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The History of Stacyville, Iowa:
1856-2006
by Cheryl Mullenbach (2005)
Stacyville...1941-1950
Another
tumultuous time interrupted life in Stacyville. Young people from Stacyville
joined others from around the country to fight in a second world war. Some
families had several members in the military—stationed all over the world.
Occasionally Stacyville natives ran into one another in far-off places.
Stacyville natives took part in major battles of
the war. One
Stacyville girl cared for patients who had been liberated from a
concentration camp. Some Stacyville natives were wounded and recovered.
Others were killed.
Those who
survived the war settled into peacetime living back home in Stacyville or on
farms in the area. The post-war years generally were considered good years
by most historians. And most Stacyville residents enjoyed peacetime living.
The Methodist Church building was for sale. The ice hockey team competed
with neighboring towns. Baseball was still a favorite Sunday afternoon
pastime. But an era came to an end when the Opera House lot and equipment
were sold. And
the public school closed its doors for the final time.
And just about
the time Stacyville residents were getting used to the idea of peace,
another world conflict intervened. By 1950 America was again involved in a
military skirmish, this time in Korea. And again life in Stacyville was
affected as young people left to fight in Asia. But between World War II and
the Korean War, farmers, business owners and children in Stacyville enjoyed
the usual pursuits.
In May 1941
graduation exercises for 15 seniors were held at Visitation High School.
Those receiving diplomas were Catherine Weisensel, Mary Spartz, Ramona
Hatten, Esther Halbach, Helen Mullenbach, Marcella Kreber, Helen Mayer,
Kathryn Simon, Cletus Hatten, Robert Beland, Daniel Gilles, Ralph Michels,
Ralph Brumm, Albert Diedrich and Raphael Durben. The seniors presented the
play “Coming through the Rye.”
The news of war
dominated in 1942—worldwide and in Stacyville. In March Dr. T.E. Blong
conducted a planning meeting for a Red Cross first aid class. The class
would consist of 10 sessions, each two hours long. These classes were
organized in every county in the country. “Quite a large number” of people
signed up for the Stacyville class.
In March 1942
several Stacyville area men joined the Armed Forces. Frederick Klapperich
and Gerald Weber of Stacyville left for Des Moines where they were inducted
into the U.S. Army. Albert A. May was accepted for enlistment in the Navy.
In May Ralph Mayer, Albert Brumm and Jerome Mayer were called up to serve in
the Army.
The annual
meeting of the shareholders of the Stacyville Opera House Company was held
in January 1943 at the Gerbig Hardware, according to secretary Hardy Stehn.
The Stacyville Grain & Coal Company reported a “good business year.”
Officers were: James Reding, John P. May, Henry Smith, John Hemann, and Carl
Blake. Joe Pitzen was manager and his assistant was Sy Pitzen.
In the spring
of 1943 the Visitation senior class presented the play “Double Trouble.” The
cast included Helen Simon, Clarence Brumm, Angela Wagner, Alverna Blake,
Sylvia Adams, Ralph Beland, Stephen Duren, Marvin Krebsbach, Adeline Gilles,
Eileen Spartz, Willard Blaser, Robert Schrandt, Edwin Mayer, Gertrude Falk,
and Rosemary Kreber.
Late in 1943
Mr. and Mrs. C.E. Rex, who operated the Stacyville Telephone Exchange for 15
years, sold to the Iowa Central Telephone Exchange Company. They sold their
residence to Louis Ethen, who operated the creamery. The Rexes purchased a
farm north of Osage.
In the spring
of 1944 the Stacyville Theater was obliged to increase admission prices for
adults to 35 cents and for children under age 12 to 12 cents. Manager Tyler
regretted the move, but was forced to do so because of “higher federal
amusement taxes.” He promised to continue to give his patrons the “best
shows possible.”
Births in 1944
included Nicholas Hatten, Kathleen Lambaere, Robert Thome, Joyce Blaser,
Sharon Halbach, Grant Gerhart, Dorothy Durben, and Dorothy Retterath.
Ernie Adams and
his crew harvested the 1944 ice crop during the final week of 1944. It was
reported that the weather was “perfect” and the ice was “crystal clear and
sixteen inches thick.” The juniors and seniors of Visitation High
enjoyed a potluck and bunco party at the William Weis home in early January
1945. Irmarose Weis was the hostess
and was
assisted by Edna Ginder. Prizes for high in bunco were given to Rita
Heimerman and William Halbach.
Stacyville was
described as “a noisy place” following the announcement by President Truman
that Japan had surrendered. Stacyville’s fire siren and the bells at the
public school, fire station, Methodist Church and Visitation Church were
“put to real sound tests” for a half hour. Some of the kids put on a street
parade and “many of our town and countryside people reduced the energy of
their car battery.” A special prayer service was held at Visitation Church.
It was reported
there was “a grand feeling of joy and happiness that the war has ceased.”
Early in 1946
Carl Brown opened “an electric store” in “the Wageman block.” The new
business would be called “Brown’s Electric.” The new firm planned to do
inside and outside wiring. Matt Stammeyer severed his connections with the
Co-op Oil Company and purchased the Standard Service Station. He also
purchased the residence in the back of the station from Steve Blaser. He
planned to build an addition to the station where he would offer “greasing
and oiling
of cars.” Al
Halbach took over as manager of the Coop Service Station. Ralph Mayer was in
charge of the truck service.
In the spring
of 1946 the interior of the Visitation Church was redecorated. The work was
done by “expert painters and frescoing artists.” Services continued
throughout the work.
The soybean
crop in 1947 “swamped” the Stacyville Elevator bins. The bean storage tanks
were reported full and 56 trucks were lined up one Saturday for a distance
of four blocks waiting to unload. The price held “around $3 a bushel” with
an annual yield of “20 bushels to the acre.”
Jerry
Hackenmiller completed his training at the Cedar Rapids Barber School and
started work at the Metz Barber Shop in the summer of 1948. The Stacyville
Grain & Coal Co. changed its name to the Stacyville Co-op Company. Jerome
Adams sold his DX Tank Wagon to F.J. Brown.
Stacyville
voters in the 1948 presidential election gave Thomas E. Dewey 130 votes and
Harry S. Truman 371 votes. The Stacyville Commercial Club was organized in
1948. Officers were: F.J. Brown, president; Dr. C.E. Staudt, vice president;
Clem Pitzen, secretary/treasurer. Young people in town were pleased to learn
that a skating pond was planned on the “lots west of Sy Stolzenberg’s
residence.”
A shipment of
2,000 bass and 3,000 bluegills was placed in the Little Cedar River. A new
business opened in town in late 1949 when Mrs. Verla Young from St. Ansgar
opened a ladies’ ready-to-wear shop in the “Wolf Block.” The shop had been
operated as a beauty shop by Mrs. Wayne Schuhart, who moved her business to
Little Cedar. Mrs. Jerry Hackenmiller sold Avon products. Larry Huemann
joined his dad, Paul, in the milk and cream hauling business.
Births during
1950 included: Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Wolf, a son; Mr. and Mrs. Fred Bissen, a
son; Mr. and Mrs. Barney Retterath, a son; Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Hemann, a
son; Mr. and Mrs. W.J. Schrandt, a son; and Mr. and Mrs. Roy Wageman, a
girl.
Twenty children
received their First Communion at Visitation Church in the spring of 1950:
Veronica Adams, James Bawek, Richard Gerk, Janice Halbach, Herman Krebsbach,
Kevin Loecher, Howard Mauer, Gary Mauer, Dennis Meek, Margaret Meyer,
Stephen Pitzen, James Retterath, David Schilling, Daniel Smith, Mary
Schmidt, Kathryn Schmidt, Robert Wagner, James Wageman, and Terrance Weber.
The ‘40s were
over and the ‘50s were off to a good start. It would be a couple of years
before those serving in the Korean War would return to town. But Stacyville
had entered the decade of the ‘50s much like other small towns—sock hops in
the gym and an ice cream shop on Main Street, cars with fins, boys with
ducktails and girls with pony tails.
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