Lawrence and his brothers

August and Amelia had seven sons. George died when he was a young boy, and his gravesite is not in the family plot. I found his grave in the old Washburn cemetery many years ago. I couldn’t find it again when I looked a few years ago.

This picture of the surviving sons was taken in1921, I believe, when the boys served as pallbearers for their father.

Standing in the back row are Leslie, Lawrence, Earl; in the front are Otto, Will, and Roy.

I faintly remember Leslie who died of pneumonia in 1931 when I was four years old. The wake and funeral were held at the family home, and my brother Don and I were there and had to be lifted to view the body in the coffin.

My dad is next. He was born in 1897and died in 1981. He lived in Washburn all his life and worked for DuPont for over 40 years. He was commonly known as Spot, a nickname that resulted from his skill at bowling. He had difficulty finding competitors unless he spotted them some pins.

Earl lived in Superior where he worked as an electrician. He had a son, Richard, who probably still lives in Superior. Earl died sometime in the 1970’s.

Somehow Otto picked up the nickname “Hoppy” and generally was called that. He worked for Ungrodt’s Hardware for about 55 years. He and Aunt Hazel maintained the family home until his death in the 1970’s.

Will was the oldest son who was a self taught engineer and worked for many years for the Fitger’s Brewery in Duluth. He had three children, Harriet and Howard who live in Duluth and Carol who passed away around 1990. I visited him and his wife often when I was a student at Superior, and I remember both he and Aunt Louise were kind, friendly people. I was a student when he died of a stroke in 1952.

I never really knew Uncle Roy very well. He lived In the Twin Cities and worked as an electrician. He had one daughter, Florence, who did live with Aunt Hazel for awhile after her parents were divorced. She died several years ago, and Roy died in 1973.