John George Engel was born September 2, 1899 on his parents' farm in Elk Township, Nobles Co., Minnesota, just outside Worthington. He was baptized at the Pfingsten Lutheran Church on September 24th. In 1901 the family moved to the Engel homestead in Clinton Township, Linn Co., Iowa, near Covington.
Jack was a farm boy. One newspaper noted that Jack had planted and hoed 25 hills of corn by himself, at the age of seven. Over the years many newspaper items told of Jack and his brothers taking prizes when entering Mallard ducks, white guineas, chickens, corn, and wheat they raised in local fairs.
Jack attended the Clinton Center School, from which he graduated in 1915. Many years later classmate Roy Langton recalled that Jack was "quite a ball player." Jack did not attend high school.
In Clinton Township, Jack was the engineer who drove the town's steam powered tractor doing road work.
Jack wanted to enlist in the military service during World War I but his parents did not consent. On October 18, 1918 Jack enlisted in 4th Iowa Infantry in the National Guard and was assigned to Co. K. He was promoted from private to PFC on May 1, 1920 and discharged on October 9, 1921.
In March 1921 Jack moved with his parents and his seven siblings to their new home on a farm in Clear Lake, Wisconsin. Here they raised dairy cattle rather than the beef cattle they had in Iowa.
Jack joined Clear Lake Lodge No. 272 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) on April 21, 1924. He became a 3rd degree member on June 6th the same year and continued to be a member in good standing until September 30, 1930.
On August 25, 1925, Jack married Mildred Nelson in Stillwater, Minnesota. John left almost immediately to take a job in a corn cannery in Vinton, Iowa. Their first child, Russell, was born there in 1926.
A short time later Jack wrote to the Allis-Chalmers company in West Allis, Wisconsin, looking for a job, and was hired. He worked there about a month before sending for the family to come join him. Daughter Lucille was born in Clear Lake in 1928.
By 1930 Jack took a new job as maintenance man at the Zenith Foundry in West Allis. His duties included firing the furnace. The foundry employees formed a credit union, and Jack served a one year term on its board of directors in 1936.
The foundry work was hard, in a hot, dirty, smoky environment, according to Russ Engel. Jack always had a cough. Russ recalled that his father liked to read railroad magazines, was smart and good with numbers, and could handle machinery.
Jack's younger siblings always enjoyed it when he and his family would visit. They were from the city, wore stylish clothes, and they were fun!
From October 1933 to August 1934 Mildred attended the Badger School of Beauty Culture in Milwaukee. During this period Russ and Lucille lived in Clear Lake with their grandparents. When Mildred comleted the beauty college she obtained her cosmetology operator's license.
In June 1941 Jack and Mildred bought a home at 2023 S. 83rd Street in West Allis, financing it through a land contract. The 1 1/2 story bungalow was about 10 years old. Honey Creek, which cut into the back yard, was channelized as a WPA project, lined with limestone blocks and cedar fenceposts.
In June 1943, Mildred bought the Maureen Beauty Shop, at 3111 S. 92nd St. and operated it on her own.
Russ enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in October 1943 at the age of 17
Jack was a farm boy. One newspaper noted that Jack had planted and hoed 25 hills of corn by himself, at the age of seven. Over the years many newspaper items told of Jack and his brothers taking prizes when entering Mallard ducks, white guineas, chickens, corn, and wheat they raised in local fairs.
Jack attended the Clinton Center School, from which he graduated in 1915. Many years later classmate Roy Langton recalled that Jack was "quite a ball player." Jack did not attend high school.
In Clinton Township, Jack was the engineer who drove the town's steam powered tractor doing road work.
Jack wanted to enlist in the military service during World War I but his parents did not consent. On October 18, 1918 Jack enlisted in 4th Iowa Infantry in the National Guard and was assigned to Co. K. He was promoted from private to PFC on May 1, 1920 and discharged on October 9, 1921.
In March 1921 Jack moved with his parents and his seven siblings to their new home on a farm in Clear Lake, Wisconsin. Here they raised dairy cattle rather than the beef cattle they had in Iowa.
Jack joined Clear Lake Lodge No. 272 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) on April 21, 1924. He became a 3rd degree member on June 6th the same year and continued to be a member in good standing until September 30, 1930.
On August 25, 1925, Jack married Mildred Nelson in Stillwater, Minnesota. John left almost immediately to take a job in a corn cannery in Vinton, Iowa. Their first child, Russell, was born there in 1926.
A short time later Jack wrote to the Allis-Chalmers company in West Allis, Wisconsin, looking for a job, and was hired. He worked there about a month before sending for the family to come join him. Daughter Lucille was born in Clear Lake in 1928.
By 1930 Jack took a new job as maintenance man at the Zenith Foundry in West Allis. His duties included firing the furnace. The foundry employees formed a credit union, and Jack served a one year term on its board of directors in 1936.
The foundry work was hard, in a hot, dirty, smoky environment, according to Russ Engel. Jack always had a cough. Russ recalled that his father liked to read railroad magazines, was smart and good with numbers, and could handle machinery.
Jack's younger siblings always enjoyed it when he and his family would visit. They were from the city, wore stylish clothes, and they were fun!
From October 1933 to August 1934 Mildred attended the Badger School of Beauty Culture in Milwaukee. During this period Russ and Lucille lived in Clear Lake with their grandparents. When Mildred comleted the beauty college she obtained her cosmetology operator's license.
In June 1941 Jack and Mildred bought a home at 2023 S. 83rd Street in West Allis, financing it through a land contract. The 1 1/2 story bungalow was about 10 years old. Honey Creek, which cut into the back yard, was channelized as a WPA project, lined with limestone blocks and cedar fenceposts.
In June 1943, Mildred bought the Maureen Beauty Shop, at 3111 S. 92nd St. and operated it on her own.
Russ enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in October 1943 at the age of 17
John George Engel was born September 2, 1899 on his parents' farm in Elk Township, Nobles Co., Minnesota, just outside Worthington. He was baptized at the Pfingsten Lutheran Church on September 24th. In 1901 the family moved to the Engel homestead in Clinton Township, Linn Co., Iowa, near Covington.
Jack was a farm boy. One newspaper noted that Jack had planted and hoed 25 hills of corn by himself, at the age of seven. Over the years many newspaper items told of Jack and his brothers taking prizes when entering Mallard ducks, white guineas, chickens, corn, and wheat they raised in local fairs.
Jack attended the Clinton Center School, from which he graduated in 1915. Many years later classmate Roy Langton recalled that Jack was "quite a ball player." Jack did not attend high school.
In Clinton Township, Jack was the engineer who drove the town's steam powered tractor doing road work.
Jack wanted to enlist in the military service during World War I but his parents did not consent. On October 18, 1918 Jack enlisted in 4th Iowa Infantry in the National Guard and was assigned to Co. K. He was promoted from private to PFC on May 1, 1920 and discharged on October 9, 1921.
In March 1921 Jack moved with his parents and his seven siblings to their new home on a farm in Clear Lake, Wisconsin. Here they raised dairy cattle rather than the beef cattle they had in Iowa.
Jack joined Clear Lake Lodge No. 272 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) on April 21, 1924. He became a 3rd degree member on June 6th the same year and continued to be a member in good standing until September 30, 1930.
On August 25, 1925, Jack married Mildred Nelson in Stillwater, Minnesota. John left almost immediately to take a job in a corn cannery in Vinton, Iowa. Their first child, Russell, was born there in 1926.
A short time later Jack wrote to the Allis-Chalmers company in West Allis, Wisconsin, looking for a job, and was hired. He worked there about a month before sending for the family to come join him. Daughter Lucille was born in Clear Lake in 1928.
By 1930 Jack took a new job as maintenance man at the Zenith Foundry in West Allis. His duties included firing the furnace. The foundry employees formed a credit union, and Jack served a one year term on its board of directors in 1936.
The foundry work was hard, in a hot, dirty, smoky environment, according to Russ Engel. Jack always had a cough. Russ recalled that his father liked to read railroad magazines, was smart and good with numbers, and could handle machinery.
Jack's younger siblings always enjoyed it when he and his family would visit. They were from the city, wore stylish clothes, and they were fun!
From October 1933 to August 1934 Mildred attended the Badger School of Beauty Culture in Milwaukee. During this period Russ and Lucille lived in Clear Lake with their grandparents. When Mildred comleted the beauty college she obtained her cosmetology operator's license.
In June 1941 Jack and Mildred bought a home at 2023 S. 83rd Street in West Allis, financing it through a land contract. The 1 1/2 story bungalow was about 10 years old. Honey Creek, which cut into the back yard, was channelized as a WPA project, lined with limestone blocks and cedar fenceposts.
In June 1943, Mildred bought the Maureen Beauty Shop, at 3111 S. 92nd St. and operated it on her own.
Russ enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in October 1943 at the age of 17
Jack was a farm boy. One newspaper noted that Jack had planted and hoed 25 hills of corn by himself, at the age of seven. Over the years many newspaper items told of Jack and his brothers taking prizes when entering Mallard ducks, white guineas, chickens, corn, and wheat they raised in local fairs.
Jack attended the Clinton Center School, from which he graduated in 1915. Many years later classmate Roy Langton recalled that Jack was "quite a ball player." Jack did not attend high school.
In Clinton Township, Jack was the engineer who drove the town's steam powered tractor doing road work.
Jack wanted to enlist in the military service during World War I but his parents did not consent. On October 18, 1918 Jack enlisted in 4th Iowa Infantry in the National Guard and was assigned to Co. K. He was promoted from private to PFC on May 1, 1920 and discharged on October 9, 1921.
In March 1921 Jack moved with his parents and his seven siblings to their new home on a farm in Clear Lake, Wisconsin. Here they raised dairy cattle rather than the beef cattle they had in Iowa.
Jack joined Clear Lake Lodge No. 272 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows (I.O.O.F.) on April 21, 1924. He became a 3rd degree member on June 6th the same year and continued to be a member in good standing until September 30, 1930.
On August 25, 1925, Jack married Mildred Nelson in Stillwater, Minnesota. John left almost immediately to take a job in a corn cannery in Vinton, Iowa. Their first child, Russell, was born there in 1926.
A short time later Jack wrote to the Allis-Chalmers company in West Allis, Wisconsin, looking for a job, and was hired. He worked there about a month before sending for the family to come join him. Daughter Lucille was born in Clear Lake in 1928.
By 1930 Jack took a new job as maintenance man at the Zenith Foundry in West Allis. His duties included firing the furnace. The foundry employees formed a credit union, and Jack served a one year term on its board of directors in 1936.
The foundry work was hard, in a hot, dirty, smoky environment, according to Russ Engel. Jack always had a cough. Russ recalled that his father liked to read railroad magazines, was smart and good with numbers, and could handle machinery.
Jack's younger siblings always enjoyed it when he and his family would visit. They were from the city, wore stylish clothes, and they were fun!
From October 1933 to August 1934 Mildred attended the Badger School of Beauty Culture in Milwaukee. During this period Russ and Lucille lived in Clear Lake with their grandparents. When Mildred comleted the beauty college she obtained her cosmetology operator's license.
In June 1941 Jack and Mildred bought a home at 2023 S. 83rd Street in West Allis, financing it through a land contract. The 1 1/2 story bungalow was about 10 years old. Honey Creek, which cut into the back yard, was channelized as a WPA project, lined with limestone blocks and cedar fenceposts.
In June 1943, Mildred bought the Maureen Beauty Shop, at 3111 S. 92nd St. and operated it on her own.
Russ enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in October 1943 at the age of 17
Family Members
Siblings
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William Jennings "Willie" Engel
1903–1903
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Walter Julius "Walt" Engel
1904–1968
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Bertha Katherine Engel Brown
1906–1978
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Wilbert Herman "Dude" Engel
1907–1989
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Clifford David "Kip" Engel
1910–1977
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Evelyn Mary Engel Wilson
1912–2000
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Elsa Louise Engel Delastrada
1914–2006
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Robert Louis Engel
1917–1981
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Irene Grace Engel Hahn
1922–2011
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George Edward "Bud" Engel
1924–1967
