"I Said Yes"

By Harlan W. Van Gerpen

Experiences from growing up on a farm and having an exciting career both in the military and foreign travel.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Oct 12, 2011
• ISBN: 9781463448240

Harlan W. Van Gerpen

Harlan Van Gerpen was born on a South Dakota farm, attended 1 room grade school and graduated from Avon, South Dakota High School. He entered the military at age of 18, trained as a Meteorologist graduating from University of Chicago. In 1944, Harlan transferred to Airways Control and was assigned to Marseille, France. Working with German POWs and rescuing a lady on a large lake were memories he treasured. He returned to the U.S after 42 months of service. Thinking his military career behind him, Harlan taught high school for one year and then attended college to earn both a Bachelor and Master degree in Electrical Engineering. He was recalled to military service during the Korean War and served 16 months. Deere and Co. in Waterloo, Iowa became Harlan’s employer for the next 27 years. He wrote the Gear Design software in 1956, a first worldwide. At the time of his retirement in 1982, he was Manager of Technical Services. Retirement was short as in the next 23 years were spent as a partner in Van Gerpen/Reece Consulting with gear designing. Committing time to public service, Harlan was elected to the Hawkeye Community College Board of Directors and served for the next 16 years, two years as president. He resigned after being elected to the Iowa legislature and served on the State Board of Education. He continues to be a member of the Foundation Board today. Love of travel prompted Harlan to serve internationally with his engineering expertise in Albania and India. He also traveled extensively with his, Betty, touring the different continents, and flying around the world. Renewing an acquaintance, after 51 years, with a former German POW he had supervised during WWII, was a remark able event. Harlan and Betty have 5 wonderful children who they have passed on a love of family, travel, and serving others.

Book preview

I said Yes

Harlan W. Van Gerpen

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AuthorHouse™

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© 2011 by Harlan W. Van Gerpen. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 09/29/2011

ISBN: 978-1-4634-4826-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4634-4825-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4634-4824-0 (ebk)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011914012

Printed in the United States of America

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

INTRODUCTION

GENEALOGY

MY PARENTS

GROWING UP ON A FARM

STARTING SCHOOL

JOINING THE MILITARY IN WORLD WAR II

SERVING OVERSEAS

GOING HOME

MEETING MY FUTURE WIFE

WORKING WITH JOHN DEERE

OUR CHILDREN

COMMUNITY SERVICE

WORLD TRAVELS

MOST IMPORTANT EVENT

IN CONCLUSION

INTRODUCTION

From time to time my children have encouraged me to write my life history. They have said, Don’t give us Christmas presents, write the story of your life. Having a good word processor that allows you to change and add events as you recall them has made it possible to carry out their wish and to enjoy reliving many of the events of my life. I hope that not only my children will enjoy this document but future generations as well.

I named this story I said Yes because so many of the adventures I enjoy describing were the result of my saying yes to the opportunities offered me.

GENEALOGY

I was born on a farm near Avon, South Dakota on the 18th of June 1924. My father was William R. Van Gerpen, and my mother Johanna (DeRoos) Van Gerpen. William R. was the son of Herman W. Van Gerpen and Maggie (Brandt) Van Gerpen. Herman was the son of William D. Van Gerpen and Fenna (Frey) Van Gerpen. William D. was the son of Daniel Johnson Van Gerpen who raised his family, (and stayed) in Jennelt, Oestfriesland Germany. Oestfriesland is an area in the very northwest corner of Germany. In the past it was a part of a country called Friesland, which was split with the west part going to the Netherlands and the east part to Germany. Oestfriesland (Oest means east) has its own language called Platt Deutsch, also called Low German. The Low comes from the situation that these countries are below sea level. Because this language is closer to the Netherland language and is still used, the other Germans look down on the Oestfrieslanders as hicks.

There has always been a question about the origin of the name Van Gerpen. When visiting the van Gerpens in Germany and other hints, it appears that an ancestor came from a small village, Gerpinnes in Belgium. During the 1600’s and 1700’s there was a 30 year war in this area between the Catholics and the Protestants. Our ancestors have all been Protestant so it is possible with the Catholics strong in the south, France, etc., our ancestors traveled to the north, adding the name van when required to have a last name. The vans are very common in the Netherlands and may also have been in Friesland.

An e-mail contact relationship exists with Daniel van Gerpen, a former college student in Oestfriesland. His computer phone book lists about 40 van Gerpen families now living in Germany, almost all of them in Oestfriesland. An interesting fact is that 10 of the numbers are for phones on the tiny island of Borkum, just off the coast of Oestfriesland.

We have not been able to trace historical records back far enough to show us how Americans are related to those still living in Germany.

The W. D. Van Gerpen Family

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William D. Van Gerpen was born in Jennelt, Oestfriesland, Germany in 1836. He was a baker and emigrated to the U.S. in 1869. He settled in Florence Station, Illinois about 3 miles southwest of Freeport, Illinois where he operated a grocery store. In the middle 1950’s, while working for John Deere, I went to the Short’s Travel Agency in Waterloo, Iowa to get a train ticket to Chicago. When I gave Mr. Short my name he wrote it down without asking me to spell it. I commented on this and he told me that he had known a Van Gerpen in Illinois when he was a young man. Mr. Short had worked on the railroad and would buy food for his lunch in my great grandfather’s store in Florence Station, Illinois.

In 1889, great grandfather migrated to South Dakota and occupied a farm about 3 miles southeast of Avon. Herman W. (grandfather) was born in Florence Station (1870) and came with the family to South Dakota. After marrying Maggie Brandt they raised a family on a farm about one mile west of the original farm. He apparently also lived on the original farm and my father was born there in 1895, in a house that later was used as a garage. Later, when my father married he lived on this original farm and I was born there in a new house. The farm was later inherited by my father and then by my brother Edward and now Scott Van Gerpen (Edward’s son) lives there. In 2000 they built a new house on this farm and the house where I was born was moved onto another farm about 2 miles away.

Back: John, Martin, Louis, Edward

Front: Ernest, Grandpa, Grandma, William

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My grandfather (Herman) Van Gerpen was born in Illinois in 1870 and died in 1941, at the age of 71, from a heart attack that was triggered when he ran home from down town in the rain. My paternal grandmother, Maggie (Brandt) Van Gerpen was born in Illinois in 1875 to parents who also had emigrated from Germany; she was the oldest of the family that lived near Avon, South Dakota. Grandma Maggie (Brandt) Van Gerpen died in 1954 at the age of 79 from cancer. Herman and Maggie were married in Avon, South Dakota in 1894. They had six sons, William, my father, John A., Edward, Martin L., Louis and Ernest. The four oldest were farmers near Avon; John A. was a business man; and Ernest, the youngest, taught in rural schools and later was a high school teacher in Rapid City, South Dakota.

William, the oldest, wife’s name was Johanna, has three sons named Harlan, Roland, Edward and a daughter named Lucille. Uncle John’s wife’s name was Ella and has a daughter named Lavonne and a son named Earl. Uncle Edward had a wife named Esther and a son named Lowell and daughters named Lylah and Lois. Uncle Martin (Mac) had a wife named Ruth and a son named Maurice. Uncle Lou had a wife named Ida and three daughters named Myra, Dorothy and Ellen and two sons named Dale and Robert. Uncle Ernest had a wife named Sylvia and has two sons named Donald and James.

Grandpa and Grandma DeRoos emigrated from Franeker, West Friesland in 1894. They already had three children. They moved in with Grandma DeRoos’ sister, Mrs. Ulbe Eringa. The house had only two bed rooms and they lived there for about a year.

There is a book Dutch Farmer on the Missouri by Brian Beltman that describes living in those years. The book is about Ulbe Eringa, brother-in-law to Grandpa and Grandma DeRoos. Ulbe came to this country in about 1890. He wrote a letter every year back to his relatives in the Netherlands. Beltman, Ulbe’s grandson, and his mother Alice visited the Netherlands in recent years and found that all these letters, about 45, had been saved. They brought them back with them and Alice was able to translate them into English. They are the foundation for the book. Grandpa DeRoos was born in 1860 and died in 1928 when I was about 4 years old, of respiratory complications. Grandma DeRoos was born in 1863 and passed away in 1954 when I was about 30 years old.

My mother had three older sisters, Dora (Mrs. Gerber Van Arendonk) who lived near Stickney, South Dakota, had two sons, Arthur and Gerald and a daughter Thelma. Kate (Mrs. Art Elenbaas) who lived in Orange

Back: Annie, Kate, Frank, Dora

Middle: Jake, Grandpa(Gerlof), Johanna(my mother), Grandma (Teresa), Pier

Front: George

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City, Iowa, had three daughters, Henrietta, Thelma and Francis. Anne (Mrs. George Genant, later Mrs. Garret Brink) who lived first near Avon, South Dakota and later in Orange City, Iowa, had two sons, George and Gordon and a daughter Frances.

My mother had four brothers, Frank, married to Aunt Ruth, had a daughter named Frances. He died in his 20’s and was a Dutch Reformed pastor in Michigan. Pier, married to Aunt Anna, had a son, Gearald, and two daughters named Evelyn and Ruth. Jacob, married to Aunt Jennie, had a daughter named Georgia Anna and two sons named Gelvin and Roger. Pier and Jacob were both farmers near Springfield, South Dakota. Another brother, George, married to Aunt Marge, had a son named George and lived most of his life in Denver, Colorado.

The death of Frank was a family tragedy. He was serving as pastor in a church in Michigan. He traveled to South Dakota, and while there he developed a ruptured appendicitis and died. His wife, Aunt Ruth, had not accompanied him because she was about 8 months pregnant. They conducted his funeral and buried him in South Dakota, but his wife was not able to attend his funeral. About a month later, Frances was born. Aunt Ruth taught school and lived with her two unmarried sisters and mother in Overisel, Michigan. When she died, 55 years after her husband’s death, she was brought to South Dakota and buried next to her husband.

After Grandpa DeRoos died, Grandma lived with her children, moving from one to the other. My Dad suggested that a small house be built for her on uncle Pier’s farm. It was small but it made grandma happy to live alone. There was a bell in Uncle Pier’s house and a switch in Grandma’s house so if she needed help she could call. There was no radio, no TV or phone, but she liked to knit and write (and receive) letters. She always communicated in the Dutch language.

MY PARENTS

My Parents

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My father was called W.R. by many because there was an uncle also named William (Bill) and sometimes there was confusion because of the same name. My father had 5 brothers, no sisters. His father, Herman, served in the state legislature and locally was known as the Corn King of Bon Homme County. My father, the oldest son, was generally in charge of operating the farm. Our family usually had a hired girl to help my mother. With 6 boys around the hired girl had to take a lot of teasing.

Printed in the Avon Clarion in 1916:

Herman Van Gerpen, one of our most prosperous farmers, has added another 160 acres to his already large holdings by purchasing the Fred W. Bangert farm seven miles southeast of Avon at $111.00 per acre. This last purchase makes 640 acres purchased by him during the last year at an average price of more than $100 per acre. Herman surely has an abundance in Bon Homme County and its virgin soil. He now owns 960 acres of the finest land in the vicinity of Avon. The foregoing is an example of what thrift, energy, good business judgment, and superior management will accomplish in a comparatively short time. Less than 25 years ago Herman bought his first 80 acres largely on time and since gradually added to his holdings until now he is counted among the largest land owners in the county.

His brothers were very happy when Dad got married so they could goof off more. They would frequently tell stories in later years of how they would ask their Dad if they could go fishing. He would give them permission but then my Dad would remind my grandfather that there was a fence to be fixed or some other job was waiting, so fishing had to wait. There was a large lake on the back of the farm that had fish that still exists today.

Dad’s education was very limited and unique. Because of the farming operation it was customary to start school after the corn was picked in the fall and then quit in the spring to go back to farm work. They used to tell how the younger brothers would go to school during September and October and they would come home telling about how strict the teacher was, making them line up, etc. The older brothers could hardly wait until the corn was picked so they could straighten out the teacher—but they were the ones that were straightened out. Dad only completed about 4th grade in the country school.

While he was the right age to serve in the military Dad did not actually serve in WWI. He attended an automobile mechanic school in Kansas City expecting to go to the service and while there became ill and did not enter the service.

Printed in the Avon Clarion in 1917:

"Willie Van Gerpen left Saturday morning for Kansas City, Mo., to take an eight weeks’ course in mechanic arts. He will take special courses in the auto and traction engine departments. Willie is bound to make a success as a mechanic as he is naturally inclined that way. He is a son of H.W. Van Gerpen.

Johnnie, son of H.W. Van Gerpen has returned to the State Normal School at Springfield after spending Thanksgiving at home."

Another article in a 1918 Avon Clarion gives more information:

H.W. Van Gerpen came back from Kansas City Tuesday night bringing his son with him who had been a patient in the Grace Hospital at that place for two weeks suffering from inflammatory rheumatism and a bout of typhoid fever. Although yet very weak, he is getting along as good as can be expected.

When Dad was about 24 years old he attended a college in Springfield, South Dakota. He took courses in English, math, penmanship and violin. I suspect girl watching was also a principal activity. The college Dad attended was a teacher’s college called Southern State Normal School, offering high school and college courses. One year in Normal School would qualify you as a teacher. Many of the country school teachers were directly out of high school.

My mother, Johanna (DeRoos) Van Gerpen was born in 1899, west of Springfield, South Dakota. She was a rural schoolteacher near Springfield and also near Corsica, South Dakota. I believe my mother went to Normal School, just out of grade school for one year, and was then a teacher. She was teaching grade school at the age of 17. After graduating from high school I attended the same college for a year and a half and had the same professors for English and math as my father and mother.

My parents married on August 5, 1922. They farmed the original homestead and all four of us children were born there. They went into semi retirement when Dad was about 55 years old. They spent their last years wintering in south Texas and summering in South Dakota. When my brother Ed decided to farm he married and moved into the house. Mom and Dad bought a trailer house and moved it onto the farm under the trees and that was their summer home.

They liked to travel and did so extensively through the U.S. They had friends all over the U.S. and could get free lodging almost everywhere they went. They were very faithful church attendees and Johanna was always active in volunteer work in the church. For many years she was a Sunday school teacher of adult women.

She would frequently do good deeds. During the depression when money was scarce, the preacher would not get his full salary. I remember Mom cleaning chickens and giving them to the pastor. There was the expression, A lot of chickens went into the ministry. If someone in the church died mother was frequently asked to chair the committee to prepare the lunch following the funeral. It was tradition for my Dad’s family to go Grandma Van Gerpen’s for Christmas Dinner. She usually cooked a big goose. It was also a tradition for Mother’s brothers and sisters who lived nearby to come to our house on New Year’s Day.

One time a family of about eight children that had not been brought up in our church, but had sons that had become Baptist ministers, came back into the community to attend the funeral of their father, the last remaining parent. The funeral was on Saturday and the family decided to remain together and use this occasion, perhaps their last opportunity, to go to church together on Sunday morning. Mother heard about this and she fixed up a big meal