Don't know a lot that I can share right now, but stay tuned. Better yet, come to Montello next summer and I will show you some of his handywork. Mmm - a teaser! Or ask Grampa Mateske. He'll tell you a few stories - right Amy?
Edward Walter was born in July of 1899 in Montello and spent his entire life there. He married Jennie Minnie Crown (Gramma Minnie) in May of 1927. The had three children: Grampa, Robert, Sr., Lyle Walter who died in 1934 (3 years old and another future story), and Mary Jane (Aunt Jane) who died in 1988.
I don't have a picture of him yet, but this is what Montello would have looked like when he was a boy
Enjoy and remember Great Grampa.
Very interesting!
ReplyDeleteSince I was only 6 years old when he died, I don't have a lot of memories of Grandpa Mateske. I remember when we would go to their house, Grandpa would " catch" me between his legs over and over again - kinda like how Maggie and Judah are. I remember that he somehow got a merry-go-round and set it up at their house. I remember seeing him saw lumber out in the back, and I will never forget when we all went to get him a new puppy. Grandpa Mateske and Grandma Minnie, Gramma and Grampa Mateske, Uncle Bob and I piled into Grandpa's station wagon. I think we went to Portage, picked up a curly black puppy that Grandpa named Ruffy, and headed home. Bob and I were in the way back of the station wagon with Ruffy. Poor Ruffy got car sick and threw up, grandpa pulled over, took one look, and threw up too. There are not many pictures of Grandpa Mateske. He hated to have his picture taken, which is why we don't have very many. Oh, another memory - on Christmas Eve, we would all go to church for the Christmas Eve service. Grandpa would "stay behind" to make sure no one got in the house. After church, we would come home and Santa had been there - presents galore under the tree. Every Christmas, Grandpa had fallen asleep on the couch and never heard Santa come. We just couldn't figure that out :-). I only vaguely remember being at the funeral home, and was told we were not there long, and did not get to go to the service or the cemetary. It boggles my mind that Gramma Minnie was only 58 when Grandpa died. She was a widow about as long as she was married.
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