John L. GOLOB JR A FAMILY HISTORY

along and splash fell two big tears on the priest's hands. Realizing the

situation he attached a letter to the notary who was to issue license telling

him and asking him to deny issuance of license on grounds that parties were

too young. Unaware, the marriage party set off to the notary next day,

mother tagging along in the rear weeping her eyes off. The notary did the

priest's bidding and Grandma was very upset:

"Take my lands and daughter. I'll not carry responsibility anymore and

you won't help me get a 'gospodar'"

On the way home mother was so very cheerful that she almost got in

trouble.

Soon after their house burned and a large new building was

constructed.

Dad (Mlinar) lived about 4-5 hours distant in another village. Thru a

relative he heard about the situation at this particular home and decided he'd

go see for himself. If things were OK with everyone he would marry the girl

himself.

He started out for the village where she lived and on the way he met

an old lady carrying a cedar chest full of her belongings. It must have

weighed 150 pounds. He offered to help her. After various questions had

been answered they discovered they were both heading for the same village,

though he told her he was going over to the market, but should he find a

night's lodging in that village he might stay overnight.

They reached their destination and it happened she was to be a tenant

upstairs of Grandma's house. He realized he had come to his real destination,

so while taking the chest up he made a thorough survey of the place.

Grandma and mother became upset thinking this stranger might come to rob

at some future date, seeing his interest in the details of the place.



50

Before leaving he chatted with Grandma and she complained to him

that the house was unfinished, having no 'gospodar', etc. He decided to tell

his mission and said if it were agreeable to everyone he would marry the girl

himself. And since Mother took a liking to him, before a month had passed,

old Grandma had a 'gospodar'.

7. Joseph and Ursula Zaic

Ursula Tomlje Zaic, September 25, 1880 - November 15, 1985, was born in

a farming village in Slovenia just south of the town of Grosuplje. Ursula

came to the United States in 1902.

Joseph Zaic, November 14, 1881 - April 4, 1971, was born in a farming

village in Slovenia just a few miles from Ursula's family. Joe and Ursula

knew of each other but had not met while living in Slovenia.

Joe came to the United States in 1903 and married Ursula in October of the

same year in Hibbing, Minnesota.

Joe and Ursula's first child was my mother Laura, born October 26, 1904,

the first of thirteen children of their marriage.

Grandma was so at ease with childbirth, so the story goes, that for some of

the later children, she fixed Grandpa's breakfast, packed his lunch pail, sent

him off to work, went into the bedroom and had a baby, then got up and had

Grandpa's supper waiting for him on the table when he got home from work.

She is also reputed to have been midwife for about 100 children in Hibbing.

Joe lived 89 years and Ursula, 105 years. Their remains now rest in the

Hibbing cemetery.

We buried Grandpa in April 1971, temperature 10 below zero and 4 feet of

snow. Uncle John Zaic made most of the funeral arrangements. At one point

Uncle John came to Grandma and said: "Ma, this time of year they usually

put the body in the chapel and bury it in June. For $50 extra we can bury



51

him now." Grandma answered: "For 69 years I worried about where he was.

We will pay the $50 and I won't have to worry about where he is anymore."

Joseph Zaic, Grandpa, was the oldest son of the oldest son of the oldest son -

-- seven times, all Joseph Zaic. That makes Grandpa Joseph Zaic VII. The

oldest son of Joe and Ursula, my mother's first brother, was also named

Joseph.

The oldest son of uncle Joe was named Robert, and the second son Joseph. I

wondered about this and, as a youngster, I accepted what I was told: "That is

just what they wanted to name them." It took years and a knowledge of our

Slavic Catholic peasant heritage to figure that one out for myself: The oldest

son of uncle Joe was conceived out of wedlock, therefore, not to bear of the

title of Joseph Zaic IX.

Grandma Zaic kept her garden through her 98th year raising potatoes,

cabbage, tomatoes, beans, carrots, lettuce --- making sauerkraut and canning

enough food for the winter. She was well into her 90s the last time she

butchered half a hog and made sausage. In those days she would enjoy

showing off a little: When she had people in her living room she would get

out her sewing basket, pick out a needle and thread, and holding it up, on the

first effort, thread the needle, no glasses. Ooooooh --- !

Grandma Zaic was the most beautiful and important woman in my life.

8. Joe and Ursula, Another Story

One day during my High School years while sitting Grandma's kitchen, I

asked her: Tell me about your teenage years in Slovenia. A big smile came

to her face and eyes and she began relating a story the she obviously enjoyed

telling. I interrupted her several times and said: "Grandma, I don't

understand you. Please speak in English." But she kept on talking in

Slovenian, enjoying her story and yet knowing that she was not revealing the



52

secrets of the king's daughter. Another time I asked: "Why did you come to

the United States?"

She replied: "To marry your Grandfather." I asked further: "Did you know

him in the old country? She smiled and said: "No, but I knew he would be

here."

I tell a story of Grandma's 100th birthday in Part VI of this report. There I

met Maria who, I was led to believe was Grandma's youngest sister. Maria

invited me to come see her in Slovenia and I said: I will."

In 1987 I did go to Slovenia and visit Maria, and there I learned another

family story that I think is delightful. And as the principles of the story have

already gone to their eternal reward, I have no hesitation telling it as I know

it.

Ursula in her teen years had a boyfriend Bill. Ursula's mother did not like

Bill or his family and, therefore, would not agree to a marriage. Ursula got

pregnant but her mother would still not agree to her marrying Bill.

Bill decided they should go to America. He did not have the money for the

two of them so he went to America by himself to earn enough for Ursula and

the baby to come after him. Bill went to northern Minnesota and got work in

the iron mines.

Maria was born July 26, 1900. In due course Bill earned enough money and

sent it to Ursula to come to America. She came over in 1902, leaving the 2

year old child with her parents, intending to come back for the girl after the

marriage.

Ursula got to Minnesota and surprise! While she was making her travel

arrangements Bill got another woman pregnant and the other woman

married Bill before Ursula arrived. Now what to do? Ursula wrote home for

help.



53

Joe Zaic, meanwhile, 21 years old, was conscripted into the Austrian Army.

In 1902 the life expectancy of an Austrian Army conscript was not very

long. Someone propositioned Joe to smuggle him out of the country, buy

him passage to the United States and have a bride waiting for him when he

got there. He knew of this girl . and her family although he had not

personally met her. He accepted the proposition. In 1903 Joe came to

America and a few months later married Ursula. Ursula's daughter Maria

stayed in Slovenia, married and had four children of her own.

In 1997 I had the joy of helping arrange for Maria's oldest daughter Maria,

her granddaughter Tanya and her great- granddaughter Ursula, to attend our

family reunion in Minnesota. After many years of separation ---. Young

Ursula, Urska, was born May 14, 1980 (?), shortly before her great-great-

grandmother Ursula's 100th birthday.

9. John L. Golob, My Father

John Lewis Golob, my father, April 28, 1891, - March 14, 1976, was born in

Luce, Slovenia. There are stories and documents that show him born April

26 and 29, also.

John L. Golob, my father, was the greatest man in my life.

Brother Martin did a marvelous job in 1997 publishing a booklet: BUCK

PRIVATE, The Wartime Letters of John L. Golob, 1918- 1919.

I wish someone would write a biography of this great man. Here I provide a

brief biographical sketch.

10. John Golob's First Years

John was conceived in Minnesota. Agnes wanted to go home for a visit so

Franz took (or sent) Agnes and child Mary back to Slovenia. John was born

in Slovenia.






54

Franz did not come back to get his family until the summer of 1894. At age

3 years and a few months John traveled with his Mother and sister Mary

(and maybe his father) aboard a steamship to Boston (or New York), then to

Hibbing Minnesota.

Between ages 6 and II, John received his formal education through 5th

grade.

In 1902 his father Franz, with fortunes failing in northern Minnesota decided

to try farming in southern Minnesota, near Saint Cloud, and took his 11 year

old son with him. After two years of unprofitable labor they returned to

Hibbing. His mother Agnes, in the meantime, was running a boarding house,

serving hot meals and packing lunches for bachelor laborers.

One time I asked Dad if he was in contact with his mother during those two

years. "Nope!" Did Franz sent her anything to help care for the family?

"Nope!" Well how did she make out while he was gone? "She did a damn-

side better than he did."

1904, back in Hibbing, a truant officer came by and asked Franz if the 13

year old boy was going to go to school. Franz said he would send him. A

father and son conversation followed that turned physical. The boy ran into

the woods. That evening John returned home where his mother had a bundle

of clothes and food packed and waiting for him. The boy headed down the

road, not to return home for three years.

11. Into the World on His Own

Dad, in his senior years, and with a little scotch or brandy would enjoy

telling how in the following 36 months he held 30 different jobs. Here are

some of the more memorable stories.

His first job, 1904, was aboard a steamship heading down the Great Lakes

out of Duluth, as a painter. Not far out of port John managed to drop a can of



55

paint that splattered on the Captain of the Ship. The Captain cursed and

swore that he would throw him overboard when he caught him. John hid out

in the kitchen where he showed his talents at cooking. The cook hid the boy

in the kitchen all the way down the Great Lakes and back to Duluth. John

was able to get back to Minnesota, rather than be stuck in some other port

town. The cook had an excellent helper. And the Captain got a couple

months of labor out of the boy without having to pay him a penny. Then

John headed West.

John got a job in the kitchen of a saloon in North Dakota. One or the ladies

ct foe Saloon took a bit of a liking to the new boy, which raised the wrath

from one of the cowhand regulars and drew his verbal abuse. Young John,

not to stand idle for such abuse, emptied that cowboy's whiskey bottle and

filled it with dirty dish water. Then he left town before the cowboy came

back, drank the soap and swore to kill him.

In my early twenties I took a liking to the art work of Charlie Russell who

did some of his most famous work while living in the Judith Basin of

Montana, 1904-1906. During that time Dad held various jobs in that area as

a cow hand and a chuck-wagon cook. On one occasion I commented to Dad

that he and Charlie Russell had been in the same area at the same time. I

asked: "Did you ever come across Charlie Russell or his works during those

years?" His reply: "I had more important things to worry about than

someone drawing pictures."

1907, John, then 16 years old, was working construction on a railroad

scaffold in Superior, Wisconsin. He fell and injured himself. The foreman

came and warned him that he better get out of the area quick, because "if the

big boss comes by and finds you injured he will have you killed." John






56

managed to drag himself away and made it back to Hibbing after three years

absence. So much for industrial accident medical coverage of the day.

1907-1909 back in Minnesota, John held a number of jobs in construction,

mining and logging. He even considered going into engineering. He kept a

little journal during those years which tell of some of his activities. That

journal still exists in the family.

12. White Color Worker

At 18 years old John decided to be a white collar worker. So what did he do?

He went out and bought the one thing necessary to be a white collar worker:

a white collar. There upon he went out and found white collar job as a clerk

in a ware house. 1 do believe that Dad wore a dress shirt and tie every day of

his life thereafter, even when he was out on fishing trip in the northern

wilderness.

Somewhere around 1914 John Golob sold his first insurance policy. Thus

began a career that would provide a livelihood for he and his family until he

sold his agency in 1975.

13. Veteran of The Great War

1918, the Great War to end all wars, John Golob was drafted, trained, sent to

France, blown up, and shipped back to the states, all in four month’s time.

See brother Martin's marvelous booklet: ETIVIRP KCUB, The Wartime

Letters of John L. Golob, 1918- 1919.

Winter of 1919-1920, a civilian and disabled, rather than spend those months

in the cold and snow of Minnesota, John decided to camp out with his

brother, Reverend Joseph Golob, O.S.B. at Saint Martin's Abbey, Lacy,

Washington. And what could he do in his condition to earn his keep? Help

out in the kitchen, of course.






57

The only secular writings that John found in the monastery library was the

Congressional Record. He spent that winter reading with great interest the

proceeding of the War Relief Bill as it was being knocked around in the US

Congress.

Summer of 1920 John was back in Hibbing and one of his friends invited

him to a meeting of the American Legion. With knowledge from the

Congressional Record and the vocabulary of white-collar lumberjack, John

Golob mouthed-off and got himself elected as a representative to the

American Legion State Convention to be held in Minneapolis-St. Paul. At

the State Convention the scene repeated itself and John got elected to the

National Convention.

John was not quiet at the 1920 American Legion National Convention.

There a Doctor Marx from Cincinnati approached him and asked him if he

knew how many of the Legionaries were concerned with the disabled. John

replied he did not know. Marx said: "About 10 percent. Would you be

interested in starting an organization for the disabled veterans?" The

Disabled American Veterans organization was being born!

John Golob was one of the founding fathers of the DA V. The Hibbing,

Minnesota Chapter is Chapter Number 3.

Dad was DAV Minnesota State Commander in 1938-39. In 1947 he became

the National Commander.

Somewhere in the 1920s John became the Veterans Service Officer of St.

Louis County, Minnesota, a position he held without pay for over 40 years,

until the US Veterans Administration made it a salaried position and hired

someone to take his place.

One of Dad's favorite boasts; his greatest claim to fame was that "he was the

only buck-ass private whoever got a four-star general to take his job." It was



58

no idle boost. In 1948 John Golob invited and convinced General Jonathan

W. Wainwright to succeed him in the office of National Commander of the

Disabled American Veterans.

Wainwright took convincing. He was concerned that the DAV would make

him a figurehead and he wanted no part of that. If the DAV wanted to give

him the job, he would do it to the best of his abilities. He did.

I grew up with disabled veterans coming and going in our family home. I

grew up with a father, businessman that he was, who had a fantastic

generosity, giving a great portion of his life in service to disabled veterans

and to others in need. He sold insurance enough to provide for his family.

He had no lack of time and energy for those in need.

14. Dad's Recreation

Each year Dad would go off into the northern wilderness area for a week or

more. He called it a fishing trip but we knew that it was more than that: a

communion with nature, a spiritual retreat. As I grew up names like Quetico

Park, Lake of the Woods, Great Slave Lake and Hudson Bay all became part

of our family vocabulary and my geography lesson.

Many times I heard Dad say: "Each summer I spend a week or so in the

wilderness and each winter I relive it a hundred times."

15. A Widow's Insurance

One of my favorite John Golob stories is not a veterans story, but an

insurance story. John Golob believed that immigrant workers with families,

particularly those working hazardous labor in the mines, ought to have some

minimum life insurance. And when a worker was having hard times, fewer

work hours or more babies, Dad would often carry an insurance policy at his

own expense.






59

It was the 30's, the depression, and a European immigrant family man was

having a hard time. Dad would visit him every year to see how he was

doing. The man being unable to pay for his insurance, Dad would carry the

policy for him for another year. Meanwhile, the worker's wife considered

Dad a money collecting SOB.

Then the worker got killed in a mining accident. Dad processed a claim on

the $1000 life insurance policy that he had been carrying. He deduced the

several years of premiums that he had paid from his own pocket to keep the

policy active, and proceeded with a check for over $900 to give to the

widow and to extend condolences. The old lady took the money, picked up a

broom and with a wild outburst of profanities started swinging at him,

accusing him of cheating her out of the rest of the $1000.

That was two scotch story.

16. Laura, My Mother

Ursula Margaret Zaic, Laura, my mother, October 26, 1904 - September 23,

1969, was born in Hibbing, Minnesota, the first of 13 children of Joe and

Ursula Zaic.

In her early years Mother learned only the Slovenia language at home. When

she was 6 years old she entered first grade and was unable to speak English.

That was common among her classmates. The nun asked her her name. She

said: "Ursula". The nun misunderstood and wrote Laura. So Mother became

Laura for the rest of her life.

Mother was a good student. She worked hard both at school and at home and

helped raise her 12 younger brothers and sisters.

When Laura graduated High School she got a job in the school library. She

brought her pay check home to Pa to help support the family. She was able






60

to work and take Junior College courses part time, thus she attended Junior

College for 6 years.

She had a great love for reading, particularly romantic novels.

Her journal: Reading, 1925-27, lists books that she read: 131 titles in 21

months. That journal still exists in the family.

17. John and Laura

John Golob was 38 years old, Laura 25 when a wedding was decided,

February 12, 1930. It was held quickly and quietly, February 22, 1930, and

the couple headed out on a honeymoon in a new Buick automobile toward

California, via Texas and Florida. They returned to Hibbing in May, Mother

a little bit pregnant.

Mother wrote a journal on their honeymoon entitled: The Trip. Several

photo copies of that journal exist in the family.

John Golob brought his bride home, slightly pregnant, to live with him, his

mother and his sister Mary in the old family home in North Hibbing. That

was not a very good scene.

John L. Golob, Jr. was born January 1, 1931 while they were living in the

Golob family home. Martin was born October 12, 1932. I think they were

still living with Grandma Agnes and Aunt Mary.

I was conceived at the time of Agnes's wake, October 1933, and born July

24, 1934. By that time the family had moved to a rented house about two

blocks away from the Zaic family home.

In 1937 Dad bought six mining company houses and six vacant lots in town

and started a moving operation. One of the lots was one block south of the

Zaic family home. Mother liked the location and the house and said: "Why

don't we live here!"






61

John and Laura spent the rest of their lives residing at 2503 4th Avenue

West, Hibbing, Minnesota.



Kenneth “Pappy” Eberhart

This is just a small collection of the many, many stories told about Kenny

Eberhart, a legend in his time known affectionately as Pappy.

th
Kenneth G. Eberhart was born in Athens, Georgia on Oct 20 , 1907. He
was educated at Athens High. As a youth he was very athletic as he boxed,

wrestled, rode horses and played softball and baseball. His five foot six inch

stocky frame was perfect for sports and his appearance made him easily

recognizable in any crowd. He was often seen around Athens riding his

motorcycle. He married Elizabeth Bowden from Athens, known as Kitty in

Aiken South Carolina. They had two girls, Elizabeth, who they called Beth,

in 1934 and Jane, who they called Sister, in 1937.



Pappy worked as a machinist for Athens Motor Machines from 1942 and in

Athens Motor & Machine Company, in the early years of World War II, he

started his own company in the basement of his home and called it Athens

Motor and Machine Shop. In about he moved his business to downtown

Athens on Clayton Street behind the Georgia theatre. The primary product

of his company were knitting machine cylinders used in the manufacture of

hosiery; these were the circular devices that held the needles. The design

and quality of his product made the family financially comfortable.



He could conceive an idea, envision the design as completed and then go to

work and seemingly with ease bring his idea to reality. This talent also led





62

to his construction of a seven acre recreational lake on a few hundred farm

acres in Jackson County about six miles from Athens. He also purchased a

small cabin on Lake Seed in Rabun County and renovated for use as an ideal

family summer retreat.



It has been said that Pappy never took a drink before age fifty. He was seen

many times approaching the bar at the Athens Elks Club and being offered

“his usual” by the bartender. Very few knew that his usual was vanilla

extract and water because there was seldom anyone that was any more the

life of the party than Pappy. On 1964 at the age of 57, Kenneth G. Eberhart

died while drinking a glass of milk in front of the family refrigerator in the

middle of the night. There is no question with those that knew him best that

he died from drinking alcohol. Once he started drinking, he did it as he did

most everything in life, with an energy and determination to do it very well.

It is very necessary, I feel, that you understand the relationship to Pappy and

the Eberhart family of the person compiling these stories. I am the ex-son-

in-law of the Eberharts. I was the husband of the younger daughter, Jane.

There was never anything other than tolerance shown to me by the older

women of the Eberhart family. And unfortunately, the divorce has left an

extreme bitterness in some of family. It is with some trepidation that I write

this. But it is only fair that the reader understand the feelings of the

compiler.



I am not bitter in any way. From the first time we met, Pappy and I got

along very well. In fact, my mother asked me the night before our marriage

if I was in love with Jane or her Dad. But Pappy was a very colorful

character. Many of the stories told about him have become highly



63

embellished especially as I write this, over forty years after his passing. My

Dad called him a “real man’s man”. Therefore, as you may now expect,

much about Pappy can sound very macho, maybe crude at times and to some

women especially sound downright uncomplimentary. I will try to relay

these events as told to me with credit to the story teller or as best as I

remember as they were experienced disregarding, as best as I can, how they

may affect the reader.



A Real Showman:



Kenny had a closet full of costumes. His cowboy outfit was the classic that I

liked the best. He would dress completely western including real pearl

handled Smith and Westin revolvers in his leather holsters. The chaps and

spurs he wore weren’t strictly decorative. He owned two horses and rode

very well. So for a parade, he could mimic the best of the west.



He had a beautiful Santa Claus suit. He would save the coins out of the coke

machines he had at the shop and would carry a bag of money for the kids.

And always he seemed to have a pocket full of silver dollars for the special

kids. But the coin giveaway wasn’t restricted to Christmas. Any time Pappy

got the notion, he would stroll through downtown Athens and distribute his

coins and smiling words.



When the governor of the state of Georgia came to Athens for a parade, it

was Pappy and his surrey with the fringe on top that carried the governor

through the streets of Athens. His horse drawn surrey with Pap in full






64

costume with the governor was pictured in the local paper and picked up by

the Associated Press.



Pappy, the Tour Guide:



Just before Christmas 1955, the Golob boys drove to Athens, Georgia as

guests in the Eberhart home. John came to court Sister Jane and his brother

David was simply a passenger heading home for the holiday from college.



The Golob boys grew up in Northern Minnesota and David had just spent his

first half a year away from home in Colorado. This was David’s very first

exposure to the South. The boys stayed the night in Macon, Georgia, so it

was midday when they arrived at the Eberhart home. Very shortly after the

introductions, John and Jane disappeared leaving a somewhat uncomfortable

young man alone with Mr. and Mrs. Eberhart in their living room.



Shortly, Pappy asked David if he would like a tour of the town and David

quickly accepted the offer. Pappy excused himself and went through the

house to the downstairs leaving David to visit with the Mrs.

It wasn’t too soon for David that a strange man walked in the front door.

Pappy’s jeans and t-shirt were replaced by a tuxedo with tails complete with

spats, top hat, gloves and cane. “Shall we go visit Athens, sir”, Pappy

greeted again a startled Dave.



As they left the house, David was even more startled to see Shine holding

the door of a touring car. Shine was the black “member of the Eberhart


family” serving as butler, chauffeur, gofer or whatever the occasion called


65

for. He was dressed this day as a very, very classy chauffeur. And what a

car!!! Pappy had a collection of old cars. This as I recall was a Buick,

partial convertible, black and shiny.



Well sir, the tour was narrated with proper animation as Pappy pointed out

the sights no tourist should miss. Never mind showing a college student the

University of Georgia. Shine drove slowly past the tree that owns itself and

the double barrel cannon while Pappy narrated. When they pulled into a

parking place in front of the City Hall, Shine quickly dismounted to hold the

door for David. Pappy properly pointed out the fine architecture of one the

antebellum buildings spared by General Sherman and took a wide-eyed

David to tour structure.

David was not knowledgeable enough to be surprised that the tour started in

the basement. And when Pappy introduced his young guest to a Deputy

Sheriff, David still was not surprised. But when Pappy led his guest into the

cells to sit on a bunk and chat with all the drunks that were currently

incarcerated, surprise is hardly the word for David’s quiet reaction. This

tour remained a one-of-a-kind memory for a northern boy as long as he

lived.



235 Hodgson Drive:



Hodgson Drive is a short street in Athens. One might describe it as long city

block about two blocks long. The Eberhart’s lived on the east side on the

street on a couple of acre lot that continued east across a creek to the next

street. The property on the east side of the creek housed only the horse barn.





66

The residence was a two story brick home that originally had been heated by

coal. When the Eberhart’s converted to gas heat, Pappy cleaned out the old

coal bin and made it into a bar. One must be reminded that Athens, like

much of the Baptist South, was dry at the time. The bar opened to the

family room but only through a narrow low ceiling passageway that was

hardly obvious to a stranger. The bar from a coal bin was no bigger than

about six by eight feet. Pappy installed a sink. The hot water faucet was not

connected to water at all. The faucet would turn on the moonshine. Those

were the days when two kinds of shine were produced: drinking shine and

selling shine. Believe me, Pappy stocked the very best of the drinking shine.



No one seemed to ever question how the Eberhart’s black man ever got the

name Shine. When asked about his early life, Shine could never come close

to his age, either where or when he was born. But he could carry on about

how fast he could run as a boy. He said that no Fed ever came close to

catching him when he was making a delivery.



The Athens police worked a seven a.m. to three p.m. shift. For some reason,

Pappy’s horses would “jump the fence” with great regularity. It seems so

strange though that it was always so close to three o’clock when Pappy

would get a call at the shop that the police had rounded up his horse.

‘Course Pappy would leave the shop for home, ten minutes at the most, to

coral the horse and reward the cops. The police loved the Eberhart hot

water.









67

Fourth of July, 1957:



Lieutenant John L. Golob and Mrs. Sister Jane Eberhart Golob were

temporarily stationed at Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama in

July 1957. John was attending Squadron Officer’s School and their

daughter, Betty, was born in Montgomery in April 1957.



John extended an invitation on behalf of Mr. and Mrs. Eberhart to six Air

Force pilots and their spouses to spend a four day Fourth of July holiday at

the Eberhart cabin on Lake Seed in North Georgia. The new Grandparents

were eager to see the granddaughter. And the pilots and wives were eager to

get a break from the Air Force routine.



With three cars behind him, John led the convoy through Alabama on

Highway 80 and prepared to cross into Georgia at the Phoenix

City/Columbus. There was no Interstate 85 at that time and radar speed

traps were a very new thing. Furthermore, Phoenix City, Alabama was

known at that time as a wide open town with a proliferation of liquor,

gambling and prostitution.



As you might have suspected by now, within the first few hours, this hinted

of an unforgettable vacation trip. Seven fighter pilots in four cars were

“arrested” for speeding. They were taken to a small wooded structure very

little bigger than an outhouse. A judge in long underwear, no shirt and bib

coveralls fined each driver of the four cars eighty dollars. Each of these

pilots made approximately $222.00 per month with their flying pay. So

needless to say this was a shock.



68

Shortly after their arrival at Seed Lake, Pappy selected one of his many hats,

caps and bonnets for each of the guys to wear throughout the three days.



Pappy was really impressed especially by two of his visitors, Ed Palmgrin

and George Krause, members of the Thunderbird team, the Air Force

acrobatic performers. Then Pappy captivated his young pilot audience of

stories of Ben Epps, one of the first men to every get a flying machine

airborne. Pappy said that when he was a young lad he used to go to a field

that is now the site of Beechwood Shopping Center in Athens. (In recent

years I have seen an article describing another location of these first flights.)

Pappy said that he watched the bicycle repair man Epps not only repair bikes

but fiddle with “a contraption that he said would fly”. With great flourish

Pappy described Epps first flight.



A trip to Lake Rabun was scheduled so that Pappy could show the guys the

big houses on the “rich lake”. Hall’s Boat House on Lake Rabun had rental

Chis Craft boats that seat ten. A fifteen minute tour of the lake cost $5.00

per person and the boat driver/guides were college boys on summer

vacation. The tour was narrated and at very slow speeds until the end of the

tour. For a brief final few minutes the driver “opened her up” and concluded

with a fast, sharp left hand turn, lined up with the marina and cruised at idle

to the dock.



Pappy was seated at the left in the rear seat. I was on the right of the rear

seat with Ed between us. As our driver went to full throttle, Pappy tapped


on my left hand shoulder and behind Ed’s back he handed me his wallet with


69

his watch around the wallet. As I gave Pappy a pluzzled look, he put his

finger over his lips and whispered “shush”. As the boat entered the left turn,

Pappy rolled out of the boat. Six very startled pilots shouted at the driver to

stop. As the boat turned back at almost idle, only Pappy’s hat floated on the

water. Pappy was nowhere to be seen. With each second that passed, the

college boy driver got more and more faint and white which now disturbed

the pilots. Finally, Pappy pops up out of the water shouting, “You pushed

me you son of a gun. You pushed me!” Ed innocently looked at his

colleagues and said, “Not me!”.



After introducing the six visiting pilots to Georgia moonshine, Pappy

proceeded to try to get one of these men to go to visit the local airport and

rent a plane. Pappy said that he wanted to fly over the lakes cause he always

wanted to dive out of an aircraft into the water.



About 30 years later, about ten years after we had all retired, I met one of

those pilots, John Lowery. John said that he met many characters in his

years of service but Pappy remains one of his very top memories.



The Yankee Boy Teaches Pappy a Thing or Two about Ice



On a leave to go visit Jane who John was courting Pappy took John Jr. up to

lake seed in the cold of winter. They went out on a boat and headed up the

lake, John noticed the ice covering on the lake. He mentioned it to Pappy

who merely brushed it off. John purposely said nothing else but he navigated

the boat towards the shore and the ice covering. The bow of the boat cut

through a thin ice covering with a loud crackling. Pappy jumped up so



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startled unfamiliar altogether at what he was experiencing and John just

laughed at Pappy. Pappy was not familiar with ice coverings on the lake.



Pappy and John L. Golob Sr.



When the two John Golobs were notified of Pappy’s demise. John Sr. was

very quick to book airline accommodations from northern Minnesota to

Atehns Georgia. John sr. became one of the first to attend Pappy’s funeral

and remained in Athens for more than just a day or two.



Sunday Morning at the Elk’s Club



Pappy and his wife were regulars at the upstairs Elk’s club after church. One

of John Jrs. Most memorable occasions occurred when Pappy visited every

table in the club. To give best regards to each and every family. Then when

he was at the last table Pappy sat down at one visitors chairs, grabbed the

seat of the chair and took it with him on a back flip and then apologized to

the attendance for his unusual behavior. This episode has been remembered

by Jake Hutchins & John for years.



(INSERT GRANDPA PAPPY’S DEMISE)



HOME












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NACOOCHEE DEVELOPMENT:



Nacoochee is a Cherokee Indian name for “Evening Star”. But some called

this lake “Seed” and commonly one would hear the expression “gone to

Seed”.

In July of 1925, construction began on the Nachoochee development. It was

built between Burton Dam and the headwaters of Lake Rabun to take

advantage of a 60-foot drop in the Tallulah River between the two lakes.

Due to the mountainous terrain, the Georgia Railway and Power Company,

the developers of the project, were unable to construct a temporary railway

for the purpose of moving materials and equipment. To overcome this

transportation problem, materials and equipment were shipped as far as the

Lakemont railway station, then transferred to boats and barges and

transported nine miles up Lake Rabun to the construction site. The remains

of one of the barges can be viewed during low water time in Uncle Bob‘s


cove at Linda Minder Dekle’s boathouse. The Nacoochee dam was

completed in mid-1926, forming a 240-acre lake. By November of 1926, the

powerhouse was completed and the plant’s two hydro units, with an output

of 4,800 kilowatts, were on line.
The Nacoochee development was the last project completed in the North


Georgia system by the original Georgia Railway and Power Company.
In the construction of the four dams in Rabun County --- Burton,


Nacoochee, Mathis, and Tallulah --- the Georgia Railway and Power

Company had constructed miles of wagon roads, built a bridge on top of the

Tallulah Dam and built a bridge across Lake Burton. These water power

projects were unique in that they utilized a continuous 28-mile stretch of the

Tallulah and Tugalo rivers. Between the crest of Burton Dam, the upper


72

dam of the six, and the elevation of the water in the southern-most reservoir,

Lake Yonah, is an 1199 foot drop.

At the time of project completion in 1927, this was the most completely

developed stretch of river in the United States. Engineers from all over the

United States and many foreign countries came to North Georgia to view the

development. It was stated that the Tallulah Power plant, with an output of

50,000 kilowatts, could more than satisfy the needs of the entire city of

Atlanta at that time.

The roads were constructed in the early development of Lake Seed. Access

to Lake Burton is now called Seed Lake Road and the road around the

southwest side, which crossed at the old railroad construction bridge and

went only to the area called Crow Creek is now paved and called Crow

Creek Road. As the need for road gravel increased, a rock mining operation

was begun at Bad Branch off Crow Creek Road. A rock crusher was

installed, and this quarry was used by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the

late thirties. There were houses on site for the workers. At least one of these

houses was moved to a site now in Little Athens off O.B. Land Lane, by Mr.

Vance Davis of Griffin, GA.

The early residents of our lake came just a few years after full pond was

achieved. Mr. R.D. Osterhout constructed a log cabin in 1929. Mr. Osterhout

was Joye Hood Spates’ grandfather and she and Mack have incorporated the

log house into their home. Mr. Jake Hutchins and Mr. O.B. Land built

summer cottages on the lake in 1933, and the major private land owner on

the south side was a Mr. Benfield, first name unknown.

As summer retreats in North Georgia became more popular, our lake

population grew. During the 1930s, many cottages were constructed. The

Stuckey house was built by John B. Wilson of Atlanta; Crawford built the



73

Dr. Heller house; and Mr. Prescott of Atlanta built Prescott Lodge on Flat

Creek Road, as well as a lake house on Seed. Other summer residents

included Ed McGill of East Point, Mangrum and Reeves, Ed Leake, the

Pilchers, the Rhodes, the Grays, Vance Davis of Griffin, and Harold and

Estel West. In the 1940s after World War II the lake populations continued

to climb. Cottages changed hands, and more were constructed. The Phillips

of Atlanta built a cottage as did the Lawsons, the Carltons, the Corleys, the

Howard McWhorters, Bud Minder, Red Smith, and the Wynns. Bob

McWhorter bought from Vance Davis; and Miss Fisher built Holly Point.

The lake’s permanent residents included the Taylors on Crow Creek Road,

the Graggs in Flat Creek, Georgia Power employees, Mr. Fred Stewart and

Red Vandiver, Mr. Emory Taylor and Miss Ellen Taylor, who operated

stores at the head of Lake Rabun on Bear Gap Road. Bill Free’s family, Tom

and Sammy Ledbetter, and the J .R. Brooks family lived on Seed Lake Road.

More growth came in the 1950s, and cottages continued to change hands.

During the 1950’s and 1960’s, many people said that there were 44 cabins

on Lake Seed. By the end of the century there would be over 125 houses on

the Lake.

The early days of the lake were quiet and peaceful, and the pace of life was

very slow. The elders came for relaxation and to quietly entertain friends and

neighbors. They would have a barbecue, sit on the patio or screened porch,

smoke their pipes, and drink their bourbon and branch. On occasion they


would partake of some of the local corn squeezing’ and discuss politics,
business, and other things.

The sound of an outboard motor was limited to 6 hp on a flat-bottomed

johnboat. The speedboat was introduced in 1950 when a 22 hp Evinrude was

brought to the lake. Some say the peace and tranquility were shattered with



74

the arrival of the speedboat. The elders may have had their doubts, but the

younger generation had a great time, aqua-planning, water-skiing, and just

running up and down the lake. Prior to the advent of the big boats,

entertainment on the lake was limited to swimming, diving off the dam,

parking boats by the dam and walking down the long flight of steps that led

through the dam to Mr. Emory’s or Miss Ellen ‘s store to buy treats, veggies,

or butter (pronounced “budder”). Miss Ellen‘s hand-churned butter, with a

four-leaf clover on the top, was always the best. Corn, beans, and other

staples were readily available. Mr. Emory was a big man and very nice to

the kids, if he had not had too much of his corn liquor. If he was into the

corn, it was best to stay clear!

The beauty of the lake and tranquility of the area were often interrupted by

the production of corn liquor. One would see the grey whiff of smoke rise

above the pines, and as the cooking vapor was turned back into a liquid, the

loud banging of the thumping barrel could be heard for miles.

The weekends were looked forward to with the anticipation of fun and good

times. Daytime on the lake was followed, after Saturday supper, by a trip to

Mountain City for the square dance. Often there would be a short pause at

Hall’s Boathouse and Rabun Cafe before heading to Mountain City. These

great times with friends will never be forgotten. The walks along Crow

Creek Road to the many sites of nature like the old rock quarry and Bad

Branch Falls, and the sight of the many beaver ponds constructed by Mother


Nature’s busy little workers on Crow Creek were all reasons that the adults
came to the lake and built summer retreats. The reasons that the kids came

were obvious! The boys came for the girls and the girls came for the boys!

Our lake, Lake Seed, the smallest of the six lakes on the Tallulah River, has

always been a family lake. We have always worked together, played



75

together, helped each other when it was needed, and established long-term

friendships which have lasted a lifetime. Some families have been coming to

the lake for five generations examples of whom are the

Phillips/Phillips/Fleetwoods and the Osterhout/Hoods/Spates. There are

numerous families that go back three and four generations and thus have

established a legacy. Many new families have seemed to pick up this

tradition and legacy of the lake. And the GOLOB place goes back though a

family litany as well.




























































76

The Eberhart/Golob Place:



On April 21, 1942, lease lot and fee simple land that is now 270 O.B. Land

Lane, was sold from J. Gordon Arbery to Mrs. Sybil C. Arbery for $500.00

as recorded in Deed Book V2, Pages 16 – 17, of Rabun County. This

property carries with it a right of way for road and utilities through what was

than J.C. Benefield’s land.

On September 11, 1948, Mrs. Arbery sold the property to R.B. and Dorothy

Daniel for $1,100.00 as recorder In W2 Folio 297 in Rabun County records.

On June 16, 1949, R.B. and Dorothy Daniel of Stephens County sold the

property to K.G. and Elizabeth Eberhart for $1,295 as is recorded on W2,

Page 223 of Rabun County records.

After Mr. Eberhart died, on April 20, 1965, the property was transferred to

Mrs. Eberhart as recorded on T3, page 124, on Rabun County records.


On May 10, 1981, Mrs. Eberhart sold the property to Betty and Shealy


McCoy for $24,000. This purchase was arranged and paid for by Betty’s

father, John L. Golob. Shealy’s father, recommended that the young couple

not keep the lake property because of the potential liability involved so on

September 20, 1983, the McCoys transferred the property to John L. Golob

for $24,000.

With insurance proceeds from Hurricane Andrew (August 1992), John

commenced reconstruction of the cabin on the property. His children

favoured retention of the old dwelling so the new home was constructed

around the old cabin.

Only the new docks were completed in 1992. Most of the renovation of the

house was accomplished in 1994 and 1995. The garage, carport, boathouse




77

and paving completed the construction in August 1996. The appraised value

of the property at completion was $420,000.00, $140,000.00 attributed to the

value of the land.

During the period of 1999 through 2001, Rabun County changed addresses

county-wide to accept the 911 emergency calling system. This area that was

known as “little Athens” since back in the 1940’s, did not experience but

one numbering change. However, the street name went through multiple

changes. The Golob home address went from a route number to ‘Athens

Road”, “Athens Lane”, “Little Athens Lane” and “Land Road”. Howard

McWhorter, the historian of the neighbourhood, petitioned the Rabun

County Commissioners to change the street address to the name of the major

landowner in the area in the early 1900’s: O.B. Land. So at the start of the

new century, a newly paved Crow Creek Road services O.B. Land Lane.


























78

MEMOIRS
of
John L. Golob Jr.

Dad called our Iron Range the “melting pot” because we are made up of
immigrants of all nationalities. One such immigrant received the huge
inheritance check from the old country. He ordered Erickson Lumber
Company to build him a new house and then took his whole family to the
Vatican to give thanks. The Erickson contractor was baffled by his order; he
understood the requirement for a five bedroom house but was bewildered by
the requirement for a halo statue in each room. Thinking the man to be very
religious, he put a statue of a saint with a halo in each bedroom. When the
immigrant returned home he was surprised to see his new house cluttered
with statues. The contractor explained that he was just following orders to
put a halo statue in each room. “Oh no,” said the immigrant. “What I
wanted was one of dose tings you pick up and say into ‘Halo’s dat chew?”
(Jun 7, 1939)

A Gray Lumber Company salesman tried to sell Mrs. Basta a picture
window for her home. She grinned at him and said, “What for? I ain’t
nothing to look at anymore.” (July 17, 1939)

A person of words instead of deeds is like my garden full of weeds.
(Aug 11, 1939)

I’m convinced that if you know how to laugh at yourself you will never
cease to be amused. (Oct 31, 1939)

Here’s a quote from a girl’s essay written as a class assignment. “In the
winter it is very cold. Many old people die in the winter and many birds also
go to a warmer climate.” (Nov 30, 1939)

If you look up at the sun at midday and don’t see it, you are blind!

If you look up at the sun at midday and you don’t feel the heat, you have
paralysis!!

…Or you are experiencing a Northern Minnesota winter. (Jan 15, 1940)

I’m a bit more of a reader than to believe that Grandpa (Joe) Zaic originated
the following saying, but it was one of his favorites. And he spoke fluent



79

Slovenian, Serbian, Croatian, and German and right tolerable English. But
for the following he used a heavy brogue. “Ve get so soon old and so late
sshmart”. (Oct 26, 1940)


The Italian Church had a beautiful manger scene set up for Christmas.
A dismayed Father Strobietto called the police station the day after
Christmas and reported that the statue of the Christ Child was missing.
Several policemen were sent to search the neighborhood and discovered a
six year old lad pulling a new, bright red wagon with the statue of the baby
Jesus in it. When Father quizzed the young boy he said, “I prayed to Jesus
that if I got a red wagon for Christmas that I would give Him the first ride.”
(Dec 28, 1940)

Johnny returned a big thick, old and worn book back to our public library.
“My goodness,” said the librarian. “This is a rather technical, isn’t it?”
Johnny defiantly answered, “It was that way when I got it.”
(April 6, 1941)

Son Martin was asked in school to give a definition of Father’s Day. He
said, “It’s the same as Mother’s Day, but you don’t spend as much.”
(April 10, 1942)

Marty when explaining his report card to his Dad said, “No wonder I seem
stupid to my teacher. She’s a college graduate. (April 14, 1942)

The Barrett boy next door was bragging that his Grandpa was a dentist and
he got his cavities filled for nothing. Reverend Bloomberg’s daughter
replied that her Dad was a minister and she had to be good for nothing.
(September 17, 1943)


Father John told about having his two boys in a boat fishing with him.
Martin is sitting in the middle and fidgeting, not fishing. Father asked him

what he was doing. Martin said, “Don’t worry, Dad, I’m just boring a hole
under my seat.” (July 17, 1944)



I copied this from my Brother Marty’s letter to his cousin Patty: “Last week

I served a Solemn High Funeral Mass with three priests. I didn’t know


80

about it until I saw three sets of vestments. I didn’t have the least bit of
practice so, boy, was I scared. As a matter of fact we were all scared
because the other boys were all seventh graders without practice like me.
th
Usually Sister, when she knows it’s a big Mass, puts on 8 graders or high
school boys but even she didn’t know about this one. But I should know –
why be scared in the presence of God because He’ll take care of everything
like He did. I made only one little mistake.”
(Feb 19, 1945)

John just got back from another canoe trip in Canada. He tells the following
story but hard telling how much is true. Seems as if after a few days of
paddling north, the gang ran out of provisions. After a bit of wagering,
unlucky guy named Dick lost and had to canoe ten miles back to the cars and
than drive thirty miles to the nearest town. He came back with two bottles
of whiskey, a bottle of scotch, a bottle of brandy, three cases of beer and a
loaf of bread. “Good ol’ tender hearted Dick”, said one of the boys. Not
only did he bring back all the necessary provisions, but he also brought back
something for the birds.”
(June 16, 1945)

All my life I had trouble with my back… can’t get it off the bed.
(June 22, 1945)

What is this young generation coming to? A young boy and his Dad went
into Heckleman’s Market the other day. After the lad stared so hungrily at a
stack of oranges, Mr. Heckleman gave the youngster one. “Well” said Dad
to his young son, “What do you say?” The kid handed the orange back to
Mr. Heckleman and said, “Peel it”. (Apr 11, 1946)

Monsignor Limmer says that a lady complemented him on his sermon last
Sunday. She said, “Everything you said applies to somebody or other that I
know.” (May 1, 1946)

At a local football game recently, Coach Retica yelled at one of his boys,

“Milan, get in there and get ferocious”. Milan jumped up, started out on the
field, stopped, turned around and said, “Coach, what’s his number?”
(Oct 11, 1946)


Brother Alvin died, our first immediate family loss. Despite eight who
served in World War II. We have been really blessed. (Nov 20, 1946)



81

Every woman is capable of withstanding deep suffering. God “fits the back
to the burden”. When things look the worst, the possibilities are the greatest.
God gives strength to transform tragedy into triumph. Pity should not pity
themselves because happiness comes to those who shoulder personal
problems. (Nov 21, 1946)

Dad (John L. Golob Sr.) tells a story about one time years ago when he
worked on a road crew in Southern Minnesota. He said that one morning
when they came out to repair a road they discovered that they had left their
shovels back in town. They phoned the foreman and he said, “I’ll send the
shovels out right away by truck. Lean on each other until they get there.”
(Jan 2, 1947)


Last year when Tete Marie (meaning Aunt Mary Golob, 1881 -1986) turned
sixty five, she wanted to teach in the Hibbing school system for a few more
years. She had never married, had taught now for almost forty years and her
students were her family; she kept up with them even as adults. She found
that though Minnesota State Law requires teachers to retire at 65, a waiver
could be granted to teach to 70 provided a doctor’s examination stated that
the applicant requesting a waiver was in good health. Mary went to Doctor
Hanson for a complete physical and when accomplished the Doctor advised
her that she was in excellent health and that he would recommend that a
waiver be granted. However he stated that in view of the fact her iron count
was a bit low he recommended that she take a small glass of red wine each
evening before bedtime. Wow, did Mary react in a huff! She never touched
the stuff and no one, let alone a doctor of medicine, was going to make an
alcoholic out of her. She proceeded directly to the other of the two doctors
we had in town. We don’t know if she had even considered that the two
doctors conversed with each other. However when Doctor Adams also gave
her a clean bill of health and recommended that a waiver be granted he
suggested that two glasses of red wine at bedtime would be good for her.
Few knew Tete Marie’s exact age until she died, but she lived to be 95. Her
last dozen years were in a nursing home but never, never would she go to
bed without first having her two glasses of red wine.
(September 9, 1947)

I have hunting very much on my mind this time of the year. It would be nice
to go partridge hunting again but not to duplicate our last trip.



82

Bobby Peloquin’s Dad, Louie, is the Game Warden and last fall, Bobby,
Frank Staudahar and Denny Ryan went out past Kelly Lake in Denny’s
parent’s car. Just west of Hibbing (Minnesota) and we parked on a trail on
the right side of a gravel road when we saw a ruffled grouse fly into the
woods. It was an hour or so before dark and the law at that time said that it
was legal to shoot from one half hour after sunrise until one half hour before
dark.
Well sir, that one partridge led into quite a covey. Just minutes before dark
Denny Ryan and I came out of the woods with three birds. As we waited it
turned very dark and when the lights of a car appeared some distance down
the road and coming toward us, we honked the horn on the Ryan car. As the
strange car stopped with his lights on us a red beacon came on. Mr.
Peloguin, badge and all, stepped out into the light greeted us by name and
asked, “How did you boys do?” As we showed Mr. Peloquin our birds, well
within our limit of two each, we heard a shot in the woods. It was well past
dark and both Denny and I said that our buddies must be lost. We shouted
and honked the horn again. But two more shots followed. Moments later,
Frankie stepped out of the woods carrying one bird. He had all of our
attention including that of the game warden, when here came Bobby busting
out of the brush. As soon as he recognized the red light and his Dad, he
dropped something and said, “Dad, I thought you were going to a movie this
evening.” His Dad replied, “Son, you better go pick up what you dropped
and you better be within your limit. And you sure know better than to be in
the woods AND SHOOTING after dark”. Bobby had three birds. He sure
had not known how many birds we had but it turned out that between us we
had seven, one UNDER the limit. We got a very stern talking to by Mr.
Peloquin and Bobby never would tell us the treatment he received when he
got home. Further, we never did believe Bobby again when he told us where
his Dad would be on a given day.
(October 29, 1947)


The limit of a blind man’s world is what he can touch.

The limit of a wise man’s world is the limit of knowledge that he can
remember.
The limit of a great man’s world is his vision. (Jan 30, 1948)


Julie heard a loud pounding on the porch where Tommy was playing and

called out, “What are you doing?’ “Nothing”, answered Tommy. “What are




83

you doing it with?” demanded his mother. A small voice replied, “With a
hammer.” (July 7, 1948)

John’s brother, Dick or I.R., is a sharp attorney. John says that if he gave
Dick an orange he would simply say, “Here’s an orange.” But that
transaction according to Dick should be presented this way: “I hereby give
and covey to you, all and singular, my estate and interest, rights, and title,
claim and advantages of and in said orange, together with rind, juice, pulp
and pits and all rights and advantages with full power to bite, cut and
otherwise eat the same, or give the same away and without the rind. Skin,
juice, pulp or pits, anything herein or hereinafter or in any other deed or
deeds, instruments of whatever nature, or kind whatsoever to the contrary in
anywise not withstanding.” “Then,” says John, “another smart legal eagle
will come along and take it away from you, Dick.” (Aug 7, 1948)

When a DAV’er said to John, “I’m sure glad to meet you. I’ve heard so
much about you.” John replied, “Well, now I’d like you to hear my side of
the story.” (Sept 11, 1948)

It’s twelve blocks, almost exactly one mile, from our Northern Minnesota
home to Hibbing High School. We walk home every noon for lunch. It’s a
very pleasant round trip walk during the lunch hour, as long is the
temperature is slightly above ten below zero. Mom walks every day to the
Blessed Sacrament Church for mass and the church is a block south of the
school so it’s only a slightly warmer walk.
Every Friday night of a home football game, the team has a brief locker
room talk right after school is out at three o’clock. We walked home last
Friday at about three thirty and a snow was beginning to fall. After a snack
we headed back to the school at about five thirty, as usual meeting up with
teammates Bobby Zaic, Frankie Staudahar, and Itchy Nehiba along the way.
Our total conversation was now about the two inches of snow on the ground
and a bitter cold biting wind.
The game with International Falls started at seven o’clock with an unusually
small crowd and the usually loud and rowdy cheerleaders. We did notice
their lack of sexy shorts and abundance of parkas and snow pants. The snow
was now ankle deep and the yard markers were indicated only by the shovel
paths across the field. The band deserted even before kick off as did the
score board crew.
By half time, only the hardy of the two teams, I guess about twenty two
players were on the field with a couple of disgusted referees but you



84

couldn’t tell who was who for the snow anyway. Visibility kept most of the
players out of the sight of the “refs” and it was no sense to throw a pass.
First, the wind did not carry the ball where you wanted and you lost sight of
it within a few yards anyway. One of the coaches came out of the locker
room and asked a ref how much time was left and with ice on his eye lashes
he said, “I can’t see stop watch and I think it’s frozen anyway.”
There were supposed to be no forfeits or ties in Minnesota high school
football in those days. However, no one protested that this\ game be
changed to hockey on an indoor rink.
(November7, 1948)

As soon as I was handed a Hibbing High School diploma, my Dad and I
quietly departed the auditorium to the car. My father devoted much of his
life to veterans work and was going to Alpena, Michigan to give a speech at
a noon luncheon the next day. I am even more proud of him today than I
was back than. However as I drove most of those 590 or so miles, I must
have muttered more than six hundred times “Why me?” I just could not
understand how my class could graduate without my being the life of the
parties.

Victor Hugo said it. “To rise at six, to dine at ten,
To sup at six, to sleep at ten,
Makes a man live for ten times ten.”
(Oct 1, 1949)

There’s a girl here at the Junior College whose appearance speaks so loudly
that I can’t hear a word she says. (Oct 2, 1949)

Find out what the animal looks like before you go hunting it.
(Oct 14, 1949)

Education departs knowledge and is normally followed by testing.
Training departs knowledge but requires action. (Oct 20, 1949)


The best complement that you can pay a person is to listen to them.
Listening requires 75% more energy then talking. We speak at about 130
words per minute but listen at over 300 words per minute. The effort and
tension in listening comes from keeping your mind from wandering.
(Nov 2, 1949)




85

Some of the best deer hunting one could ever have we had recently at the
John Merhar farm just north of Nashwauk, Minnesota. Many hundreds of
acres of Forestry land border the Merhar property so one could walk north
from his farm for many miles before even crossing another road. Only after
the freeze of winter sets in can one transverse the large sections of low
swamp land. The cover is perfect for the habitat of large buck.
The Merhar’s invited about eight to dozen friends and relatives for one big
hunt each autumn.
The size and density of the forest lent itself to organized drives by a half
dozen hollering and whistling hunters while three, four or more guns were
posted at least a quarter of a mile or more down wind. It is quite a tribute to
one’s marksmanship to be chosen to man a good stand on a known deer trail.
Then the anxiety of trying to still your cold shivering on a stand while
listening to the drivers and brush crackling from moving deer is an
experience one never forgets. It is a triumphant feeling indeed when you to
pass up a shot at a spike or small horned deer to score on over a six point
buck.
Soon after one kills and field dresses a deer the bitter cold freezes the meat
making for fine edible venison. Mrs. “Londa” Merhar was a very fine
country cook and the one big meal she fed the hunters each year featuring
fresh venison steak and roast and home grown vegetables was a feast to
behold. (November 30, 1949)

The Christmas holiday in the Golob house starts at about noon on the day
before Christmas. Dad gets home from work as he normally does for a T-
bone steak and salata salad (vinegar and oil on lettuce). Then the three sons
and Dad, sometimes with Uncle John Znidar and Uncle Bob Zaic, head out
to find a Christmas tree in the woods. If the Northern Minnesota snow is
deep that year, snow shoes become a must. It took years into my adulthood
for me to realize that especially on a deep snow year that Dad must have
scouted out the tree we were to use long before the deep snow.
The tree was carried home on top of the car and most of the snow on the
limbs was shook off before we tramped into the house with it. At least four
hands decorated that tree with lights and many, many thin silver artificial
icicles while we smelled the delicious cooking Mother was doing while we
were gone. After quite a formal and very luscious dinner we all gathered in
front of the newly erected manage scene to say the rosary. Of course the
crib remained empty until Christmas morning.
Even as the rosary was in progress some of the family quietly came in to join
us. But no sooner than the rosary was completed we donned heavy clothes



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to walk a snowy block to Grandma and Grandpa Zaic’s house where the clan
gathered for the first of the Christmas gift opening. My mother was the
oldest of the Zaic children so the walls of the house bulged. I once
inadvertently took a double exposure of that gathering and was told that it
looked perfectly like the chaos of the event.
When the wrapping paper piled too high to see who else was in that house,
we all filed out back to our house, then Uncle Joe’s, then the Znidar’s to go
through the same gift opening routine.
Occasionally we had to speed up the procession to make midnight mass in
time. The carols started at eleven p.m. and we didn’t want to miss them. If
a child still believed in Santa Claus he was sent home with a single family
sitter so as to be asleep when Santa came. The remainder of the family
would fill a pew or two at the Blessed Sacrament Church.

After midnight mass, a few minutes after one a.m., most all of us would
trudge through the snow twelve blocks, almost exactly one mile, to Grandma
and Grandpa Zaic’s house. Only a very few of the very elderly or
temporarily crippled would get to ride in a car. Cars had bumpers back then
and just a slipping and sliding ride on a snowy and icy street was exciting
enough. But we teenage boys, like I was at the time, would try to enhance
the experience. Ducking adult eyes we would try to “hitch a ride”. With
mittened hands we would attempt to grab the bumper and let the car pull our
overshoed feet along the snow and ice covered street. We got away with it
more often in the dark of night but if caught by an adult, especially a teacher
or policeman, we were in for real trouble. I remember a bunch of falls, a
few bumps and bruises, but amazingly enough, I don’t remember hearing of
anyone seriously hurt from that foolishness.

By about one thirty a.m. there was at least a dozen or so family gathered at
“Ma’s” table. Grandma Ursula Zaic had been born and raised in Slovenia
and had raised fourteen children. My Mother was her second, the oldest in
the United States. Her Christmas meal featured noodle soup, klebasa
(smoked sausage), ham, salata (lettuce with vinegar and oil), and both apple
and walnut-raisin patesa (rolled sweet bread) with homemade wine, beer or
sheblavitz (homemade plum brandy).

It was usually about three a.m. that the selected group of older teenagers and
younger adults started the Santa Claus rotation. From home to family home
where there were little ones sleeping with visions of Santa in their little
heads, the Santa crew helped pull out the gifts from their cleverly designed



87

hiding places. The real chore was the assembly of such things as bicycles
and electric train sets that seemed to take hours in the wee hours of night.
To find the right wrench in a garage two snow drifts behind the house and in
a shop so cold that your eyelids froze. Uncle Znidar became a hero when he
developed a portable Santa tool kit. However, it seems that too fast that the
family Santa homes grew up out of that rotation.
All of the family members were finally asleep by four to five a.m. Christmas
morning. And of course the little ones were awake at about daybreak. So
much for a short night!
Christmas morning was bedlam. I accidentally took a double exposed
picture with my Argus C-3 camera on Christmas morning of 1949 at
Grandma and Grandpa Zaic’s house. The first time I viewed the resulting
color slide was during a small family gathering. I was so embarrassed and
quickly apologized for not discarding that slide. Overwhelming the family
admonished me, not for the mistake, but for not recognizing the commotion
shown on that picture best typified what one of our Christmas mornings
really looked like.
(Christmas 1949)

Aunt Julie (Zaic Znidar; the seventh of Joe and Ursula Zaic’s children) and
husband John had moved into town from Mahoning Location (a mining
company suburb of Hibbing). Their neighbor still living in Mahoning
proudly bragged how she had received a dish washer from her husband.
Julie also worked at Teske’s Jewelry store and thought that they could surely
afford a dish washer now. Well just before Christmas Julie came how to
find a huge cardboard dish
washer box on their porch. She
was elated and though she would
not talk to John about it, she was
sure that was her surprise. It
turned out John brought that box
home to gather up used Christmas
wrappings. Julie sure didn’t
hide her disappointment.
John wrote a clever late
Christmas greeting to her that promised that Julie had a life time guaranteed
dish washer in him. And from then on, John did the dishes in the Znidar
home… and Julie bragged about it - even long after John was gone.

(Christmas 1951)



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Emotion gets a decision; it is what sells. Logic supports the decision.
(May 2, 1952)

Selling is like hunting. If you don’t plan on hunting you’re just taking a
walk in the woods. (May 3, 1952)

Do all the good that you can as you go along? Life is a one way street and
you’re not coming back. (Jan. 1, 1954)

A Japanese proverb says that a man who chases two rabbits catch none.
(Jan 2, 1954)

Intelligence is like a river… the deeper it is, the less noise it makes.
(Jan 3, 1954)

Oldsters today are in a metallic age: gold in their teeth, silver in their hair
and lead in their legs. (Jan 4, 1954)

Poise is the ability to be at ease naturally. (Jan 5, 1954)

A good wife laughs at her husband’s jokes not because they are clever, but
she is. (Jan 6, 1954)

When a woman marries a miser, does she have the right to require him to
loosen up? The Michigan Supreme Court says “No. Because his frugal
habits gave her husband the money that attracted her to him, he has the right
to preserve that essential charm”. (Jan 7, 1954)

Some people don’t have much to say, but you have to listen for an awful
long time to find that out. (Jan 8, 1954)

The devil’s greatest triumph lies in convincing the world that he doesn’t
exist. (Jan 9, 1954)


There are so many organizations in the United States today that lots of
people are being “clubbed” to death. (Jan 15, 1954)


Love is not a state of mind; it is a state of heart. (Jan 18, 1954)






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I just try not to ever get mad; I just put my mind in neutral and coast along.
(Jan 19, 1954)

If a radiator is going to heat a room it must be hot itself. Put your own soul
in order before trying to do the same for someone else. (Jan 20, 1954)

If you cannot get what you want, learn to like what you get.(Jan 22, 1954)

The happy valley seems always to be over another ridge. (Jan 23, 1954)
Asked how all the members of his family had amassed such vast fortunes,
the elder Rothschild answered, “We always sell too soon”.
(Feb 20, 1954)

Remember it is said, my son, you can marry more money in five minutes
than you can make in a lifetime. (Feb 21, 1954)

The driver is safer when the roads are dry. The roads are safer when the
driver is dry. (Feb 23, 1954)

I love Walter Winchell’s wisdom. He says that wisdom is hard to acquire,
difficult to counterfeit and impossible to lose. (Feb 24, 1954)

An elephant never forgets. A rat never remembers. (Feb 25, 1954)

Our son John is flying Air Force jets. Our children are not as frightened as
their parents are; they expect to take their chances with life and laugh at
those that have no daring. (April 2, 1954)

“I asked God for strength, that I might achieve,
I was made weak, that I might learn to humbly obey…
I asked for health, that I might do greater things,
I was given infirmity that I might do better things…
I asked for riches, that I might be happy,
I was given poverty that I might be wise…
I asked for power, that I might have the praise of men,
I was given weakness, that I might feel the need of God…
I asked for all things, that I might enjoy life,
I was given life, that I might enjoy all things…
I got nothing that I asked for –
But everything that I hope for,



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Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered,
I am among all men, most richly blessed.”
(From the compiler: author unknown) (July 10, 1954)


If the soup had been as warm as the wine, if the wine had been as old as the
turkey, and if the turkey had a breast like the waitress, it would have been a
wonderful dinner. (Feb 12, 1955)

If you leave me, Dear, my heart will lose its mind. (Jan 1, 1956)

The views expressed by the husband in this home are not necessarily those
of the management. (Jan 3, 1996)

Flings are wonderful things, but they have got to be flung by the young.
(Jan 4, 1956)

Advice for all husbands and wives: There is a big deposit of sympathy in
the bank of love, but don’t draw out little sums every hour or so, so that by
and by when perhaps you need it badly it is all drawn out and you don’t
know how, or on what, it was spent. (Jan 11, 1956)

I read somewhere that if you are next to a pessimist at the table, he will ask
you to pass the milk. If you are next to an optimist, he will ask you to pass
the cream. And if you are next to a realist, he will ask you to pass the
pitcher. Well, maybe there is a layer of cream over the milk in the pitcher.
(Mar 29, 1956)

St. Augustine said, “Pray to God in a storm, but keep on rowing. Beware of
despairing about yourself; you are commanded to put your trust in God, not
in yourself. (Apr 14, 1956)

To be a saint is quite simple. Saints are saints because of their love of God.
They were cheerful when it was difficult to be cheerful, patient and it was
difficult to be patient, because they pushed on when they wanted to stand
still, kept silent when they wanted to talk and were agreeable when they
were tempted to be disagreeable. That’s all. Quite simple!
(Apr 24, 1956)

This is a house with love in it. (Apr 25, 1956)



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Texans claim to be so big and strong that they pitch horseshoes with the
horses still in them. (Apr 26, 1956)

He spends money so lavishly that one of his check came back from bank
stamped “Insufficient Funds – Ours, not yours!” (Apr 27, 1956)

The two made up and she was left waving the feudal banner all by herself.
(Apr 30, 1956)

There is no one more resentful of the hero than those who don’t want to be
saved because they do not know that they are threatened.
(May 2, 1956)

Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its strength.
(May 4, 1956)

Adversity never makes people weak; it only proves that they are weak.
(May 5, 1956)

The speaker at our meeting had a splendid delivery. Too bad that he had
nothing to deliver. (May 6, 1956)


The man died in his prime of life. His sun has gone down while it was yet
day. (May 7, 1956)

This fella is the kind that spreads good cheer wherever he doesn’t go.
(May 24, 1956)

The man who is always in a hurry is apt to dash by a good thing without
seeing it. (May 15, 1956)


Some people have two views of a secret. Either it’s not worth keeping or it
is too good to keep. (June 3, 1956)



“Each wound I have suffered has been an injection strengthening my
immunity toward despair”. Victor Borge (June 5, 1956)



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When I wear a dark suit I get light spots on it. When I wear a light suit I get
dark spots on it. Obviously there’s no coordination between my spots and
my suits. (June 6, 1954)

One man took long steps to save his $5.00 shoes and split his $10.00 pants.
Thrift can be carried too far. (June 9, 1956)

My wife’s idea of camping is a Holiday Inn without room service.
(June 10, 1956)


If you must tell all you know, make sure you know all you tell.
(June 21, 1956)

Remember that the most important news comes out after the second drink.
(July 3, 1956)

I have outlived certain desires. Things have dropped from my mind. In
middle age they often die of atrophy. (July 17, 1956)

Will Rogers said that schools ain’t what they used to be – and probably
never was. (July 18, 1956)

“Do you know her?” “Not too well. Only to talk about”. (July 19, 1956)

The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.(July 21, 1956)

There are two categories of people – those trying to escape from something
and those trying to find something. To run away is of no avail; you can’t
leave yourself behind. (July 22, 1956)

The most important part of a play is the climax. The most important part of
a game is the end of it. The most important part of life is the death of it.
(Aug 8, 1956)


I believe Robert Browning said it better. “Grow old along with me, the best
is yet to be. The last of life for which the first was made”.
(Aug 9, 1956)




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Good fences make good neighbors. A lush and flowering hedge helps make
a pretty neighborhood. (Sept 15, 1956)

A poet named Parker said, “Since death does not extinguish a light, then
why does it fill some with fear? For death is merely the turning off a light
because dawn is near.” (Sept 20, 1956)

A wise bride is one that loses her temper – permanently. (Sept 22, 1956)

I’m 52 today. I make my stations slowly now. (Oct 25, 1956)

A man says, “Today is my wife’s birthday?” A friend asks, “What are you
getting for her?” He roars back, “Make me an offer.” (Oct 26, 1956)

A person past 50 should have a heart to understand, a will be keep abreast of
the times and enthusiasm which is the imperishable flower of youth itself
– without which youth itself is old. Anything as superficial as powder and
lipstick can not be a substitute for the above mentioned qualities.
(Oct 27, 1956)

An eclipse of the moon began tonight at ten p.m. Shortly after that, one of
the Max Gray Lumber Company buildings, a block from our house and
filled with lumber, burned down. The sky was center stage until after two
a.m. (Nov 18, 1956)

The man has an aristocratic profile and thick skull; he learned nothing and
forgot nothing. (Nov 21, 1956)

The smiling and content widow remembers the joy of having been his wife.
(Nov 22, 1956)

A man in our town filled out a paper to apply for work. When amused
employer saw his name, George Washington, he joked, “Are you the one

that cut down the cherry tree?” The quick reply was, “No sir. I haven’t had
any work for more than a year now.” (Dec 31, 1956)


John and I like Ogden Nash, especially, “Time all of the sudden tightens the
tether, And the outspread years are drawn together. How confusing the
beams from memory’s lamp are; one day a bachelor, the next a grandpa.





94

What is the secret of the trick? How did I get so old so quick?”
(Jan 1, 1958)

Not he who has little, but he who wishes for more, is poor.(Jan 2, 1958)

Monsignor Sheen had a brilliance as broad as life. Among other things, he
said that if a young man is courting a woman who loves poetry, he is very
foolish if he talks mathematics. (Jan 3, 1958)

D.D. (her son David), says that the greatest achievement of the Ancient
Romans was their ability to speak Latin. (Jan 4, 1958)


It should be possible to tell a Christian from a non-Christian even on
weekdays. (Jan 5, 1958)

An adult is one that has stopped growing on both end and has begun to grow
in the middle. (Jan 6, 1958)

The school of experience charges most for night courses. (Jan 8, 1958)

By the time we learn to make the most of life, most of life is gone.
(Jan 9, 1958)

He spent a wonderful weekend fishing through the ice for olives.
(Jan 10, 1958)

Dad’s barber advertises himself as “Tonsorial artisan, practitioner of barber
science”. (Jan 13, 1958)

A sign in the same barber shop says “Safety First. Don’t put lighted end of
cigar in mouth. (Jan 14, 1958)


Plato’s words from years ago seem to be apropos today. “The penalty good
men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men”.
(Jan 15, 1958)

She knew how to treat the exposed nerves of human nature.
(Jan 20, 1958)




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He married a widow because he was afraid of any situation for which he
couldn’t find precedence. (Jan 21, 1958)

Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely.
(July 8, 1958)

I saw a sign on a drinking fountain today that said “Old Faceful”.
(July 18, 1958)

We are born crying, live complaining and die disappointed. We have to
create happiness out of the raw materials available – misery and
unhappiness. Therefore, we really have to work at it. (Sept 8, 1958)

The Lord chose the Mount for prayer. Silence itself is kind of a mountain
and is necessary for certain kinds of prayer. (Sept 12, 1958


If we pray and no not hallow God’s name, it is not through any want on His
side, but on our side. The flowers in the fields receive equal sunshine. The
inequality is not in the sun. (Sept 13, 1958)

The Word of God is always the same. Those who receive it differ’
(Sept 14, 1958)

“Watch and Pray”. Not to watch is to allow the spirit, which is willing, to be
overcome by the flesh, which is weak. The body is often the clog to the
soul. The essence of watching is scanning and measuring each new thing by
the old eternal truths, that is the Ten Commandments, the Apostles Creed,
etc. (Sept 15, 1958)

It is easy to make twenty men fall in love with you in one year. That is
nothing compared to have one love you for twenty years. That is
achievement and that is love, (Sept 16, 1958)


There is more to grace than just receiving sacraments in an idle moment
between sins. (Sept 17, 1958)


Look to this Day! Yesterday is already a dream and tomorrow is only a
vision. Today, well lived, makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and





96

every tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, therefore, to this day, such is
the salutation of the dawn. (Sept 28, 1958)

The chill at the breakfast table made the melon seem warm.
(October 1, 1958)

“I am an orphan, too”, said Judge Martin Hughes. “Everybody is
eventually”, he reminded us. (Oct 10, 1958)

Fasting is food for the soul. A sound soul sees the truth as a healthy eye sees
the light. (Oct 11, 1958)

He is so emotional that he appears to be living in a world built on a volcano
that is about to erupt. (Oct 12, 1958)

Groom: “I thee endow with all my worldly goods”.
His father: “Humph! There goes his bicycle.” (Oct 13, 1958)

Some psychologists believe that cigars are simply a substitute for thumb
sucking and the cigar smoke that chews his cigar rather than smokes it is in
reality a nail biter. Understand that I don’t make a point of this only because
(my husband) John chews cigars. (Oct 19, 1958)

The Journal of the American Medical Association has published a report that
life in the new suburbs is giving suburbanites ulcers, heart attacks and
psychosomatic disorders brought on by a variety of

peculiarly suburban conditions, not the least of which is crabgrass.
(Oct 20, 1958)
(Dorothy was the secretary of Laura’s husband, John.) Dorothy: “How do
you spell ‘sense’?” John: “Which one? Coin or horse?” Dorothy: “Well,
like in ‘I haven’t seen him sense’.” (Oct 21, 1958)


“Roger, tell me what we must do before we can expect forgiveness of sin?”
After a bit of thinking, Roger said, “We gotta sin.” (Oct 22, 1958)

One of our local politicians was doing a little door-to-door campaigning the
other day. A disturbed young housewife answered the door by asking,

“What are you selling?” “I guess you would say that I’m selling myself”, he




97

answered. She quickly replied, “No, thanks.” As she slammed the door she
said, “I’ve got one already”. (Oct 29, 1958)

They tried to keep the Sturgeon Lake Church open after deer season. On the
door was posted a sign, “Wanted! Men, women and children to sit in
slightly used pews on Sunday morning.” (Nov 11, 1958)

Candidate Joe Schieffert, unsuccessful for his bid for reelection to the
Sleepy Eye, Minnesota city council, inserted this paid advertisement in the
local paper. “I wish to thank all of those who voted for me in the city
election Tuesday. My wife wishes to thank all of those that didn’t.”
(Nov 15, 1958)

Judge Martin Hughes toasted us at a New Year’s dinner some years ago with
the following quip: “To the greatest commodity in the world, a lasting
friendship. (Dec 31, 1958)

My years are numbered…. And books are numberless….. And I desire to
read them all. (Jan 1, 1959)

“Thou fool! …to seek companions in a crowd! Into thy room, and there
upon thy knees, before the bookshelves, humbly thank thy God, that thou
hast friends like these.” (Jan 2, 1959)

Alcohol removes the finish from people faster than from furniture.
(Jan 3, 1959)

Early to bed and early to rise until you make enough cash to do otherwise.
(Jan 4, 1959)

A doctor asked a 104 year old woman in our town her formula for a long
life. She said, “When I worked, I worked hard. When I set, I set loose. And
when I began to worry, I went to sleep.” (Jan 5, 1959)


Two haughty Pekinese were bragging to each other. The first said, “My
name in Fi-Fi, spelled F-I-F-I.” The other said, “Well, my name in Mi-Mi,

spelled M-I—M-I.” A mongrel hearing them said, “Well, my name is Fido,
spelled P-H-Y, D-I-O-U-X.” (Jan 6, 1959)






98

Father Martin Larkin says that the first U-2 incident happened 2,000 years
ago. It was when the dying Caesar recognized among his assailants his
trusted friend and said, “And you two, Brutus!”
(Jan 9, 1959)

Everything in the modern home today is controlled by switches… except the
children. (Feb 4, 1959)

Moss Hart, the playwright, said that we rise to our greatest heights in
someone else’s crisis. (Feb 5, 1959)

Frances Bacon observed, “It is not what men eat, but what they digest, that
makes them strong; not what we gain, but what we save that makes us rich;
not what men read, but what they remember that makes them learn; not what
we preach, but what we practice that makes us Christians.”
(Feb 6, 1959)

Santayana stated, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to
repeat it”, (Feb 16, 1959)

Man is the only animal that blushes….or needs to. (Feb 17, 1959)

When we start living in the past, we’ve stopped living in the present and
really have no future. (Feb 18, 1959)

The golden years give us the opportunity to draw closer to each other and to
God by experiencing the fullness of that unity which was initiated at the
altar. (Feb 19, 1959)

Dale Carnegie said, “Success is getting what you want --- happiness is
wanting what you get.” (Mar 16, 1959)

Talking too much is a natural thing. Silence is born of experience and
wisdom. (May 7, 1959)


He’s so wealthy that he doesn’t even know that he has four children in
college. (May 8, 1959)








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