Good morning.Today I would like to tell you about a gentleman that I met many years ago. I would like to share some of the stories that he told about how he grew up and raised a family on a farm in S.E Kansas. His first name was Fred. Fred was born April 26 1922 and was the oldest son and second oldest in a family 9 children. He was born ½ mile south of South Mound Kansas, assisted in birth by a doctor who came in a buggy powered by a horse. Total cost of the birth including everything was $20. He was born during the depression and any luxuries were often nonexistent. Life started off rough. At the age of 2 he caught the measles and had a measles spot on one of his eyes which left him blind in that eye. During his school years he had to take off many times to assist with keeping the farm going. He met his wife Marjorie at a box supper. This was a school event where the young single ladies would bring a box lunch and the young single men bid on this lunch. The winner of the bid would share the meal with that young lady. He later scraped enough money together to purchase a farm. On that farm he milked cows, raised hogs and farmed. He and his wife had three children at that time. Life was a challenge in those early years. Shortly after purchasing the farm he broke his leg in a fall. Without the help of the nearby neighbors he wasn’t sure how he would have survived. They later had two additional children. Most of the food that the family consumed was raised on that farm. Clothing was often made at home and handed down from one child to the other. Any outings Fred and Marjorie took, those five children would always be with them. Later he acquired several more farms and both are still living at that location. Through his years of farming he earned about every agriculture and soil conservation award that were. They will be celebrating their 70 wedding anniversary this year. By the way I forgot to mention that gentleman is my father. I’m Danny Giefer and that’s something to think about.
