and he began to think of alternatives to farmin g. He needed to work because son, Bill, was age 9, and Barbara, 6. The old er children were not interested in farming. Bob and Ron were studyi ng to be Catholic priests, Jack was working in a printing business and h ad married by then (Ruthann Wachel), Betty was in college prepari ng to be a teacher and Carole was in high school. So the Smith Home Pla ce was sold to Bill Gonnering in 1960. (See Appendix D for pictures of far m.) Elmer and Dorothy kept a lot in front of the quarry next to Jack and R uthann and built a house for themselves. Elmer then took the maintenance j ob at St. Nicholas Church and School. This was hard work, but didn't ha ve the same pressures of farming. Nevertheless, it eventually proved too d ifficult for Elmer's health to bear and he retired after 12 years in th at labor.
Elmer Smith died of a heart attack in his home on Oct.7, 1986, after spend ing the day with Dorothy, his wife of 52 years, and his sister, Mabel a nd her husband, Herman Schwartz, as they visited Our Lady of the Sacred He art Shrine at Polonia, WI, near Stevens Point. The day before had also be en a pleasant one for him reminiscing with Donald and Melvin Brittnache r, his nephews from California.
In Ron Smith's homily for his dad, he stated, "His faith was not highly vi sible nor outwardly pious…. Underneath - his life rested on steady and fi rm principles…. Dad worked in construction, sometimes as foreman of the cr ew…. He hauled milk and coal. He was a dairy farmer…. He was custodi an of this church…. He also served the parish as trustee under 4 or 5 past ors… and served as an usher and Communion distributor. In the civic commun ity, he served 17 years on the Freedom School Board."
Dorothy continued to live in their home until her death on Sept. 13, 199 6. This property then stayed in the family when Elmer Smith's nephew's (El mer Konkle) son, Steve Konkle and is wife Pat (Van Schindel) bought it. Ot her members of the Konkle clan had purchased land on the Smith Farm earlie r. They are descendants of Joseph and Berdina Smith Konkle. This is fitti ng since Berdina is the namesake and granddaughter of Albertina "Berdin a" and Anton Smits. Joe and Berdina's son, Elmer Konkle and his wife, Beve rly Riggles, had purchased land from Elmer & Dorothy Smith. Beverly, n ow a widow, remains on the property, and three of her sons, Steve, Ja ck & Russell and their families live in homes next to hers.

Elmer married VanHoof, Dorothy 1 May 1934, St. Nicholas Catholic Church, Freedom, Outagamie, Wisconsin, USA. Dorothy (daughter of VanHoof, Anton "Tony" and Schmitt, Elisabeth) was born 20 Feb 1912, Freedom, Outagamie, Wisconsin, USA; died 13 Sep 1996, Kaukauna, Outagamie, Wisconsin, USA; was buried Aft 13 Sep 1996, St. Nicholas Catholic Cemetery, Freedom, Wisconsin, USA. [Group Sheet]

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