Lawrence Bolson and Violet Young
marriage at St. John’s Lutheran Church, Locust, IA, Septembers, 1917.

sponsors. She was confirmed at St. John’s Lutheran Church, Locust, IA 20 Jul 1913 by Pastor Knut Seehuus.

Violet loved horses. Her favorite horse was Bess. She drove to Locust for confirmation and to help her bachelor uncle, Henry Gutzka, who lived southwest of Locust. Violet attended Valders Business College in Decorah and stayed with her aunt and uncle, the Emil Rosenthals, who lived at the Corner of North and Center Street in West Decorah. Violet's father never drove a car but he bought a Dodge and Violet learned to drive it. While learning to drive the car she ran into the windmill but did little damage. She worked as a hired girl for farm families in the area. She was a member of St. John’s Lutheran at Locust until her marriage. (See Lawrence and Violet Bolson family history.)

Boots, Kenneth and Julie (Clauson) and Family

(Julie (Clauson) Boots)

The Kenneth Boots family

Left to right: Paul Boots, Norma (Boots) Refsal, Ken, Julie, Linda (Boots) Christianson and John Boots. August 1984

Kenneth and I have lived in the northeast corner of Highland Twp., Winneshiek Co. since Dec 1977. We purchased a small acreage which borders on land that once belonged to my maternal grandparents, Mikkel and Johanna Peterson, and we built a home there in the fall of 1977. Since I, Julie, grew up on a farm in Highland Twp., this location was “love at first sight’’ for me.

We moved there from Wabasha, MN where they lived for 31 years. It was in Wabasha where we raised our family of four. John (our oldest) was 3 years old when we moved there, but Linda , Norma and Paul  were all born in Wabasha. John was born in Tucson, AZ. At the time Kenneth was with the U.S. Border Patrol and we lived in the village of Sasabe, AZ on the Mexican border. We came to Wabasha by chance in Oct 1946, two weeks after Kenneth completed his tour of duty with the U.S. Army. He was a Second Lieutenant then, but continued in the Army Reserve and retired as a Major in 1969. After discharge from the Army in 1946 Kenneth decided to return to teaching. In October there were few teaching vacancies, but there was one in Wabasha - a lovely little town on the Mississippi River. In a way that river shaped the lives of our family as the children grew up there.

Kenneth and Julie Boots

In Wabasha the children swam, dived, went canoeing and boating. They also camped, did commercial fishing, ice fished, hunted agates, watched eagles and had a good life. The Mississippi River was the source of much wholesome activity.

At Wabasha High School Kenneth began as a classroom teacher. Later he was promoted to high school principal and a short time before he left was chosen to be a guidance counselor. I, Julie, began teaching in the junior and senior high in Wabasha when our youngest son Paul started kindergarten. The only other time in our lives that Kenneth and I taught in the same school was in Wapello, IA where we met. We were married 18 May 1941 at Waterloo Ridge Lutheran Church located 2 1/2 miles from our present home. After retiring from teaching in 1977, we transferred our church membership to Waterloo Ridge Church.