hired by Interstate Power Co. as lineman apprentice in 1947.

This was also the year he met a rural Allamakee Co. school teacher June Esther Jacobson, daughter of John and Clara Jacobson of Waukon. They were married 24 Aug 1959.

Their 2 children. Kristi Ann Musolf  and Karen Marie Lambrecht have indeed made their house a home.

The out-of-doors was always in Dick's back pocket so his ‘free’ time, depending on the season, was fishing and hunting or hunting and fishing.

By 1972 he had been employed by Interstate Power Co. for 25 years. He had received service pins of recognition for 5,10,15,20 and 25 years. Retirement became both a friend and an enemy as the road-shortened life became less a battle and death a blessing.

Thomas and Lucy Gillman are buried in the Russell Cemetery, Winneshiek Co. Arthur and Mary Holm and Hans H. and Henrikka Holm are buried in the Lutheran Cemetery, Winneshiek Co. Richard ‘Dick’ Holm is buried in the Oakland Cemetery, Allamakee Co. Waukon.

Holt, Elmer and Eva (Thornton)

(Evelyn Seegmiller)

Eva and Elmer Holt

Elmer Holt was born 28 Sep 1894 in Sycamore, IL and died 5 Dec 1993. His parents were John Franklin and Emma (Richardson) Holt. His siblings were: Olive (Schemp); Reva (Hopwood); Edward, Forrest and Ray.

Eva (Thornton) was born 21 Feb 1896 in Union Co. IA and died 18 Jan 1981. Elmer and Eva are buried in Phelps Cemetery.

Eva’s parents William Orlando and Jane (Gordanier) Thornton are buried in Phelps Cemetery. Eva's siblings are: Bessie (Andrew Kessel); Roy (Josie Pederson); Andrew (Pearl Ruth); Mabel (Earl White); Gladys (John Ammondson); Richard (Lorna Dundee); Dorothy (Jim Reitnour).

Eva and Elmer were married 13 Nov 1916 in Riceville, IA. Their 6 children are: Raymond (b.1918-d. 1989 - m. Ruth Black), had 3 children. Douglas (b. 1919 - m. Eris Fay), had 7 children. June ( m. Forrest Fay and Vern Chaffin), had 6 children. Catherine  m. Kenneth Eagan), had 3 children. Ethel (m. DonGossman), had 5 children. Ethel’s twin sister died a few months after birth.

Elmer and Eva farmed in Howard Co., worked at a Riceville grocery and farmed in Winneshiek Co. From 1930 until retirement they owned and operated Holt Dairy in Decorah.

Elmer belonged to the Elks and Chamber of Commerce. He was one of the organizers of the Senior Citizens Center in Decorah. Both were active in the Methodist Church and Eva was chairman of the well known Baker chicken supper for years. She was also a Rebekah. They retired to Ryderwood, WA for some years before coming back to Decorah.

Holtey, Theodore and Katharina (Grosse)

(Joe Holtey)

Theodore Holtey (1825-1915) traveled from Beule, Prussia to Twin Springs (Festina) IA in 1856. He was the first and only Holtey to emigrate from Prussia (today Germany) to the New World. The youngest of 3 children he could not inherit the farm which went to his older brother, so he was paid off, as was the custom at the time, and was permitted to decide what to do with his money.

He joined the one million Germans who came to the Unites States between 1848 and 1858, either to escape the aftermath of the 1848 Revolution, to avoid military service or just for economic reasons—to buy cheap land in the midwestern U.S.

Theodore came from a family which dates back to the 13th Century when a man administering the lands of the knight, von Holtey, decided to assume his master’s name.

In 1400 the town of Essen invested the administrator Holtey with some land which remained in the family until 1972 when the farm was sold.

Theodore was born 9 Oct 1825 in Beule near Bonn, Germany, and not in Essen, because his father Johann had married a woman who owned land in Beule.

After coming to Iowa, Theodore married Katharina Grosse Sudtelgte on 1 Jul 1858 and settled on a small farm bordering Festina. Two years later he bought 240 acres of better land in Military Twp. By 1864 the farm became the largest in the area with 465 acres. Theodore and Katharina had 9 children: Mary (1859-1860), Caroline (1861-1942), Barney (1863-1948), Katie (1865-1960), Henry (1868-1888), John (1868-1871), Roman (1870-1942), Anna (1872-1959) and William (1875-1932). Of the 9 children, five eventually married. Caroline married Bill Eimers in 1879. They had 10 children, Barney married Elizabeth Gehling of Calmar in 1886. They had no children of their own but were given one of Caroline's sons, Ben, to raise as their own. Katie married John Umhoefer of Cherokee in 1884. They had one son: Theodore. Anna married Henry Miller in 1893. They had 12 children. William married Pauline Becker on 7 Sep 1897. They had 10 children.

Of the Theodore Holtey children, only William the youngest, had sons who would carry on the Holtey name and continue to work the Holtey farm.William bought the farm from his father when he married Pauline. Tragically how