Ferd Wiebelhaus was born to Herman and Anna Maria Wiebelhaus and raised in Bow Valley, Nebraska, where he met and married Anna Mueller on May 26, 1903, at Constance, Nebraska.They resided in Bow Valley until 1910 when they moved to Harris, Iowa, where he worked as a carpenter at a lumber company. In 1913, Ferd moved to Fairfax, South Dakota, where he was the manager for the James A. Smith Lumber Company. In the early 1930s, he lived in Bonesteel where he was one of the foreman on the construction of the Bonesteel City Hall.
In 1950, he returned to Fairfax as Manager of the Fairfax Cooperative Association elevator. With William Koenig, Ferd began the Home Lumber Company in Fairfax, retiring in 1954.
Ferd's wife, Anna Mueller, preceded him in death on September 22, 1961, after 58 years of marriage.
Ferd and Anna had two sons and two daughters: Cyril E. Wiebelhaus of Boring, Oregon; Virgil Wiebelhaus of Springfield, Pennsylvania; Mrs. Florence(Bill) Opbroek of Bonesteel, South Dakota; and Mrs. Hildegarde (Tom) Donlin of Bristow, Nebraska. He was also survived by one brother, Fred of Constance, Nebraska; eleven grandchildren; and fourteen great grandchildren.
Ferd was active in civic life in Fairfax and served in the Home Guard during World War I, on the town's Board of Trustees for many years, and was a 25-year member of the Fire Department. He was a faithful Catholic all his life.
Ferd was well-known and officiated as Umpire at city baseball games. One anecdote about him told how he always had a lit cigar in his mouth during the games that he worked from one side of his mouth to the other, so much so that a spectator yelled out, "Hey, Wiebelhaus, your chewing tobacco's on fire!"
Ferd was a gentle giant of a man who was universally respected and liked. He was interred in a cemetery north of Fairfax with Father Lambert conducting the Requiem High Mass Burial.
NOTE: Ferd's son, Cyril, relates the story of how the Ku Klux Klan burned a cross on their lawn when his folks were out and the children home alone. This may have been during the five year period (1922-1927) when the Klan thrived in South Dakota mostly from its anti-Catholic stance.
http://www.oocities.org/crazyoglala/pahasapa_KKK1920s.html
In 1950, he returned to Fairfax as Manager of the Fairfax Cooperative Association elevator. With William Koenig, Ferd began the Home Lumber Company in Fairfax, retiring in 1954.
Ferd's wife, Anna Mueller, preceded him in death on September 22, 1961, after 58 years of marriage.
Ferd and Anna had two sons and two daughters: Cyril E. Wiebelhaus of Boring, Oregon; Virgil Wiebelhaus of Springfield, Pennsylvania; Mrs. Florence(Bill) Opbroek of Bonesteel, South Dakota; and Mrs. Hildegarde (Tom) Donlin of Bristow, Nebraska. He was also survived by one brother, Fred of Constance, Nebraska; eleven grandchildren; and fourteen great grandchildren.
Ferd was active in civic life in Fairfax and served in the Home Guard during World War I, on the town's Board of Trustees for many years, and was a 25-year member of the Fire Department. He was a faithful Catholic all his life.
Ferd was well-known and officiated as Umpire at city baseball games. One anecdote about him told how he always had a lit cigar in his mouth during the games that he worked from one side of his mouth to the other, so much so that a spectator yelled out, "Hey, Wiebelhaus, your chewing tobacco's on fire!"
Ferd was a gentle giant of a man who was universally respected and liked. He was interred in a cemetery north of Fairfax with Father Lambert conducting the Requiem High Mass Burial.
NOTE: Ferd's son, Cyril, relates the story of how the Ku Klux Klan burned a cross on their lawn when his folks were out and the children home alone. This may have been during the five year period (1922-1927) when the Klan thrived in South Dakota mostly from its anti-Catholic stance.
http://www.oocities.org/crazyoglala/pahasapa_KKK1920s.html
Ferd Wiebelhaus was born to Herman and Anna Maria Wiebelhaus and raised in Bow Valley, Nebraska, where he met and married Anna Mueller on May 26, 1903, at Constance, Nebraska.They resided in Bow Valley until 1910 when they moved to Harris, Iowa, where he worked as a carpenter at a lumber company. In 1913, Ferd moved to Fairfax, South Dakota, where he was the manager for the James A. Smith Lumber Company. In the early 1930s, he lived in Bonesteel where he was one of the foreman on the construction of the Bonesteel City Hall.
In 1950, he returned to Fairfax as Manager of the Fairfax Cooperative Association elevator. With William Koenig, Ferd began the Home Lumber Company in Fairfax, retiring in 1954.
Ferd's wife, Anna Mueller, preceded him in death on September 22, 1961, after 58 years of marriage.
Ferd and Anna had two sons and two daughters: Cyril E. Wiebelhaus of Boring, Oregon; Virgil Wiebelhaus of Springfield, Pennsylvania; Mrs. Florence(Bill) Opbroek of Bonesteel, South Dakota; and Mrs. Hildegarde (Tom) Donlin of Bristow, Nebraska. He was also survived by one brother, Fred of Constance, Nebraska; eleven grandchildren; and fourteen great grandchildren.
Ferd was active in civic life in Fairfax and served in the Home Guard during World War I, on the town's Board of Trustees for many years, and was a 25-year member of the Fire Department. He was a faithful Catholic all his life.
Ferd was well-known and officiated as Umpire at city baseball games. One anecdote about him told how he always had a lit cigar in his mouth during the games that he worked from one side of his mouth to the other, so much so that a spectator yelled out, "Hey, Wiebelhaus, your chewing tobacco's on fire!"
Ferd was a gentle giant of a man who was universally respected and liked. He was interred in a cemetery north of Fairfax with Father Lambert conducting the Requiem High Mass Burial.
NOTE: Ferd's son, Cyril, relates the story of how the Ku Klux Klan burned a cross on their lawn when his folks were out and the children home alone. This may have been during the five year period (1922-1927) when the Klan thrived in South Dakota mostly from its anti-Catholic stance.
http://www.oocities.org/crazyoglala/pahasapa_KKK1920s.html
In 1950, he returned to Fairfax as Manager of the Fairfax Cooperative Association elevator. With William Koenig, Ferd began the Home Lumber Company in Fairfax, retiring in 1954.
Ferd's wife, Anna Mueller, preceded him in death on September 22, 1961, after 58 years of marriage.
Ferd and Anna had two sons and two daughters: Cyril E. Wiebelhaus of Boring, Oregon; Virgil Wiebelhaus of Springfield, Pennsylvania; Mrs. Florence(Bill) Opbroek of Bonesteel, South Dakota; and Mrs. Hildegarde (Tom) Donlin of Bristow, Nebraska. He was also survived by one brother, Fred of Constance, Nebraska; eleven grandchildren; and fourteen great grandchildren.
Ferd was active in civic life in Fairfax and served in the Home Guard during World War I, on the town's Board of Trustees for many years, and was a 25-year member of the Fire Department. He was a faithful Catholic all his life.
Ferd was well-known and officiated as Umpire at city baseball games. One anecdote about him told how he always had a lit cigar in his mouth during the games that he worked from one side of his mouth to the other, so much so that a spectator yelled out, "Hey, Wiebelhaus, your chewing tobacco's on fire!"
Ferd was a gentle giant of a man who was universally respected and liked. He was interred in a cemetery north of Fairfax with Father Lambert conducting the Requiem High Mass Burial.
NOTE: Ferd's son, Cyril, relates the story of how the Ku Klux Klan burned a cross on their lawn when his folks were out and the children home alone. This may have been during the five year period (1922-1927) when the Klan thrived in South Dakota mostly from its anti-Catholic stance.
http://www.oocities.org/crazyoglala/pahasapa_KKK1920s.html
