A Kuehn Life 1947 - 1960

"Sometimes when Ozzie and I were on our way home from the school on Fridays we would stop by the bar in Souris, where we got to know the owner, Walt Kuehn.

"Walt and I got married in 1946. Jack was born June 4, 1947. We lived in an apartment above the bar until we bought a house. We lived in Souris until 1950.

Walt's Bar: Grandpa Jonas Dravland, Uncle Ozzie Dravland, ?, ?, Aunt Alice (Dravland) & Neil Sivertson, ?, Mom, Jack, Dad.

"There was an incident where a man was killed while drinking and driving. Our Pastor said we should find some other business. When a chance came up to buy a grocery store in Antler, we decided to sell the bar and move there.

"The grocery business was a lot more work, but more satisfying. We also sold dry goods and bought cream and eggs. We had to test the cream and candle the eggs. In Antler we lived behind the store. Dan was born Feb. 7, 1952 and Herb was born Aug. 8, 1953. Walt was president of the town's Commercial Club. In 1954 Antler celebrated their 50th Anniversary. Walt was busy helping plan all of the events. We made a float for the store and had it in the parade.

"There was no Protestant Church in Antler, so all of us who weren't Catholic started a Community Church. Mr. Miller, who was a Nazarene minister, was our pastor, although none of us belonged to the Church of the Nazarene. I played the piano for church and the choir and Walt sang tenor in the choir. The boys always had to sit in the front row in church. Sometimes our choir would travel to other towns to sing.

 "In 1958 we decided to move to Granville, ND which was a bigger growing town and there was a grocery and dry goods store for sale. When Garrison Diversion was going to get started it was supposed to turn into a much larger city with all the surrounding farms getting smaller and using irrigation. Now, in 2000, it still hasn't come to that area. We remodeled the store there and built an attached apartment to live in. It was a nice friendly town, but too close to the competition of Minot.

"After having two heart attacks, Walt decided to get out of the grocery business. Rev. Haeger of Arthur and the head of the Good Samaritan Homes said he would train Walt to be a manager of a Good Samaritan Home. Walt traveled around visiting different homes and trained in Hastings, Nebraska for awhile.

"I stayed home with the kids and minded the store while he was gone. After selling the store to our competitor in Granville, we packed up everything. Before we were going to leave for the Good Samaritan Home in Minnesota that Walt was going to manage and I was going to be the matron, we decided to go visit Alice and Neil and Ozzie.

"After a day of visiting friends and relatives from the Bottineau and Carbury area, we went to bed. During the night Walt had his last fatal heart attack. This was in May, 1960. After the funeral at Turtle Mountain Church the boys and I stayed at Alice And Neils for the summer.

"I applied for and was accepted for a job in a department store in Bottineau and found a small house for sale. Vernon and Eunice suggested that before I made any definite plans, I should come to Moorhead, MN and check out the opportunities there. I stayed with them for awhile and checked around for jobs available.

"I went to Concordia College and talked to Amy Erickson, the director of the Food Service. She said she had been looking for someone like me to be a secretary and bookkeeper. A friend of Vern's was selling his house, so I bought it.

"This was August of 1960. In order to make ends meet, I took in roomers and rented out the garage. I had 3 roomers in the basement and 2 on the main floor. The boys and I slept in the rooms upstairs."

(Editors note: Ann must have had a whole host of angels looking after her because she was able to buy a house, across the street from Concordia College, without a down payment and get a job all in one weekend.)"

from The Ann Adeline Dravland Story on dravland.com