Pike Township Family Stories

THE FUHRMEISTERS
Nichols, Iowa Centennial Book 1884-1984, pages 316-317
By Janis Fuhrmeister

         Robert Joseph Fuhrmeister, Jr., son of Robert Fuhrmeister and Gertrude Evans Fuhrmeister of West Branch, married Janis Kay Radford, daughter of Glen Aldon Radford ad Nedra Mae Fleming Radford, at St. Bernadette’s church in West Branch, Iowa.
         Bob and Jan are parents of three sons: Joseph Aldon Fuhrmeister, Brian Cleve Fuhrmeister and Glen Robert Fuhrmeister.
         They lived and farmed in the West Branch area until they bought one of the Bill Hotz farms located three miles west of Nichols and one mile south of Highway 22 on the county line road.
         Janis worked as a medical secretary for three years after graduation from high school at the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at University Hospitals in Iowa City. Then she worked in the sales department at Owens Brush in Iowa City for two years, until the birth of their first son. Bob farmed with his father at West Branch, Iowa, while he was in school and after graduation. He then rented farms in the West Branch area until the moved to Nichols.
         Janis’ parents moved to West Branch from Moline, Illinois, because they wanted her and her brother, Jerry Aldon Radford, to grow up in a small town such as Mulberry, Kansas, where they had lived. They bought the Ford dealership in West Branch. After the death of Glen Radford in 1981, her mother and brother maintained the dealership.
         Glen Radford worked in the coal mines and farmed with his father until the moved to Illinois in the 1940s. There he started working on trucks and buses, moved up to salesman and when he sold buses to the school in West Branch, he bought the Ford dealership there which was for sale.
         Nedra, Jan’s mother, also lived in Mulberry, Kansas. She is semi-retired now [1984] from the Ford business and does a lot of traveling.
         Both Jan and Bob are graduates from West Branch High school. Bob was a member of the Army Reserves and was stationed in Missouri, California and Louisiana. Bob and Janis are full time farmers. They are members of St. Mary’s church in Lone Tree.
         Bob is a member of the Pork Producers, Cattle Association, Nichols Slow Pitch, Farm Bureau and American Legion. His hobbies are fishing, slow pitch softball, hunting and relaxing.
         Janis belongs to Pork Producers, Altar and Rosary Society, CCD teacher, Federated Club, Card Club and American Legion Auxiliary. She likes to read, does ceramics and needle work and raises plants. She collects pigs and cookbooks, having over 300 pigs and 70-80 cookbooks in her collection.
         Events of importance in their lives include the hottest day of the year when they were married with the temperature at 102 degrees; they rode on a hayrack after their wedding. At the Nichols Day celebration, their son, Joe, was run over by a trailer. An important year for Jan was her year as president of the Muscatine Porkettes when she received the Bell Ringer Award.


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Page created December 26, 2010 by Lynn McCleary