Please check back for the life history. 

NELLIE JANET FRANSEN was born on May 20, 1927, to John and Frieda (Halbersma) Van Lant in Murray County, Minnesota. Nellie was the middle child, being born seventh of thirteen children. Following her education at the country school in Chandler, she returned home to help. She also worked for numerous families after a new baby was born. Later, Nellie worked in Edgerton, Minnesota, at the Farmer’s Store. On March 27, 1946, Nellie married Art Fransen at the Memorial Hall in Edgerton. This...

Rena Masselink was born to John and Tena (Beckering) Hibma on July 3, 1920, on a farm northeast of Edgerton. It was the Great Depression and times were hard, but Rena had many fond memories of family and friends while growing up. She loved going to country school and liked to remind her children that she walked 2 ½ miles to school every day.   After graduating from the eighth grade, she was disappointed that she did not have the opportunity to continue her education. Instead she...

SUSIE K. MESMAN was born to Klaas and Jennie Vastenhout in Valley Springs, South Dakota, on November 30, 1920. The family lived in Valley Springs and Beaver Creek, Minnesota. Susie went to school in Beaver Creek until second grade. The family then moved south of Leota, Minnesota. Susie graduated from a country school. After graduation she worked for other families keeping house.  On November 30, 1941, Susie was united in marriage to John Mesman at the Leota Reformed Church. They were...

HAROLD “SHORTY” DEGROOT was born on December 8, 1929 to Cornelius and Marie (DeKam) DeGroot on the family farm four miles west of Edgerton, Minnesota. Though he lost his mother at the age of four, Shorty enjoyed growing up on the farm with his father and siblings. In 1937 he moved with his family to a farm five miles north of Leota, MN. It was during this time that his lifelong love of the land began. Many years later he would share with his family of the adventures and...

Randall “Randy” Lee Butson, son of the late Dale “Pete” Butson and Ivalea (Winters) Butson was born August 15, 1953 in Mankato, MN and raised on the family farm outside of Garden City, MN. Randy was baptized as an infant at the Garden City Log Cabin Lutheran Church and confirmed in 1967 at St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Vernon Center, MN. He attended Garden City school and graduated from Wellcome Memorial High School in 1971. He attended Mankato State...

Melvin Leroy Hendriks was born on January 28, 1935, in Edgerton to Benjamin and Lucy (Vander Linden) Hendriks. He attended school in Edgerton through the 8th grade. He enlisted in the U.S. Army at the age of 18. Mel was stationed in Colorado Springs and Washington DC where he was in the motor pool and drove a bus. He was proud to have guarded President Eisenhower when his plane took off and landed, and also stood guard at the Pentagon when important dignitaries were meeting there. After his...

MIN Huisken was born on Janurary, 16, 1922, in rural Chandler, MN, the youngest of nine children.  She was married on May 22, 1943 to Frederick Huisken.  After WWII, the couple moved to Lake Wilson, MN, where they operated a hardware store until moving to Edgerton where they operated the Hardware Hank store from 1954 until 1981.  Min and Fred had four boys: David, Charles, Steve and Doug. Min traveled.  As a teenager, she and a group of teens drove to California and...

Margaret “Marge” Joan Mesman was born on April 28th, 1935 to Raymond and Della (Gritters) Hulstein in Sioux Center, Iowa. When Marge was young, her parents moved a few times and she grew up on farms near Sioux Center, Woodstock, Minnesota and Edgerton, Minnesota. When Marge’s family moved to Woodstock, she helped her mom tend the family and later worked at Woodstock Telephone Company. While attending church in Edgerton, she met Arvin Mesman. Marge married Arv on May 7,...

John Van’t Hof was born on August 30, 1927 to Cornelius and Johanna (Schmidt) Van’t Hof near Leota, Minnesota. He was raised bilingually, as his family spoke primarily Dutch at home. He attended country school in the Leota area. After his education John worked at Mouw’s Hatchery and helped on various local farms. On January 16, 1951, he enlisted in the United States Army. He served a two year active term and was later honorably discharged on December 28, 1956. During his...