mechanic. Overseas duty during the war was in
Italy. Post war duty as airborne radioman in the
Ferry Command, and airborne radar observer in
the Air Weather Service flying 2,000 mile weather
flights over the Caribbean and the Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans in B-29s. He left the military in
September, 1948, after 7 years, 3 months, 5 days
active duty. He remained in the Air Force Reserve
and later the Minnesota Air National Guard until
retirement as master sergeant in November 1980.
We first met when Mary Lou taught in Wabeno.
We were married on 4 August 1943 in Holy Cross
Cathedral in Boston while stationed on Cape Cod,
Mass. We started our civilian life in Hollywood,
CA where Mary Lou had been living while the Air
Force kept moving Joe around. After getting ac-
quainted with Everett, Wash. and Milwaukee we
finally settled in Goodhue. Mary Lou taught in
high school and had dramatics and later the
library. Joe farmed the family farm. During this
period we used our hobby of photography as a
sideline. At times Joe would help the local printer.
This lasted over twenty years.
Our first time in Bruce was Thanksgiving
weekend in 1976 on the way home from Wabeno.
We peeked in the window of the Bruce News Let-
ter. The following summer we bought the equip-
ment, and on November 1st the first job was
printed under the name of Rising Sun Press. That
name just was not popular, so we changed to
Woelfinger Press a year later. In late summer
1978 we bought a house and made the final move
to become a part of the community. In 1982 we
became the owners of the Woelfinger Office Sup-
ply in Ladysmith.

located a half mile west and a quarter mile south of
the new school on land that is now owned by Louis
Juergens.
The new school boasted a basement with a fur-
nace and individual seating. In the late '20's
Cloverland School had 32 pupils enrolled, all eight
grades taught by one teacher. The school district
included four rural schools - Cloverland, Crabb,
Oak Grove, and Progressive. I was clerk the last
nine years before the district was dissolved. A
home now occupies the school site, having been
built by Larry Thompson, whose wife is my
daughter, Kay.
I attended the Ladysmith High School where I
met my future wife, Helen Burch, from Sheldon.
After she taught school for three years, we were
married in 1940. The following year we moved to a
farm north of Sheldon, where our first daughter,
Nancy, was born. After living there a year and a
half, we sold that farm and bought a 120-acre
farm adjoining the home place. When my younger
brother went into the service, I once again farmed
with Pa.
In 1952 we remodeled the barn, removing the
seven horse stalls, making room for 42 milk cows
and some young cattle. In 1957 we enlarged the
barn, which my grandfather had built in 1918. We
utilized and remodeled the big house, also built by
Grandfather, by raising eight daughters: Nancy
(Mrs. Clarence Hoesly), Kay (Mrs. Larry Thomp-
son), Jean (Mrs. Robert Arimura), Lyn (Mrs. Kel-
ly Rittgers), Jan (Mrs. Bruce Hasselquist), who is
a twin to Joy (Mrs. Fred Berg), Laura and Beth.
They have all graduated from college except Beth,
who is now enrolled, and all but one of them have
been or are now school teachers.
My dad continued to help on the farm until his
death in 1971. Nancy's husband, Clem, who lives
across the road from us, helps us out in the sum-
mertime when he isn't involved in teaching at
Ladysmith Junior High. Another son-in-law,
Larry Thompson, became involved in the farming
operation in 1975 which over the years has been
enlarged to 600 acres. Submitted by Earl
Woodbury

Henry and Olga (Romanchek) Wujciuch

WOJCIUCH, HENRY AND
OLGA ROMANCHEK
Henry Wojciuch and Olga Romanchek were
married in the Russian Orthodox Church in
Chicago, August 10, 1941. They moved to Wiscon-
sin and bought a farm in June of 1942. In 1943
Henry started a salvage and junk yard, besides
starting to work out as a carpenter. He helped with
the building of the Ladysmith Hospital, the
Ladysmith Creamery, the Disposal Plant and
Dairyland Power Dam, where he was employed as
Maintenance Man for thirty-two years until his
retirement in August of 1981.
Seven children were born and raised in the Con-
rath area: Michael, Richard, David, James, Mary
Lou, Nancy, and Peter.
Olga Wojciuch liked antiques and after buying
the Whereatt Building from Doctor Lee she
bought and sold antiques and ran a store which she
called the "Curiosity Shoppe." Olga Wujciuch
EARL WOODBURY FAMILY
I grew up on the family farm, attending the
Cloverland School which was a new building when
I was in the first grade. The school was also used
for Sunday School and church services until the
early 1930's when our group transferred to the
Church of Christ in Ladysmith. The school was the
center of the community, being used for social
gatherings such as Thanksgiving dinners, plays
and pie socials. The building was located on my
grandfather's farm, an eighth of a mile south of his
home. Previously the school house had been
322

The Ladysmith House at the Corner of 2nd E. and
Worden Ave. Managed by Woodbury Family
E. CLIFTON WOODBURY
HOWARD WOODBURY
My grandfather, Howard (H.C.) Woodbury, at
the age of 42, his wife, Abbie May, and three
children -  E. Clifton, Grace and Clarence -
came to the Town of Grow from Anoka, Min-
nesota, in 1902. Grandpa originally came from
Lincoln, Maine, moving to Anoka at the age of 21,
there marrying Abbie May Coggins. They settled
on 160 acres located south of Frank Coggins, his
brother-in-law, who had come the year before.
Settling on wild land, they made their living by
hauling wood, which was called poverty wood, cut
from their land as they cleared it. The land was
cleared with a team of horses and a stump puller.
During the winters both Grandpa and Clifton
worked for logging companies, Clifton first going
to the woods with a team when he was 15. Grandpa
was a swamper.
When the menfolks were gone to the woods,
Grandma and Clarence took care of the few cattle
and the family, which now consisted of another
boy, Ralph, and a daughter, Edna. Grandma made
and sold butter, driving a horse and buggy to town

and delivering to customers. At one time, my
grandparents operated a boarding house in
Ladysmith, known as the Ladysmith House, which
was located at the corner of Worden and East
Second Street. At that time, the land south and
east of there was mostly brush and pasture.
To supplement their hay supply, marsh hay was
often cut by hand, sometimes miles from home,
and put in haycocks. It was then carried with poles
to high land where it was loaded onto a wagon and
hauled home.
In 1911 a large frame house, which is still in use
today, was built from lumber sawed from the
timber on the farm. The large hip-roofed barn was
erected in 1917 but was blown down by a tornado
before it was finished. It was rebuilt the following
year, and it also is still in use today. After Clifton
was married in 1916 to Leta Nichols, the house
was occupied by both generations, each having
half the house. My parents' family consisted of
Harold, me, Helen (Mrs. Haynes Burch) and Jack.
Grandpa was clerk of the Town of Grow for
many years and was active in church services,
which were held in the Cloverland School.
My grandpa and Pa farmed together until 1941
when Grandpa died. My grandmother continued to
live with her children until her death in 1957.
Submitted by Earl Woodbury
THE GEORGE WOODMANSEE
FAMILY
George and Antoinette Woodmansee moved to
Chippewa County from Iowa in 1916 with his
parents, James Jefferson and Jane Ann Wood-
mansee, four brothers and a sister. They settled at
Sand Lake.
George found work at Bruce. He and Antoinette
moved there - their home for the rest of their
lives.
George worked at various jobs in Bruce - one
managing the Bertram Wright Lumber Yard and
once a Reed Murdock pickle factory - but mostly
he worked at carpentry. He built several homes
and barns in and around Bruce.
George was an artist in woodworking - his hob-
by in his little spare time, and also after
retirement.
He served as Village Clerk of Bruce for forty-
two years. His books were noted for their beautiful
penmanship and accuracy. He also was a volunteer
fireman for many years, serving as secretary for
the department, and was awarded a gold badge for
his years of service.
Antoinette, or Nettie as she was best known, was
an artist and spent what time she could spare in
her busy life, painting with water colors and oils.
She entered paintings in a number of amateur
shows in Northern Wisconsin, and once won first
prize in the state in an Amateur Rural Art Show
with her picture, "Family Picnic."
George and Nettie raised a family of eight
children - four boys who all served in the armed
forces in World War II, and four girls.
Lura went to Milwaukee during World War II
-  met and married Otto C. Tesch -  lived in
Milwaukee and raised two children - now lives at
Amacoy   Lake. Son   and  daughter live in
Milwaukee.
Robert, married to Betty Blessing, has been a
carpenter and builder for forty-five years - served
several terms on the Village Board of Bruce and
two terms as Village President; has three children
and eight grandchildren.
Roderick, who married Cleo Cote, was a
carpenter in Bruce for more than forty years
four children and six grandchildren.
Edith lives in Portland, Oregon, with her hus-
band, Jack Stanton. They have four children and
six grandchildren.
Arnold entered military service during World
War II and retired after twenty years' service; now
resides in Bruce.
Alvin, an attorney who has practiced in several
Wisconsin counties, now at Viroqua, Wisconsin;
one daughter living in Madison.
Louise married David Stevens; resides at
Amacoy Lake. She has served since 1966 as Clerk
of the Town of Stubbs. Father was still Village