Fort Sam Houston Army Hospital. Shortly after that in Nov 1970 John was honorably discharged. They packed their belongings and moved back to Decorah where the family has lived ever since.

For 7 years John, Suzanne, Erica and Jennifer Margaret lived at 204 North St., Decorah. Jennifer Margaret was born. John started working for his father and mother, Leonard and Carol Matter, in Jan 1971 at Matter’s Ballroom, a family business since 1916. Suzanne worked at Security Insurance Agency in Decorah from fall 1972 until May 1975. Also during that time Suzanne worked part-time at Matter’s Ballroom.

The last move John and Suzanne made was in May 1978 when they moved into their new house built at 2799 Locust Road. In Sep 1979 Suzanne went to work again outside her home, at the Winneshiek Mutual Insurance Ass’n. Suzanne worked at this job until becoming a self-employed insurance agent in Apr 1985. She has been self-employed ever since.

John has spent these years continuously employed at Matter's Ballroom. To date he is still working there with one change. He is now the owner.

John and Suzanne’s oldest daughter, Erica Marie, was married to Eric Bender 25 Jun 1994. Erica is a full time student at Viterbo College in LaCrosse, Wl studying for her BS degree in nursing. Jennifer Margaret is a sophomore at Macalester College, St. Paul, MN, studying Spanish and ecology.

John and Suzanne continue to own and operate Matter’s Ballroom, grow trees on their tree farm and garden in their spare time.

Matter, Stanley and Leila (Young)

(Leila Matter)

Stanley Matter was born 19 Dec 1899 to George and Catherine (Bronner) Matter. His siblings were: Viola (m. Weston Stoskopf), Vera (m. Bernard Sparke) and Clayton. Stanley married Leila Young 12 Dec 1928 at the home of her parents. Leila was born 24 Feb 1910 in Pleasant Twp. to Phillip and Clara (Barth) Young. Phillip Young’s parents and Clara Barth's grandparents were from Germany. Leila’s siblings were: Lester, Luverne (m. Cyrus Nordsving), Edna (m. Lloyd Gjere) and Iona (m. Dean Price).

Leila attended school in Hesper. After her marriage she and Stanley farmed in Canoe Twp. until Stanley retired because of heart and kidney trouble. He died 30 May 1967 and is buried at Locust Cemetery in Pleasant Twp.

Stanley enjoyed doing home repairs and decorating. Leila enjoyed being a homemaker and doing hand-work. She worked as a waitress at various places in Decorah. She now lives in an apartment in Decorah and enjoys getting her exercise with long walks. Leila and Stanley were members of St. John’s Lutheran Church at Locust, north of Decorah.

McCargar Family MANY ROADS TO IOWA, PART I

(Hannah Lee McCargar)

I, Hannah Lee McCargar, was born in the Winneshiek Co. Memorial Hospital in Decorah, IA. I live in Glenwood Twp, nine miles northeast of Decorah. As I write this, I am 10 1/2 years old and one of the first students at Pleasant Valley, a new school which began in 1994. Here is my story, or at least part of it.

If you came up to me and asked me where I was from, it would not be a short answer like “Iowa”. The answer actually would be longer than that. Some people called my dad an outsider in 1990 when he was running for county supervisor. But really, on his side of the family, my heritage goes back five generations. One of my first ancestors to come to Iowa was Leslie Hallock McCargar. He was born 9 Sep 1859 in Ontario, Canada, and later moved to Iowa at the age of 14. He married Addie May Goss on 26 Dec 1891 in Preston, IA. She was born 31 Jul 1866 in Lancaster, IA. Leslie edited a newspaper in Danville, IA and died of lead poisoning caused by holding the lead type in his mouth. He died on 26 Dec 1917 and is buried in Ollie, IA. His wife, Addie, died 25 years later in Sioux City, IA.

While in high school, Leslie's son Harold McCargar took over editing the Danville paper after his father got sick. Harold later moved to Pittsburg, PA where he worked for the Armstrong Cork Co. as an advertising manager. After World War I, Harold moved back to Iowa to marry Hattie Wolf (b. 14 Sep 1894 in Dudley, IA). After their marriage in May 1918, they moved to Chicago, IL where Harold worked for Kuppenheimers Clothing Co., again as an advertising manager. With this move, my Iowa connection was put on hold for over 60 years, until 28 Jan 1982 when my parents moved to our rural homestead on a day when the bank clock said -24 degrees.

Harold and Hattie’s second son, Robert Stanley McCargar, is my grandfather. He was born 8 Nov 1922 in Chicago, IL. Bob was a child who grew up in the Chicago suburb of Glen Ellyn loving football and basketball. When he was 19, he went to Colgate University in Hamilton, NY In 1941 he met Sophia Scott Tibert, the daughter of a Nova Scotia lobsterman and a schoolteacher. In 1943, Bob volunteered for the Army, but was not allowed to fight because of a hole in his eardrum. He became a sergeant and served for over two years. In Sep 1945, he and Sophia Tibert were married in the Colgate University Chapel. After Bob got out of the service in late 1945, the two moved to Paoli, PA where they stayed with Bob’s parents (Harold and Hattie) while Bob worked for National Analysts. Their first son (my father), Donald Stephen McCargar, was born. (We call him Steve.) Four years later, the family moved to Ann Arbor, Ml where Bob went to graduate school at the University of Michigan and Sophia worked as a nurse at Byer Hospital. By the time Steve was old enough to attend the University of Michigan himself, his family had lived in Michigan, Massachusetts, Ohio and then back to Ann Arbor. Steve met my mother, Heidi Lou Swets, at a meeting in 1978. You can find out how