The Chippewa River

Or to be more specific...the "Little Chippewa" River...this river runs through Pope County just east of Sedan and then south in winding fashion towards Terrace. Once upon a time, along this river, Adolph Hauge and others farmed and raised their families. As the winter of 1966-1967 was winding down, the Yvo and Trudy Jenniges family settled down near the Chippewa River as well with their eight children at the time. Yvo was on his way to establishing a dream of a full-fledged cattle ranch. Four years later, they settled down on a 280-acre spread near Lake Linka in Gilchrist Township. The rest is very, very rich history.

While I never had the pleasure of meeting Adolph before he passed away in 1995, I know he was a special man, because he was married to a very special woman. Adolph's wife was known as Mrs. Hauge to me, my kindergarten teacher. Not only my kindergarten teacher, but a teacher to many others at Brooten elementary school. She taught there starting the day it opened in the fall of 1964 and provided 28 faithful years of dedicated service before retirement in 1992. Unfortunately, she and Adolph had just three years of her post-teaching retirement to enjoy before he died. I do know that their marriage of 35 years was a wonderful marriage. They are both deeply missed.

Today, stories including Adolph flowed to the surface as the children of Yvo Jenniges remembered his life and the parts of their lives they lived while growing up in eastern Pope County in the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s. Adolph was a small dairy farmer, while Yvo was a well-known and well-loved cattle rancher who was deeply passionate about the rural way of life. They were very good friends over the years. 

I had the extreme good fortunate of attending Yvo's funeral today in Glenwood. Taking in his funeral was both incredibly sad but also an incredible blessing for me. 

It's hard to put into words proper descriptions of his amazing life. As one of his kids said to me last week, "Heaven is getting a good one."