BUECHLER, JOHN AND JEANETTE (STURTZ)

by Gladys Buechler Hodges

Entry F58 from the History of Hooker County Nebraska
with permission of the Hooker County Historical Society

John and Jeannette Buechler December 2, 1914

John Clemons was born May 19, 1891, at
Mineral Ridge, Iowa. He was the third son of
seven sons born to George and Minnie (Coe)
Buechler. Jeannette Belle Sturtz, was the
seventh of eleven children born to William
and Rosalie (Davis) Sturtz. She was born on
November 20, 1891. John and Jeanette were
married at Boone, Iowa on December 2, 1914.
They lived on a farm near Mineral Ridge
where Dean was born on September 19, 1915
and Dewayne on September 12, 1917. In
March 1919, they moved to Nebraska to a
ranch on the Middle Loup river four and one-
half miles north east of Mullen. On Septem-
ber 2, 1919, Irene joined the family and on
April 9, 1921, Elthea made her appearance.
Cecil was born 1923 and on
1925 another girl Gladys was
born. Besides hereford cattle, they raised
horses, turkeys, ducks, chickens and pigs
sometimes a few sheep. They truck gardened,
had good gardens with the sub-irrigation
along the river, sold produce in Mullen. The
children enjoyed ice-skating in winter and
swimming summers. Cecil remembers a crew
of men cutting ice ona pond east of the house.
They used sharp shod horses to score the ice
and pull it up a ramp slide and onto a loading
table to be loaded onto wagons and hauled to
Mullen to be stored in the ice house, that was
in the rear of the Delicatessen, the present
Long Pool Hall. The ice was sold from an ice
wagon to Mullen customers. Buechlers had
an ice house that they kept filled for summer
use.

In about 1929, John had a basement dug
on property, now where the Mike Brown
house is. He had a house moved onto it and
rented until the fall of 1930 they moved in for
the school year. Johnny Clarence was born on
1930, and the next fall they moved
to the Denny Boyer home-stead eight miles
north east of Mullen. It joined the river ranch
on the south. There they enjoyed Sing-Songs,
Ice Cream Socials, Box Suppers and occa-
sionally Sunday School and Church too,
when a Minister would come from Mullen. It
was four miles to the Virginia school. The
children rode horseback most of the time.
John put a tongue in the old Whippette one
year and Dean and Dwayne drove the team
of horses with the reins run through the front
window. It was nice. Gladys remembers one
morning they were riding north and it was so
cold they turned around to bo back home and
John's "Ted" horse ran away with she and
Irene. Cecil and Elthea were on a bay horse
named "Tex". Elthea was pounding on him
shouting "Catch `em, catch `em" as they
toppled off spilling the lunchpail into the
snow. The heating stove really felt good when
they got home.

Dean rode horseback to Mullen High
School, graduating with the class of 1936.
Dwayne went to work for Earl Monahan
instead, didn't want to ride his horse that far.
He joined the Navy and graduated from the
Great Lakes Naval Pier, so Jeannette felt he
had graduated also.

Minnie June was the only one born in
Cherry County, she was born 1932.
In 1932 they moved back to town. Ruth was
born February 7, 1935. Gladys remembers
that Minnie had pneumonia one spring and
the older girls had taken Ruth to the river
ranch to relieve their Mom of her care and
they brought her to town with "Measles"! Dr.
Walker had Minnie under a tent and saved
her life, and she didn't get the measles that
time. Dean and Dewayne batched on the
north ranch or on the river wherever they
were needed and in summers to help with
haying.

In the early forties both places sold and
John sold Morman Mineral for several years.
All had graduated from High-school by 1952.
John and Jeannette sold out and moved to
Thedford, Nebraska where they had an
antique store until John's death June 4, 1962.
Jeannette visited her family and friends until
1977, when she set up house-keeping in
Mullen till she passed away February 8, 1981.

Dean married Virginia Johnson Phillip,
she had one son, Dick. They had Caroldean,
Joe and Linda.

Dewayne married Allegra Simonson, they
have three children Gwen, Nancy and Simon.

Irene married Cecil Perrel, they have two
children Barbara and Myron.

Elthea married Price Page, they have six
boys John, Price Jr., Leroy, Eddie, Mike and
Terry.

Cecil married Opal Prindle, they have
three children Cecilia, Eddie and Rosalie.

Gladys married Nyle Hodges, they have
three children Peggy, Alan, and Nyla.

John married Rose Cook, they have five
children Tom, Randy, Julie, Cindy, and Gary.

Minnie married Ray Zeller, they have three
children Debbie, Pam and Mike.

Ruth married Lloyd Reynolds, they have
four children Vickie, Kathy, Eddie and
Tommy.