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- http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~stallman/Speck/goehrings.htm
WILBUR AND AGNES GOEHRING FAMILY
Wilbur Goehring Family -1956. Back row: Phyllis, Joan, Mary Agnes, Wilbur, Jr.,
Wilbur, Agnes and Bonnie. Front row: Kenneth, Eugene and Dianne.
Wilbur Goehring was born February I, 1915, in Valley Township to Charles and Mary Goehring. When he was seven years old, he was playing with a dynamite cap when it exploded and blew off three fingers on his left hand and burned his face quite badly. He attended Loomis school and the School of Agriculture at Brookings, South Dakota. He was an avid boxer and the district Golden Gloves Champion in 1934.
On February 27, 1937, he married Agnes Haiwick, who was born May 2, 1918, in Washington Township to Knute and Gunda Haiwick. They lived on a farm in Loomis Township. Wilbur was a farm reporter for the 1938 Agricultural Program of the ASC. He worked for the ASC in various capacities during his life. He was one of the supervisors of the Hyde County Conservation Districts for a time. He loved farming and loved to try out new ideas and methods, experiment with new varieties of grain, and acquire the most modern machinery he could afford.
One of the worst disasters occurred September 5-6, 1947, when a huge prairie fire raged over northern Hyde County. The fIre came less than 1/4 mile east of the buildings on the farm, burning much pasture, hay, and fence posts. The Highway Patrol warned everyone to leave so Agnes loaded up the kids and pets and went to Charles Goehring's, and picked up Mary and Judy Goehring and Sharon and went to the Bob Mason farm at Holabird for safety after taking some things down in the cave. The men battled the flames until they were exhausted before bringing the fire under control.
Phyllis contacted tuberculosis in her knee joint and was in the Sioux Valley Hospital at Sioux Falls, South Dakota at various times for a number of years for operations and treatments. It left her with a stiff leg.
On February 28, 1950, Mr. and Mrs. Kurt Zagar and two children, Bergetta, age 6, and Harold, age 4, arrived by train to make their home with the Goehrings. Kurt was a machinist from Latvia which had been taken over by the Russians during World War II, causing them to be displaced. The Lutheran Church in Highmore helped to sponsor their trip to America. They lived with the Goehrings until August when he found employment in Langford, South Dakota and moved there. They now live in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
One of the worst winters occurred in 1951-52. It began with a blizzard on December 6 which blocked many roads in the county. As soon as roads were opened they drifted shut. Wilbur, Agnes and family walked the 1 1/2 miles to his folk's for Christmas dinner. They had to take bobsleds as far as Holabird to get to town. Joan had an appendicitis operation and had to be flown home from Holabird as roads were completely blocked. Wilbur and Agnes also had to be flown home after taking Phyllis to Sioux Falls for a treatment. Roads were still bad enough at Easter Sunday, April 22, so that families couldn't get together.
Wilbur had a wind charger and batteries which supplied electricity for the farm until he put a generator in his new granary to supply the electricity until REA brought in electricity.
In 1952, they purchased a restaurant in Highmore and moved into the Emory Straight place on the east end of Highmore. They operated the Coffee Cup Cafe or the Snack Shack, as it was sometimes called, until September 1953, when they sold it to Bill Ellsworth. They then moved out to Wilbur's mother's farm in Loomis Township.
Wilbur and Agnes were leaders of the Loomis Happy Helpers 4-H Club for many years. Wilbur was active on school and township boards, Lutheran church boards, Farmers Union and other community activities. He helped form the Hyde County Telephone Company in 1952, a temporary company, and was elected a supervisor of the company. In 1956, he built a new confinement chicken house with all modern equipment and sold hatching eggs to the Crossman hatchery in Miller for a number of years.
A happy day for the kids was October 15, 1955, when they came home from school and discovered they had their first TV set..
Wilbur and Agnes had eight children: 1.Mary Agnes, born April 23, 1938; 2. Wilbur, Jr., born January 6, 1940; 3. Joan, born May 3, 1941; 4. Phyllis, born October 13, 1942; 5. Kenneth (Butch), born January 3, 1945; 6. Eugene, born November 20, 1949; 7. Dianne, born May 11, 1951; and 8 .Bonnie, born July 18, 1955. They all attended Loomis School and all grad-uated from Highmore High except Wilbur, Jr. who graduated from the School of Agriculture at Brookings, South Dakota. Wilbur and Agnes had someone attending Highmore High every year from 1952-1973 except for one year from 1963-64.
Wilbur supplemented his farming by working on the Big Bend Dam at Fort Thompson as a carpenter and welder until it was finished. He was accidentally drowned October 10, 1964, while working as a welder on the Platte-Winner bridge on the Missouri River.
Agnes continued to operate the farm and married Ernest "Bud" Hahn on December 31, 1966. He had two children: 1. Cheryl, born September 9, 1949, attended South Dakota State College, Brookings, South Dakota, married Mike Cowan and they presently farm south of Highmore; and 2. Michael, born April 8, 1953, attended National .School of Business, Rapid City and is presently employed at Harrison, Nebraska.
Bud and Agnes moved to Highmore for some months in 1967 while Kenneth operated the farm before going to the Army. Bud worked for Clark Westcott at this time. Since then, Bud and Agnes have continued to farm in Loomis Township.
Mary Agnes attended Northern State at Aberdeen and taught school in Hyde County and Mobridge, South Dakota. She married Harold Hinkle and they farm in Valley Township. They have three boys: Jerald, and twins, Douglas and Darrel.
Wilbur, Jr. married Donna Durrett and farmed in Loomis Township, taught school in Hyde County, attended General Beadle College at Madison and graduated from Northern State at Aberdeen. He was divorced and is now married to Lynette Rapskopf. He works for the Aberdeen American News. He has two daughters: Elizabeth and Ellen; one foster daughter,. Darlene Karlen; and three stepchildren: Troy, Rhonda and Lynel Rapskopf.
Joan graduated from Augustana College at Sioux Falls, taught school at Arlington and married Kenneth Hansen. They taught in Madison and at Ellsworth AFB at Rapid City. They now live in Forrest City, Iowa where Ken is a teacher at Waldorf College. They have two children: Susan and Kevin.
Phyllis attended Augustana College at Sioux Falls and married Larry Ehlers who is an electrical engineer working for Univac. They live in Fridley, Minnesota and have two daughters: Colleen and Brenda.
Kenneth attended the North Dakota State School of Science at Wahpeton, North Dakota and married Renee Kurtz. He farmed for a time in Loomis Township. He accidentally drowned while serving in the Army in Germany on May 25, 1969.
Eugene attended the Denver Automotive School at Denver, Colorado and served in the Army. He married Roxie Myers and works for Manuel Hobus. They have one son: Tony.
Dianne married Jim Hoffman. They now operate Hoffman's Service Station in Highmore. They have three children: Leanne, Kenneth, and John.
Bonnie attended Northern State College at Aberdeen. She married Elmer Lennick and works for Pioneer Garage at Highmore. Elmer works for the Farmers Union Oil Company.
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