As recounted by Armon "Bud" Adler on February 3, 2014
Around January 20th in 1886, Nicholas Adler moved to Haubstadt where he purchased 140 acres of land from the Sollman Family. He farmed this land and raised his family until March 18th 1907 when he sold the farm to my Grandpa John and Grandma Lena Adler (pictured above, far right and far left, respectively). Great Grandpa Nick, who was a widower at this time, continued to live on the farm with Grandpa and Grandma. Grandpa and Grandma worked this land and raised their family. They had 4 children: Dora (top right above), Oscar (top center), Leoma (top left), and Edwin (lower center). On November 19th 1932, Grandma and Grandpa sold 40 acres to their son Edwin Adler who was not married and lived with them. This is when they moved from the old place and built the new home on the farm but closer to the edge of the town of Haubstadt. Grandma did not get to enjoy living in the new home as she passed away on Oct. 17 1933. My mother and father, Oscar and Elvira (Riffert) Adler, moved from their home in Haubstadt to the old farm house after Grandma, Grandpa, and Uncle Edwin moved to the new farm house. Dad helped on the farm and worked as a truck driver for Emge Packing Company in Fort Branch.
I was born in 1938 and as a small child I remember my older brothers helping Dad and Uncle Edwin work on the farm. During this time all the field work was done with horses. As a small child I went with Dad whenever I could and was with Grandpa John and Uncle Edwin a lot. Grandpa cooked all of the meals in his basement and meals were eaten on a big table that would seat 10 people so that he could feed all the help during harvest time. He was a very good cook and we always said that he could make boiled potatoes taste good. Most of the food that he fixed was from the farm. He had a large garden and raised his own chickens. Uncle Edwin raised beef cattle and pigs and some were used for food. Grandpa had a very good sense of humor and he was very good in entertaining us kids. He also was a proud man and was well known in Haubstadt. He always wore a suit and tie to church every Sunday. He was a member of the Knights of Columbus and was very sincere in attending the meetings. Grandpa and Uncle Edwin were proud of their place and made sure the house and lawn were kept in very good condition. Grandpa and Uncle Edwin always made sure they kept in contact with their relatives and visited their homes often.
Jan and I were married on 14 November 1964. The next spring Dad and Edwin wanted Jan and I to move into the home place as I was farming their farms. Mom and Dad moved into Edwin’s house as he was eating meals at their house and Jan and I moved into the home place.
On a Saturday afternoon in 1982 Dad and Uncle Edwin went to Saint Peter and Paul’s Church to go to confession. After confession they got into the car to return home. When they started to leave Uncle Edwin could not release the emergency brake so he opened the door and released the brake from the outside of the car which caused the car to roll backward upon Uncle Edwin’s leg, resulting in a very bad broken leg. The emergency personnel transported him to Saint Mary’s Hospital in Evansville. Jan and I took Dad and Mom to the hospital where we saw how severely the leg was broken. We were informed that they would not be able to do anything to it until the swelling decreased. I told Jan to take Mom and Dad home and I would stay with Uncle Edwin Saturday night. He was very restless all night and Sunday morning the Hospital Chaplain came in and brought him communion and prayed with us for a speedy recovery. When he left we prayed the rosary and talked about his injury. He was worried that Mom and Dad could not take care of him and he did not want to go to a nursing home. I told him that we would help take care of him. He was scheduled to go to surgery on Friday morning but his condition had deteriorated which caused the hospital to cancel the surgery. Edwin Adler passed away later that morning on Friday 26 February 1982 at age 79.
On Saturday evening 27 February 1982, Jan and I and some of my brothers and sisters went to see Mom and Dad to spend some time with them as services would be held at the Funeral Home on Sunday for Edwin and we didn't want them to be at home by themselves all evening. After we were there awhile, Dad said that he did not feel well and he had some pains in his stomach area. Norbert and I talked Dad into going to Welborn Hospital as that was where his doctor was located and our wives stayed with mother. They kept Dad at the hospital and Norbert stayed with him. Sunday morning I went to see Dad and pick up Norbert. The nurse informed us that the doctors wanted to do some exploratory surgery so we went home to get Jan, Margie, and Mom and informed Charlie, Jean, and Mary of the surgery so they could get to the hospital.
During the surgery they discovered that Dad had an aneurysm that could not be repaired. His blood vessels had deteriorated and the doctors could not stop the bleeding. Oscar Adler passed away during surgery on Sunday 28 February 1982 at age 85 while the extended Adler family was attending the visitation services of his brother Edwin Adler at the funeral home.”
Editor's Notes:
Great Uncle John Adler died on 18 October 1959 of cancer. I specifically recall meeting my namesake at the first Adler Family Reunion in August 1959 at the Eagles Picnic Grounds in Evansville. I was five years old.
If you review the death records of our family ancestry going back 400 years to Viernheim, Germany, you will see that that all of our ancestors were “well-fortified” with the Last Rites and the Eucharist at the time of their passing. This comforting continuity of the Sacraments extended to the generations that followed them.
I only met Oscar Adler a few times as a child but I remember him as a jovial man with a bright smile. I can just imagine that as Oscar was climbing Jacob’s Ladder to Heaven, his newly arrived brother Edwin was at the top waving and grinning to welcome him Home.
