MOTL, JOHN AND ANNA (DIETRICH)

by Erna Motl Hereford

Entry F302 from the History of Hooker County Nebraska
with permission of the Hooker County Historical Society

Ann and John Motl

John Motl

Ann Motl

In September of 1911, John and Ann Motl
and their daughter, Frances came to Mullen,
Nebraska from Dodge, Nebraska. John
moved his drug store equipment to Mullen.
There were two drug stores in Dodge, there
were none in Mullen and Mullen was a
growing community.

The Kincaid Act of 1904 that permitted
people to prove up on 640 acres of land, was
bringing settlers to the Sandhills and Mullen
was the trade center. Dr. Adams urged John
to come so he moved stock, fixtures, furniture
and family. On September 11, 1911, the Motl
Pharmacy was open for business. John and
Ann made Mullen their home; They built
their house and they lived out their lives
there.

John Joseph Motl was born on December
31, 1884 in Nova Dobnev near Pisek, Bohem-
ia (Czechoslovakia). He was the eldest of the
seven children of Thomas and Antoinette
Motl. John's father came to Nebraska in
1891. John came with his mother, two sisters
and his grandmother in about 1893. The
family established a home in West Point,
Nebraska. John graduated from the West
Point High School in 1900 and from the
Creighton School of Pharmacy in Omaha,
Nebraska in 1905. From 1905 into 1907, John
worked in pharmacies in Omaha and in Long
Pine, Nebraska. In 1907, he came to Dodge
and with an IOU and a handshake, he bought
the pharmacy there. In Dodge, he met and on
November 24, 1909, he married Anna Louise
Dietrich.

Anna (Ann) Dietrich was born on February
13, 1887 in Dodge, Nebraska. She too, was the
eldest of seven children. Her parents, Ernst
and Kunigunde Dietrich, came from Ger-
many but they met and married in Hooper,
Nebraska. When Ann was fifteen, her Mother
died and Ann left school to be "mother" to
her sisters and brothers. Ann was always the
homemaker.

Ann and John had four children, Frances
M. (Mrs. W.F. Vinton); M. Erna (Mrs. J.P.
Hereford); Rosalie H. (Mrs. R. Combs) and
John J., Jr.

John operated the drug store in Mullen
from 1911 until 1957. From 1946 to 1953 John
Jr. took over the store.

That John Motl believed in his community,
the Sandhills and his country is evidenced by
his many activities. His work for the country
included service during World War I and II
as Secretary-Treasurer of the Hooker County
Council of Defense, as Food Administrator,
and as Chairman of the American Red Cross.
He received several awards for the sale of War
Bonds.

He worked hard by promoting leisure
activities. For some thirty years he served on
the Board for Hooker County High School
and as Director of the School Board for
District Number Two. Those years saw a new
brick elementary school building to replace
the old frame building and the high school
building expanded and modernized. John
was actively involved in the move to build the
hospital and the nursing home in Mullen. In
his early days in Mullen, John helped
organize a band, he played the violin at
dances, and also umpired baseball games.
Later, with others he promoted the Golf
Club. He served as President of the Mullen
Commercial Club and the Western Nebraska
United Chamber of Commerce. The commu-
nity recoguized his efforts in 1934 by present-
ing him with the Good Neighbor Award.

In all these activities, John and Ann
worked together. Ann died on February 9,
1942 in Omaha; John died in Mullen on July
18, 1969.