|
a.
|
Note: Dr. Lowe reports a son born to Mr. and Mrs. John [Ehleringer] on July 18 [1902].
Slayton Gazette and Murray County Pioneer (Slayton, Murray County, Minnesota), 24 July 1902, page 4, column 3; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul. [Elizabeth gave birth at home on the farm. The newborn was named Nicholas Edward, but would always be called Ed. Decades later, when the birth was recorded at the courthouse, he legally became Edward Nicholas Ehleringer.] ____________
Joe and Edward [Ehleringer] took possession of the Service Auto Co. Sunday morning, which they bought of Joe Wermerskirchen. Joe will do all kinds of repair work himself, as he wants all work turned out to be first class, while Edward will look after the front part and will see that all [receive] real service. The new owners will go under the name of [Ehleringer] Bros. The best of luck to you boys.
Iona Journal (Iona, Murray County, Minnesota), 6 June 1924, page 4, column 3; Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul. [Joe came to Iona around 1920 and had worked at the implement shop and the auto garage. Ed was fresh off the farm. With a loan from their father, they were now business partners.] ____________
Ehleringer Bros. Phone 16 Tires � Repairing and Welding � Batteries Standard Products Iona, Minn.
Message on screwdriver. Promotional items like this were handed out at Christmas time. ____________
Garage & Machine Shop Auction
As we are retiring from the repair business we will sell at auction our complete line of shop tools, equipment & building located on main street in Iona, Minn., Sat. Sept. 18th [1965] �
Ehleringer Bros. Garage and Machine Shop, Iona, Minn.
Excerpts from auction bill.
Joe retired after the garage was sold; Ed continued to work "part-time" (only 40 hours a week) for later owners, Andy Baumgartner, Dennis Baker, then Bill Ebbinga. In time, work gave way to travel and fishing, with the occasional small engine repair at home. Ed enjoyed good health, so never completely retired. At age 75, he drove tractor at harvest time for John Scheuring. He turned down a bonus for repairing John's combine; sticking to their original agreement was a matter of pride. ____________
In Loving Memory of Edward N. Ehleringer
Edward Nicholas Ehleringer was born July 18, 1902 at Currie, MN to John and Elizabeth Schu Ehleringer. He grew up at Currie and attended IHM School. On June 3, 1930 he was married to Rose M. Gaasch at Iona, MN. Following their marriage they lived in Iona, MN where he and his brother, Joe, operated the garage business for 41 years. He retired in 1965. His wife, Rose, died January 31, 1974. Ed continued to make his home in Iona, but was now recuperating from a stroke and was living with his children in Minneapolis. On February 27, 1979 he passed away at a Minneapolis hospital. He was 76 years old. He was a member of St. Columba Catholic Church, Iona, and an Honorary Life Member of the Knights of Columbus. He is survived by four children: Joan, Mrs. James Risacher of Brighton, Mich., Patricia, Mrs. Robert Westlund of Edina, MN, James E. Ehleringer of Richfield, MN and Joseph J. Ehleringer of Chanhassen, MN. He has eight grandchildren. Two sisters and one brother also survive: Emma, Mrs. N.J. Ruppert of Kerkhoven, MN, Agnes, Mrs. E.J. Altmann of Minneapolis, MN and Vincent Ehleringer of Tracy, MN. He was preceded in death by his wife, Rose, his parents, two granddaughters and three brothers, Joseph, Matt and William.
Funeral Services � St. Columba Catholic Church, March 2, 1979 at 1:00 p.m., the Rev. Donald Zenk, Pastor. Mrs. H.J. Koob, Organist. Pallbearers: Bob Frisk, Joe Kellen, Andrew Baumgartner, Aloysius Koob, Richard Entinger and John Scheuring. Honorary Pallbearers are Knights of Columbus: Bill Gaul, Don Busch, Joe Scheuring, Mike Gaul, Joe Thraen and Joe Ruppert. Interment in St. Columba Catholic Cemetery, Iona, MN.
Memorial card for Edward N. Ehleringer. ____________
Being an Ehleringer, Ed enjoyed the outdoors. He hunted pheasants, ducks and geese in his younger days. While Ed became less agile with age, he never loss his keen eye. He could spot a pheasant in a corn field at 60 miles an hour, and let any passenger know as much. But by middle age, he was more a fisherman � with a Slayton boat, Johnson motor and homemade trailer. (Manufactured trailers were deemed flimsy and had small, trouble-prone wheels.)
Bob Frisk was a regular fishing companion. The next-door neighbors were both opinionated and had their share of spats, but made peace in time to hitch up the trailer again. At the end of the day, Bob and Ed's catches were always properly filleted and bone-free. Fish guts went into a foot deep trench which ran between the rows in either's garden. Of course, competitive gardening also figured into their friendship.
Ed's yard reflected a green thumb. His lawn was tidy and dandelion free. (Though bumpy in areas � it had been seeded with night crawlers.) A bed of roses bloomed all summer. Trees limbs bowed, weighed down with the best apples he could grow. Come Fall, Ed and Rose drove to the Cities to visit the kids. Their trunk was packed tight with apples, vegetables and milk cartons filled with perch fillets frozen in ice. ____________
Ed and Rose Ehleringer rarely drank, but Tom and Jerrys were a holiday tradition in their home, served before Thanksgiving dinner or at a family gathering after Midnight Mass on Christmas. This recipe was followed to the letter by Ed:
Tom and Jerrys
8 fresh eggs 2-2/3 cups sugar 1 teaspoon nutmeg 1 shot whiskey
Separate egg whites and yokes. With a mixer, beat whites until they stand. Beat yokes in a small bowl until lemon yellow. Add yokes to whites and continue to beat. Blend in sugar. Add nutmeg and whiskey while mixing.
To serve: Rinse insides of mugs with heated water. Add two tablespoons of mixed batter to mugs. Pour hot water while stirring the batter. Add a shot of whiskey and a dash of nutmeg and stir. Remove spoon before drink cools. Serves about 16.
An old Iona neighbor, Joe Casey, was credited for the recipe. Joe would stir the batter by hand, often sampling it and adding spirits to suit his taste. ____________
The Garage
Iona, Minnesota flourished in the heyday of the small, family farm. Area farmers were drawn to Iona by its churches, schools, railroad depot and small businesses. Ehleringer Bros. Garage was a fixture in town for much of this time. Filling a need, Joe and Ed Ehleringer would repair virtually anything mechanical, large or small, new or old, including cars, trucks, farm tractors and implements, lawn mowers, outboard motors, household items � few customers were ever turned away. Joe, an able welder, always had a backlog of work. Ed was the more outgoing of the two and a person who couldn't stay still. He tended the gas pumps and did tune-ups and light repairs. They worked together, competently and quietly, on overhauls and other large jobs. Words were neither wasted nor minced.
The garage itself was a brick and hollow tile building on the main street of Iona, across from St. Columba Hall. It served well and looked just fine to Joe and Ed. Granted, cleanliness is in the eye of the beholder, but the floor was always swept and walls occasionally painted. (No one ever slipped on a wall.) Tools and stock were never mislaid. There was a place for everything, be it a certain chest drawer, rack, bin, crate or coffee can. The garage was timeless. Items were updated only as needed. Step into the office and you'd see the wood slat floor, pressed tin ceiling, cast iron stove, hefty floor safe, grungy rolltop desk, tattered chairs and cloudy display cases. Blink again and notice a full inventory of tune-up parts and up-to-date service manuals. Out in back, the drill press, emery wheel and lathe purred, but may well have come with the shop. "The Boss's Car," the parts runner, was a Model A Ford rudely converted into a pickup; the wrecker, a 1929 International with power winch added by Joe. Their snow blower, by no means a toy, had been built around a Wisconsin V-4 and salvaged auto and implement parts. Whatever worked. Joe and Ed believed in thrift and ingenuity. As a result, their shop had a full measure of character, from wall to wall, front to back.
About six years after its sale, the garage was gutted by a flash fire. It was replaced with a smaller, more efficient building by Bill Ebbinga, then the owner. Butch Veld has had this shop for quite some time.
I don't know what year the old garage was actually built. Until 1891, Father Kratz from St. Kilian celebrated Mass for German Catholics on the site; Bishop Cotter induced them to join the St. Columba (Irish) congregation. Also, a 1902 plat of Iona shows an Oddfellows hall on the street corner. And I was told that the garage once had a second story, destroyed by fire, but can't recall seeing any signs of a staircase.
The business, though healthy, changed hands regularly before Joe and Ed Ehleringer purchased it. In 1921 Messrs. Breese and Ohlenkamp traded the garage to the Lanertz brothers for a quarter-section of land near Fulda. After John Lanertz broke his leg in 1922, Nick was forced to sell the business. Joe Wermerskirchen became the new owner with mechanics Joe Ehleringer and Ed Rieman. Two years later, the Ehleringer brothers took the wheel and held it 41 years.
|
