| 44 | Community History, Zearing, Iowa | 44 |
Dr. Ricketts married Nellie Jones of Nevada, Iowa, on November 30, 1908. They were the parents of nine children. The children were Carroll, Robert, Ilene, Max, Jeanette, Maxine, Mary, Wayne, and Donald.
A souvenir atlas published in 1908 by The Nevada Representative contained a picture of Sheriff William A. Ricketts of Story county. He was the father of Dr. Robert A. Ricketts.
Dr. Ricketts was a football and baseball star in high school and at Iowa State College. He played on Zearing's town baseball team for many years.
Dr. Ricketts served on Zearing's school board. He built a practice in his profession that extended far beyond the borders of Lincoln township.
Chris G. Muschick is the dean of Zearing's independent contractors in 1956. Chris began his activities as a carpenter at the age of eighteen. He became a carpenter in Zearing in 1917.
Chris married Addie Keoppel in 1901. Chris and Addie were the parents of a daughter, Hilma Muschick Krueger. Hilma is living in Zearing in 1956.
Many of the buildings in our community were built by Chris and his helpers. Chris was the mayor of Zearing from 1939 to 1946.
Chris has always been a very busy carpenter which is conclusive evidence of his ability.
A history of our community would not be complete without a tribute to Kenneth and Margaret Baiotto Comfort.
Robert Kenneth Comfort was born near Hubbard, Iowa, on October 15, 1921. Kenneth graduated from the high school in Zearing. He attended Simpson College at Indianola, Iowa, for two years.
On October 22, 1944, Kenneth married Margaret Baiotto. They lived on a farm until illness and the loss of Kenneth's sight forced them to quit farming.
Kenneth learned rug weaving at the school for the blind at Vinton, Iowa. His excellent workmanship and sunny disposition made him many business friends. His products were sent to all parts of the United States and to several foreign countries. Kenneth died on June 29, 1955.
Margaret was always by his side. She was the ideal partner. Two words are all that are needed to describe Kenneth and Margaret. The two words are courage and devotion.
Information for this part of our local history was furnished by William H. Brown, Dale E. Tisdale, and Anna E. Fry. Early his-