done in the studio. The Tiffany Studio seal which
was pressed on the pictures and easels is a familiar
one in this area and for more than fifty years they
were in business on main street at 213 West Miner
Avenue which is now occupied by a dental clinic.
Through good, hard, honest work and long hours
the studio flourished. The memory of having the
studio open every evening, Saturdays and answer-
ing the ring of the bell when someone entered,
always at meal time it seemed, still lingers with
me.
Mabel met Yelmer Victor Sims from Rice Lake
who was a railroad depot agent for the Soo Line.
They were married and had a son, Edward Paul,
who was named after both their fathers, and four
years later I was born and given the middle name
of Grace as a namesake. The family was small and
very close with Grandma Tiffany living with us un-
til her death in 1934. She was a strong force in our
lives and I always will remember her saying,
"Hush! Hush! child," as she reprimanded me and
often stated that she was "provoked by my
behavior."
Y.V., as he was called, decided to run for the
County Treasurer's office in Rusk County and he
won the election and became the officer for over
twenty-five years always running    on  the
Republican ticket. He died very suddenly on a
Sunday afternoon in June in 1954 while he still
held office at the age of 60. His death was a terri-
ble shock and the loss the family felt was in-
describable. We were proud however, when the
Ladysmith News and the state auditors commend-
ed his work highly as all the books were current
and balanced and in good order. The American
flag on the Post Office building was flown at half-
mast to show the respect of the community.
My Mother died in the bleak, early morning
hours on Thanksgiving Day after four years of
grieving and loneliness. She had sold the Tiffany
Studio ten years earlier in 1948 to her sister Blan-
che Tiffany Lindoo.

Mabel Tiffany Sims, Blanche Tiffany Lindoo, and Har-
riet Potter Tiffany
My Brother Edward moved to Rice Lake, and
married Mary Riggert. Their family consists of
two daughters and 3 grandchildren.
I met my future husband, Kurt D. Gerkin in
1938 at Pulaski Lake where his parents had a cot-
tage and lived during their retirement years. We
were married in 1950 and he later bought the
studio and remodeled it for a dental office. Our
family consists of two boys Kurt and Eric, and one
girl, Karen, who is married to a Ladysmith boy,
Bruce Burch. Kurt is married to Barbara Englund
from Eau Claire and they are living in Wyoming.
Eric is a Doctor of Chiropratic and has a practice
in Minnesota.
Our family ties span four generations and we are
proud to be a part of Rusk County's history. Mar-
jorie Grace Sims Gerken
JACOB AND ANNA SIREK
FAMILY
We came from the Red River Valley area,
Tabor, Minnesota, in 1912. Jacob and Anna Sirek
and five boys: Frank, Bill, John, Louie, and Mike
to make their home in the wilderness 7  miles

south of Birchwood in the town of Wilson in Rusk
County.
Living in the school until the homes could be
built as it was fall and cold. They made wood and
hauled it to Birchwood to be shipped to Rice Lake
and Eau Claire by railroad. The younger boys,
Louie and Mike, were a little too young to work in
the woods so they kept the family supplied with
meat, fish, and berries in season. Mike carrying a
gun longer than he was, could shoot the eyes out of
a partridge. With homemade sleds and skis they
knew all the lakes and ponds around. The ice was
always tested for safety by Mike. He was the
smallest. If it could hold him, the others would try
it.
The Aspen Land Company advertised a Bohe-
mian settlement with Catholic Church and a
school to bring the settlers in. School was used for
meetings and social events.
Jacob Sirek was chairman of the town of Wilson
for a number of years. Frank, Bill, and John had
an orchestra of their own: violin, accordian, and
horn, which made them quite popular for home
parties, especially for the long winter evenings.
Music could be heard in the evenings after the
work was done.
Father Henick, a blind priest, was the pastor at
that time - a very eloquent speaker. He spoke
many places throughout the United States.
Miss Ruby Dakins was one of the school
teachers at the time. First public school was a tar-
paper shack.
Our family left in 1918 to farm near Dobie in
Barron County. After seven years, Dad sold the
place in the winter when it was all covered with
snow. You could not see all the stone then.
Bill had married a local girl. There she was the
school teacher, Rose Paposechek. They had three
sons: William, Richard, and Vincent.
Frank had two sons born there - Frank Jr. and
Edward now of Rhinelander. Jacob and Anna now
rest in Our Lady of Lourdes Cemetery in Dobie. I
often think of the good times I had there as a boy;
we often drive there in the summer. Now the apple
trees and the buildings are gone. Mike and
Laurene Sirek

Mike and Laurene Sirek

ANDREW AND HELEN SISKO
Andrew and I grew up as neighbors on dairy
farms north of Hawkins, both attending Hawkins
Grade School and St. Mary's Church in South
Fork. After finishing high school my sister Regina
and I sought employment in Chicago where we
found work for ten months in an enamelling plant.
We tired of the dirty work so we went to Motorola
Radio for four years, helping the war effort mak-
ing Walki-Talki Radios among others. Andrew
worked on Construction for a couple of years in
Chicago until he joined the Service in 1942. After
his discharge Andy and I were married August 18,
1945 at St. Mary's Church in South Fork. We
lived in Chicago a year where Andy worked in
Construction. In 1946 we bought a dairy farm
north of Hawkins and moved in August of that
year after the birth of our first son in Chicago. In
all, eight children were born to us, Dennis, Bruce,
Andrea, Maureen, Brian, James, Scott and
Jerome. They all attended various colleges after
high school.

Andrew studied Agriculture on the G.I. Bill for
four years, served on the Town Board, was a
member of American Legion, Knights of Colum-
bus, janitor at St. Mary's Church and at present on
the ASCS Committee. I was active in Altar Socie-
ty, teaching Catechism for twenty-five years, den
mother for Webolos and Boy Scouts, and 4-H
helper when the children were growing up.
1952 was an exciting year when we built our
new home. Our family spent the first warm winter
in it and enjoyed the luxury of a warm home.
Visiting relatives and friends, going on sleigh
and wagon rides, picnicking and swimming at Con-
ners Lake every chance we could, fishing, hunting,
trapping, hiking were the sort of fun we as a family
enjoyed.
My first plane ride was exciting when we flew to
the 1st 47th Bomber Group Reunion at Denver,
Colorado July 1977. Andy visited his old buddies
and I met the wives. We made two more reunions
by plane, to Dayton, Ohio in July 1977 and to
Washington, D.C. October 28, 1982.
When we were children during our grade school
years my Father drove a horse-drawn green
covered wagon or sleigh (depending on the season).
In winter those closest to the small stove toasted
while those further away froze. The boys would get
out and run awhile for exercise. Later Tony
Melisky drove the same green bus and would roast
potatoes in the little stove that we brought from
home. When Tony bought a truck and built a cover
for the back we thought we had modern
transportation.
At the beginning of summer we looked forward
to spending two weeks going to Catechism at St.
Mary's. These were fun days of visiting with
friends and studying with the Sisters from
Ladysmith Convent. Our children attended the
same Grade and High school as we did.
Our son Brian spent a year in Demark Universi-
ty in Europe and traveling when he was a student
in Eau Claire. He traveled to Poland and visited
relatives there.
BOB SISKO FAMILY
Bob Sisko and wife Mary both emigrated from
Repich and Yurgov, Austria.
They met in Chicago July 8, 1906. They were
married in St. Michaels Church, Chicago, I11.
They lived in Chicago for a few years; two
children were born there.
They moved to Ironwood, Michigan, where Mr.
Sisko worked in the iron mines. Three more
children were born there.
They purchased forty acres in the town of South
Fork and built a home and barn and moved there
in 1912.
Mr. Sisko worked in lumber camps and power
line towers that go by Flambeau River.
In 1923 they purchased eighty acres one mile
south and built a log house, barn and other
buildings and moved there in 1924.
Then in 1926 they built a new home and in 1930
a large dairy barn. There were seven children born
in Hawkins and South Fork. Of thirteen children
five are living.
Mr. Sisko passed away in 1958 and Mrs. Sisko
in 1968. They were members of St. Mary's
Catholic Church in South Fork. The farm is still in
the family. Mrs. Stanley Vrana
SLAYTON FAMILY
My oldest living sister was born in 1907 - Edna
May, and between 1907 and 1910 my parents,
Fredrich W. and Susan E. Slayton, migrated from
Washburn County to Rusk County. They lived in a
one room house a half mile from Slayton's Lake,
later called Kaylor's Lake.
In 1909 their second daughter, Sybil A. Slayton,
was born and in 1912 their third daughter, lone
Lucile, was born.
In the fall the man all went to logging camps to
work, leaving their families 'til spring. Mother
stayed alone with three little girls. She hauled
water from the lake for all needs, by means of a
makeshift sled and two lard cans.