- UNCLE ENGELBERT
I think he'd faint if anyone called him that. To us he was Uncle Ber t, or Uncle Red. Mom didn't like that latter, so mostly we called him Unc le Bert. She also said this tallest and slimmest of the Schuster brothe rs most resembled Grandpa Ferdinand in features and build. When I spo ke to him, and asked him if he remembered anything about his Dad, he sa id he was only nine months old when his father died.
In addition to Uncle Paul, he was a familiar part of Grandma's house, f or he always lived "at home", even after he married Aunt Iva. We got wo rd of their wedding in the mail. He got a pretty bride, we thought, and s he seemed to fit into the family gatherings as though she'd always been th ere. I wonder what she thought the first time, with that raft of relative s, each man with a bottle and each lady with an armload of food turning h er kitchen into a babble of chaotic, Good-natured arguments, with the a ir blue from cigarette smoke, and kids all over the place. We little gir ls thought she and Aunt Elma were "tops". Neither of them spoke German, a nd we could hear the latest ... we could always understand them, and we kn ew how to spell. Aunt Iva was really good-natured and laughed easil y. I don't remember her having to get after us for anything so maybe we w eren't too bad.
In addition to the two girls pictured ... Gwendolyn and Lois Ann, they ha ve a son Mike, who with his wife, Virginia, and three children now li ve on "Grandma's Place".I don't know if he owns it, or if Uncle Engelbert does now. In additi on to farming, Uncle Bert worked for the Federal Crop Insurance Corp. Th is entails measuring bins, assessing hail and drought damage fields, et c. At 77 he is still "on call" in the area.
Since he is one of the few of the family that still knows who I am, witho ut explanation,I try to keep in touch. He calls about once a year to see how the crops a nd cattle etc. are, or maybe just to check in. If I have a question about "family lore" I will give him a ring now and then.
I can't tell you why he is so special. . Is it his warmth and interes t? I like to think that it is, but more than that, I think that it's becau se that he and Aunt Iva gave such complete acceptance to the man I chose. No remarks about non-Catholicism . . ."You'll get homesick out there ." . . .. "It's the coldest place in America." all that sort of jazz.
I didn't see him often dressed like the man in the photo. More familiar to me were the bib overalls, or the dark colored matching work outfit s. He seemed to get along with everyone around him and the least argumentative, at least in my memory I do not ever hear him with a raised voice. In later years, although he was at Uncle John's in Great Falls, he was the few that I visited with "on my turf". Big John or Anna would ca ll and say he was coming, and Bob and I would drive to the Falls to visit with him. Still the quiet listener more than the avid talker, he is an interesting conversationalist. Like Uncle Paul he read a great deal, took an interest in methods of good husbandry, politics, history, family and many other current subjects. Both of us enjoyed his company .
I guess you could say, "He's comfortable to be around." for he's most li ke Mom in temperament. Though he was only a ten-year old boy when my paren ts were married. I have my doubts that this was due to the influen ce of a big sister.
I thoroughly enjoy being around this baby brother of Mom's ... as an Uncle ...as a Friend.
By Mary Kaiser Conard, 1988
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1911 - 2000 (88 years)
1930 Census
