Dehlers and Kelzenbergs

So many families were my parents' and grandparents' good friends, and I've neglected to mentioned them here, mostly because they were so familiar to us.  To distinguish between neighbor, relative and friend was practically impossible.  The Dehler family,  for instance.  In the 1900 Buckman census, August & Julia Dehler owned the next farm east of Paul & Mary Hesch.  Their families were about the same size and ages.  (Actually, it's odd that only one couple resulted from that kind of proximity-☺-Theo Hesch and Rosalia Dehler, married in 1920). 

◄ Here's the 1900 census page with Dehlers and Heschs.  Click to enlarge

You'll notice August & Julia (Seifert) Dehler had a son named August.  When dad spoke of "Gus Dehler", he meant that son, who was 27 years older than dad and so, one of the "old guys" in town ☺. 

Now, August & Julia also had a son named John, who married Margaret Zenner.  By 1920, John & Margaret had 10 children, two of whom are in the  photo up there--Olivia and Herb.  Herb was dad's good buddy.  We went to St Joe to visit "Herb'n'Edwina" pretty often when I was a kid.  And, once we bought the store in Buckman, Olivia (Dehler) and Henry Kelzenberg were our neighbors to the south.  (This is the Olivia who taught in the Weiling Schoolhouse). They were always fun, but it was never a short visit.  No matter what time of day, you HAD to eat something.

An interesting sidelight to that family was the daughter named Hildegard.  She entered the convent in St Joseph, Mn and became Sr. Herbert Dehler, sister to Herb Dehler who lived 2 blocks away...lol  No confusion there!