John B Belfrage

BELFRAGE WOODFORD RUNGE

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 4/2/2010 at 16:30:00

Woodbury County History 1982

John B Belfrage Family
By John Belfrage

John B Belfrage was born on the family farm south of Sergeant Bluff, Port Neal Rd., June 12, 1916, second son of Wilfred and Winnie Woodford Belfrage. He attended Sergeant Bluff School and helped with the farm work. In the early 1930’s he worked for the Chicago-Northwestern Railway carrying mail from the Post Office to the depot and helped his father on the farm.

He married Helen M Runge, daughter of Ernest and Anna Bartels Runge, Feb 15, 1941, at the Salem Lutheran Church, Dakota City, Nebr. Helen was a 1933 graduate of Dakota City, Nebr High School. For several years, she kept house for her father and brother, Earl, then worked two years in the Dakota County Farm Bureau office prior to her marriage.

The couple continued to farm with John’s father and in late 1941 John started work as a brakeman on the Chicago-Northwestern Railway, continuing this work during World War II on various trains, many were troop trains and also helped with the farm work.

In the last 1940’s John did some trucking in connection with farm work. In the early 1950’s his brother, Mac, joined the farming operation and they set up a dairy operation, milking Holstein cows. 1955 to 1959 John worked at the Sioux City Milk Producers as a salesman and helped set up milking parlors for many Siouxland farmers, and continued interest in the family farming operation until 1969. During the 1950’s he served on the Sergeant Bluff Farmers Elevator board and in 1954 was President of the Pioneer Old Settlers Association Centennial when Sergeant Bluff celebrated its first 100 years.

During the 1960’s he served as School Bus Master for the Sergeant Bluff-Luton School and worked for 15 months for the Bettendorf, Iowa schools. The family farm was sold in 1970 to settle the Wilfred Belfrage estate. John and his family moved into town and he worked on the street department for three years. In 1973 he began maintaining roads for Woodbury County, retiring in July 1979. In 1980 he resumed driving a school bus for the Sergeant Bluff-Luton School as a part-time retirement project.

After moving to town, Helen worked for three years at the 185th National Air Guard coffee shop. From 1973 to 1979 she worked full time in the hot lunch program at the Sergeant Bluff-Luton School. In 1980 she began working part-time in the high school lunch room.

Six children were born to Helen and John Belfrage, all graduates of the Sergeant Bluff-Luton High School.

Joan Marie Belfrage Petersen, born Nov 19, 1942, attended the University of Iowa her freshman year and like her Aunt Winifred Belfrage, worked in the lunch room at Currier Hall to defray expenses. She married Charles Petersen, Salix, Iowa, June 5, 1964; both graduated form USD, Vermillion, SD in 1964. They have two daughters, Ruth Anne, born Aug 23, 1969 and Sarah Rosemond, born July 13, 1971, who are involved in music and 4H. They live in and care for the historical Murphy home in Onawa, Iowa, and have the Onawa Florist Shop. They both taught school in Mapleton, Iowa, before going into the florist business. Joan is presently working with the Talented and Gifted Program in the Onawa schools. The whole family is involved in Methodist Church work and community affairs.

Julie Ann Belfrage Rowson, born March 2, 1945, graduated form Stewarts School of Hair Styling, Sioux City, Iowa in 1963 and from UNI, Cedar Falls, Iowa, May 31, 1968, and like her Aunt Winifred Belfrage used her hair styling talents to help with college expenses. During 1963-64 he worked at a beauty shop in Morningside. She married Maynard G Rowson, also a UNI graduate, July 28, 1968. They taught in Jesup, Iowa, for a combined 35 years. The fall of 1983 they joined the teaching staff of the American Community School in Amman, Jordan for two years. Julie teaches 4th grade and Maynard has elementary PE.

John Berkley Belfrage, DVM born April 21, 1947 attended ISU, Ames, Iowa, graduating in 1971 with a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree. He married Mary Beth Duncan, daughter of Anna Mae and the late William Duncan, Bronson, Iowa, June 2, 1968. Mary graduated form ISU in Nov 1969 with a degree in English. In July 1971 John joined the Army as a Captain taking basic training at Fort Sam Houston, San Antonio, Texas and food inspection instruction at Fort Sheridan, Illinois. He was stationed at New Orleans, Louisiana and in Yokohama, Japan where he worked in a veterinary clinic and inspected food at various commissaries. He was discharged from the service in 1975 in Honolulu, Hawaii and entered a veterinary partnership in Kona, Hawaii. He is now associated with Veterinary Associated, Inc, Kamuela, Hawaii where he helped design the new clinic. Mary works as a loan officer in the Bank of Hawaii at Kona. They have a daughter, Kristen Nicole ‘Kiki’ born April 13, 1974, at Seoul, Korea.

Wilfred Ernest Belfrage, born May 13, 1949, attended USD, Springfield, SD, graduating in 1969 with a degree in auto and diesel mechanics. He has since taken several GMC auto mechanic courses. He is shop foreman for Roger’s Garage, Tekamah, Nebraska, and does some farming. He married Cynthia Ahrens, daughter of Mable and Kenneth Ahrens, Tekamah, Nebraska, August 10, 1974. Cindy attended Wayne State College and works for the Tekamah Coop. They have a son, Kenneth John born October 22, 1977.

Anita Helen Belfrage Bray, born March 15, 1952 was the third generation of the family to graduate from Morningside College in 1974 with a major in German and minor in English. In 1973 Anita was the first Morningside student to win the Meyer Krakowski Scholarship award and was a member of Alpha Mu Gamma, a national foreign language fraternity and also Alpha Lambda Delta. She taught at Lyons, Nebraska, for two years, then spent a year at Emery University Theological School, Atlanta Georgia. In 1977 she returned to Nebraska and taught at Clarkson for two years. August 18, 1979, she married LeRoy Bray, Rosalie, Nebraska. He attended Wayne State College and is engaged in farming. Anita is presently teaching at Walthill, Nebraska. They have a daughter, Julie Marie born January 15, 1982.

Winston Bell Belfrage, born April 27, 1957. The name Bell is carried by a number of descendants, both male and female, of Luther and Nancy Bell Woodford. Nancy was a relative of Alexander Graham Bell. Winston joined the Air Force in 1975 and took basic training at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas, and advanced jet mechanic training at Chanute Air Force Base, Illinois. He was stationed at Williams Air Force Base, Phoenix, Arizona from Jan 7, 1976 to July 1978 when he joined th 185th National Air Guard, Sioux City, Iowa. At the Sioux City Air Base in Sept 1978 he was presented the Air Force Commendation Medal for meritorious service while assigned to Purpulsion Branch, 82nd Field Maintenance Squadron, Williams AFB, Arizona. He married Jerri Grenier Jenkins, daughter of LaVonne and Thomas Gray, Sioux City, Iowa, Dec 27, 1980. She has two sons, Dustin, born Aug 7, 1975, and Daniel born Nov 21, 1981. They live in Sergeant Bluff, Iowa.