Kjome, George Benneth and Agnes Genevieve (Polley)

(Mildred Kjome)

George B. Kjome and Agnes Polley Kjome, 1936.

George Kjome was born 10 Apr 1908 in Highland Twp to Andrew and Clausine Kjome, He was baptized and confirmed at Highland Lutheran Church and completed the eighth grade at the Kjome School. George graduated from Decorah High School in 1925 and from Luther College in 1929. Although he was not the biggest kid on the team, he could move fast, so he excelled in track, basketball and football. He rode his bicycle to Highland Twp and as far as Spring Grove, MN to sell books for school money. He worked on the C.K. Preus Gym building crew with his dad while he went to Luther. On his graduation day he hitchhiked to the state line to work on road construction. In 1929 he was drafted as a teacher and coach by Clifton Junior College in Clifton, TX for the 1929-30 school year. But Texas was not the place for a man with his principles of equality for all people. The next year, George was hired to teach in Republic, KS where he met Agnes Polley, a teacher in the same school system. They had in common a love of dancing and “big band” music - a courtship was carried out in the ballrooms of north Kansas towns. But George did not stay in Kansas either. He entered the University of Iowa Law School. The depression came along and money being scarce, George returned to Decorah in 1933 to teach and coach at Decorah High School. He went back to Kansas and married his “Wild Irish Rose" on 27 Jul 1934. The couple returned to live in Decorah. In 1945 they took over the North Street property where they raised their four children: Mike, Nils, Mildred and John. George had a natural talent for storytelling so history was the obvious teaching assignment for him. He made U.S. History a personal experience for Decorah High School students.

He knew every one of them by name and knew their family histories. He always brought out the best about their place in local history. In the nearly 50 years that he was associated with the Decorah schools, he taught several generations in many of the families. He had some unusual teaching techniques: his students may recall the annual Battle of Gettysburg fought on the blackboard using football strategy diagrams and Walter Cronkite’s “You Are There" records.

Sports would always be a great part of his life. He started the Junior High School basketball, track, and baseball programs in 1933 and also the first Cross Country team at Decorah in 1956. In 1946, he was made varsity track coach as well as being assistant varsity football coach. Decorah High School didn’t have facilities for track so the team often practiced in the hallways of the school, or in the street, or even around the track at the fair grounds. He encouraged every boy to be physically fit and to participate on the team. He went the extra mile, sometimes many miles, to make it possible for some boys to go out for the team, by driving them home after practice in time to do their farm chores. From the beginning, his cross country teams were successful in state-level competition, winning State championships in 1957, ’58, '59, '64, '66, ’67, ’68, making him one of the “winningest” cross country coaches in Iowa history. In 1968, he was given the Coach's Achievement Award for 12 cross country run championships, 1956-1968. In 1973, he was inducted into the Iowa Association of Track Coaches Hall of Fame.

He was also made an Honorary Chapter Farmer by the Decorah Future Farmers of America. In 1980, George’s name was added to the Luther College Athletic Hall of Fame. Beside teaching and coaching, George always had a summer job. In the 1930’s he worked for Hormel in Austin, MN., in the early 40’s he was groundskeeper at the Oneota Country Club.

In 1946, George took over management of the Decorah Municipal Swimming Pool. He continued in this summer job for 23 years. It was a 24-hours-a-day, 7 days-a-week kind of responsibility. On hot summer nights he would return to the pool after closing, sometimes several times, to check that nobody had climbed the fence and had an accident. The pool provided employment for many young people in Decorah and under his management was a popular summer retreat. Before the pool opened in the afternoon, he often sat on the grass slope outside the entrance telling the little kids stories. He always had time for them - to listen to them and share his stories with them.

He was a great storyteller. His own kids remember the wonderful bedtime stories he made up about a Box Elder Bug, Popbug Pete, Springdoofer the Grasshopper, Mrs. Jack-a-Snaps-Rabbit-Snaps, and stories about the old days, like the one about the Quandahl boys and the bear. Stories were also a vital part of the Sunday trips to Spring Grove, to Aunt Cora Ramlo’s house. The trip itself was a journey through the history of the settlement of the area.

The same story was told at the same point along the road so that we would remember who lived there and what had happened in that place. Sunday dinners were

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