Gustav Fredrick Schulz was born January 2,1891, the fifth child of Robert and Louisa (Jahn) Schulz. The family lived in a sod house six miles northeast of Bladen, Nebraska. School was a challenge to the first few to go to school as German was the only language used in the home. All eight of the Schulz children attended the Cloverton school, District 25. Great Grandma Jahn and Great Grandpa Schulz made their home with the family until their deaths. Grandpa Robert passed away October 12, 1923 after a lengthy battle with cancer of the lip. Grandma Louise passed away May 31,1936. She had been in frail health ever since the tornado that destroyed the barn and tore the shingles and chimney from the house in May, 1931.
January 26, 1916 at Hastings, Nebraska, Gus married Hester Ellen Karr, the youngest daughter of William and Dora (Baker) Karr. She was born October 24, 1895 on a farm west of Blue Hill. Her Mother was an invalid at the time of her birth and was unable to care for her baby, so grandparents, Phillip and Mary Karr took baby Hester to live with them. Her Mother died August 17, 1898 at Riverton, Nebraska. It was thought she may have had M.S. or M.D. Blanche, seven and William, 5 went to live with the Karr grandparents at that time.
After their marriage they resided for a time on a farm near Cowles, Nebraska with Albert and Blanche (Karr) Schulz. Dorothy was small. Later they moved to the Martin farm 2 1/2 miles west of Blue Hill, where Arthur was born August 16, 1918 and Nina was born November 19, 1922. They survived the financial crises of 1929, bank closings and the drouth and dust storms of the “Dirty Thirties.”
In the fall of fall of 1941 they moved into the Oscar Dahms farm buildings. The Dahms family had gone to California to work in the shipyards during the National emergency which was created by the threat of war in Europe. It became a reality when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands and war was declared on Germany and Japan. In 1942 they moved to the Borcherding farm where they resided until 1948 when ill health forced Gus to quit farming. They moved to the Gus Krueger farm buildings and later to Blue Hill, where in 1954 they bought the house at 410 West Lancaster. He worked for the city utilities for a time and also for government grain storage until he retired in 1956.
January, 1966, they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary with an open house at St. Paul’s Lutheran church, hosted by their children and their families. He enjoyed working in the yard and garden while she kept busy with quilting, embroidery, tatting and Ladies Aid.
Gus passed away on Sunday morning, August 6, 1978 at Perkins Pavillion in Hastings after spending a week in the Mary Lanning Hospital and three days at Perkins. This was his first time to be in the hospital in his 87 years. He had been in failing health since 1970 when he had suffered a light stroke during the summer. He had hardening of the arteries which had caused him to be very confused much of the time. Burial in the Blue Hill Cemetery. Hester went to live with Nina in 1984. On April 12, 1987 she suffered a massive heart attack and went to Bethesda Care Center upon her release from the hospital in Hastings. She passed away quietly in her sleep on April 1, 1988 from another heart attack. Burial in Blue Hill Cemetery.
Source:
Information courtesy of Delores (Karr) Krichau’s family history compilation
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