Henry & Macil Hahn

HAHN CONLEY KRUEGER

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 8/27/2010 at 20:36:15

History of Woodbury County, Iowa 1984

Henry and Macil Hahn
By Bonnie Bottolfson

According to the Hahn family Bible, Henry’s parents were: Charles Hahn, born February 2, 1852 and Anne (Conley) Hahn, born September 29, 1859. Their children were: Samuel E, born August 30, 1877; Clarence W, born, January 27, 1880; W Henry, born April 15, 1883; Earl born January 19, 1885; and Myrtle, born October 26, 1886.

Samuel was married in Cherokee, June 11, 1904. (I think he remarried, and had two children, Drucilla and Callie Mae. They lived in La Porte, Indiana, as I was growing up.) Samuel died of a heart attack.

Clarence was married at Wayne, Nebraska, April 21, 1903. His wife, Birdella, and he are both deceased. They lived in Cherokee, Iowa, as I was growing up. Their children were Orville, Virgil and Opal.

Henry, my father, was married first to Edith May Hess on April 29, 1903. Her parents were O E Hess and Clara McClow. Their daughter, Margaret, was born October 5, 1904. She married Edwin Nordstrom from Rockford, Illinois, and lived in Chicago, when I was young. This marriage ended in divorce.

Earl was married at Cherokee on August 15, 1905, and died January 27, 1916.

Myrtle was married in Washta, Iowa, on February 2, 1911. She had six children: Vivian, Colletta, Roberta, Genevieve. Gaylor and Billy. She died March 1, 1923.

Now, to my parents. My mother’s maiden name was Macil Henrietta May Krueger. Henry and she were married in Sioux City on May 22, 1918. Her parents were Franlin Arthur Krueger and Leila Martin. Macil was born May 8, 1897, at Oto. She attended school there and graduated form Oto High School. She teachers training and taught in a country school for a time before her marriage.

Henry’s and Macil’s first born was Devon Weston Hahn. He was born in Cherokee, April 16, 1919. (He arrived at midnight, just missing being born on Dad’s birthday.) Devon or ‘Gus’ as he was known to most people, went to school in Cherokee, where he became an outstanding trumpet player. He won second place at a national contest in Cleveland, Ohio. Before graduating form Morningside College in Sioux City in 1941, he played trumpet for the college band, the Sioux City Symphony, the Monahan Post Band, and his own dance band.

After enlisting in the Army, he entertained troops and civilians in castles in Ireland and England. In attempting to land its troops in North African invasion, his boat was sunk. Although safe for awhile, he was later taken prisoner and sent to a prison camp in Germany where he remained for twenty-seven months. (Our cousin, Dale Timmerman, and Gus both suffered during forced marches.)

After being discharged from the Army, Gus took employment with the Iowa State Employment Bureau, where he later became manager.

He married Lucille Locke on October 5, 1945. (Lu’s father was a lawyer in Primghar, Iowa.) They had two boys, Janvrin Devon, and Jeffrey Allen. Janvrin lives in Sarasota, Florida, with his wife, Leslie, and their daughter, Susan. Jeffrey practices medicine in Pasadena, California, and lives with his wife, Patti, and their son, Jason, in nearby Sierra Madre. Lucille is retired form teaching in the Sioux City School System and is living in Sarasota, Florida in the winter and at Lake Okoboji, Iowa, in the summer. Gus died very unexpectedly, January 27, 1973.

I am Bonnie, the daughter of Henry and Macil. I was born April 8, 1923, in Cherokee. While growing up in Cherokee, I was active in band, choir, speech, and dramatics. Our family moved to Sioux City in 1941, at which time I began four years of study at Morningside College. I became a member of the college band, the Monahan Post Band, the Sioux City Symphony Orchestra, and the college drama club; I sang in Mr Mac-Collin’s college Choir and was named editor of the college year book.

During the first year of teaching music at Manilla, Iowa, I married William D Bottolfson on December 8, 1945. His father was Carl William Bottolfson, May 12, 1897-December 8, 1950. His mother was Margaret Finnegan, June 8, 1899-August 14, 1982, C W Bottolfson was born in Allamakee County, Iowa, and Margaret was born in James, Iowa, three miles south of Hinton.

Besides teaching in Manilla, I taught in the other Iowa towns of: Galva, Kalona, Arcadia and Carroll. I taught with Bill in Ponca, Nebraska, and he also taught in Sheldon and Carroll.

We spent several summers at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, where Bill earned his master’s degree and I participated in four operas.

Our first child, Bruce Lee, was born September 8, 1851. Our daughter, Becky Lynne, was born April 9, 1954.

We moved to California in 1959. Bill taught speech, drama, and English in the Anaheim Union High School District and I taught music for the Westminister Elementary School District. Since 1960, I have been teaching in the lower elementary grades. We are both retiring this year, hoping to spend much time traveling.

Our son, Bruce, married Priscilla Maria Gomez, born September 13, 1951, on July 28, 1973. Their first child, Amanda, was born prematurely, August 31, 1978, and died nine months later. Their second child, Marian Victoria, was born May 4, 1980. Bruce earned his master’s degree in psychology and is working as a police officer with the Anaheim Police Department. He and Priscilla and Marisa live in Diamond Bar, California.

Our daughter, Becky, married Dennis Stout, born April 21, 1950, on November 22, 1981. They live in Orange, California. Dennis sings, plays, and writes music.

My father ran a restaurant in Washta, Iowa, as a young man and then made a successful business of selling life insurance. He died June 5, 1955.

Mother was very active in the Methodist Women’s Society in Cherokee; at one time she served as president of that organization. She died March 16, 1970.