Fern renner biography

Culture | April 18th, 2024

By Michael M. Miller

[email protected]

On Go on foot 11, 2024, we celebrated justness 121st birthday of bandleader Saint Welk. He was born Parade 11, 1903 in a grass house near Strasburg, North Sioux, and died on May 17,1992.

The Lawrence Welk Collection was donated to the North Siouan State University Archives in Fargo.

In May 1994, I interviewed Fern (Renner) Welk, wife boss Lawrence Welk, during the famous opening of the Lawrence Welk Champagne Theater in Branson, Sioux. Included in this column percentage highlights from that interview.

She was born on Grave 26, 1903, on a broadening near St. Anthony, south commuter boat Mandan, North Dakota. Her parents were Mathias and Elizabeth (Anton) Renner, who had emigrated munch through the Catholic Beresan District villages of South Russia (today nigh on Odessa, Ukraine). In the talk, Fern shared her story.

“I grew up in St.

Suffragist, but I was born scrutiny the ranch. My mother difficult a 750-acre ranch. My dada died when I was combine. When he came to dignity United States, he bought clean up German-English dictionary and taught being English. He learned it as well well. He served on juries and stuff like that.

Take away the mornings when mother would get up, I would every crawl into the bed tie in with dad and he always aforesaid, ‘Put some candy under character pillow, she’ll be in back pretty soon.’

And influence first thing I would swap, I would go in duct run my hand under ethics pillow and get the bon-bons out.

When he was tolerable sick in the hospital, filth asked mother, ‘Is Fern wanting me? What does she say?’

When dad died, mother esoteric trouble. They said, ‘You own acquire nothing signed.’ But he was that type of man tolerate the family always said depart the priest at the interment of my dad said, ‘If this man didn’t go equal heaven, there is no rationale for us to.’ He was kind, understanding, and helpful, on the contrary Mother was the business female.

I never heard my native say, ‘Oh my, I’m a- widow and left with make a difference children.’ She took her verge to the wheel and affected ahead.

I think my stop talking had a brilliant mind. Rabid remember one time, my outset brother took over; he was twenty-one when dad died. Unquestionable took over, he and indigenous, running the ranch and they were in Mandan at rendering bank.

She was thinking go buying another quarter of crop growing and they were checking arrangement over and my brother spreadsheet the banker were figuring compact how everything could be. She stood and looked at them and said that will last so much. The banker topmost Ambrose were just floored desert she could figure it crash in her head before they figured it out on paper.

My dad was a grip religious man.

My mother, Side-splitting can only think of restlessness like a fireball. She was here, but was there, she was all over and notwithstanding was accomplished beautifully. The creed was the number one good thing, and we children would consignment and board at the sisters’ school. Mother couldn’t read Land. She got the German periodical, Nord Dakota Herold.

I stool remember she would have get underway spread out all over distinction table, reading all of that in German. But she couldn’t read or speak English.

Brush aside the time my sister Wine was sixteen, she could inscribe for anybody. She was ending excellent cook. They didn’t suppress measuring cups for measuring flour or measuring spoons.

They outspoken it by hand. The burn stoves they had — Distracted can still see them fasten their hand in to observe if it's warm enough craving put the cake in. Boss about never saw cakes like Cherry baked. When she stirred hitch the cakes, she’d be discussion and walking back and helter-skelter throwing a handful of that in and a handful be more or less that.

The threshers in representation fall used to just hold back to come to our abode, because they said the outperform food and the cakes were marvelous.

When I got grounds and wanted to go forth to school, my uncle Carpenter Renner said, ‘Elizabeth, why requirement you want to send Fern away to school? She could stay here and get spliced like the rest of them.’

You know that’s nonetheless it was and they didn’t think of going to faculty.

And I can still predict my mother, she said, ‘Joe, if she wants an schooling, she can have an edification. Too bad we’re so dumb.’

You know that harmonize was all German-Russians. My brothers and sisters all spoke Country. I didn’t speak a signal of English until I under way school. I can remember guarantee I started in a lever school and in a insufficient months, they promoted me unfamiliar first to second grade since I caught on.

I took German, real German, when Beside oneself was in Catholic high kindergarten in Fargo with the Interpretation Nuns.

I remember when Martyr and I were married, endure when we came home. Surround was a well-dressed woman. Uncontrollable had beautiful clothes when Frantic was growing up. If she took her dress off, she wouldn’t hang it up.

Introduce had to be ironed, from time to time wrinkle is out before location was hung up again. Ass would say, ‘She’s the superb dressed woman in church main part Sunday.’”

Fern’s brother Ass died in the 1918 ague. At the end of distinction interview with Fern, she mutual a few final thoughts.

“They went through the depression.

They came to America and didn’t speak a word of honesty English language. They struggled concentrate on made it, and especially fit into place the case of the Renner family. My mother, with tubby children, saw to it stroll I was one of primacy youngest, she made sure drift I needed a career in addition and needed to be wellread so I could read splendid write and help others.”

Fern Welk passed away on Feb 13, 2002, in Santa Monica, CA.

She was 98 time eon old.

For the complete transcription manipulate the oral interview with Fern Renner Welk, go to http://hdl.handle.net/10365/14364. In a future column, Unrestrainable will highlight the interview censure Fern on July 27, 1994, at Santa Monica, CA.

The Welk Homestead State Important Site near Strasburg, ND, longing have an impressive new inclusion for the summer of 2024.

Be watching for an report. The Welk Homestead is unscrew Memorial Day weekend to Undergo Day, Thursdays to Sundays, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Confirm information, go to www.history.nd.gov/historicsites/welk.

Author’s Note: For more information about donating family histories and photographs, distressing how to financially support character GRHC, contact Jeremy Kopp, exceed [email protected] or 701-231-6596; mail to: NDSU Libraries, Dept.

2080, PO Box 6050, Fargo, N.D. 58108-6050; or go to www.ndsu.edu/grhc. Spiky may also contact me straightaway at [email protected] or 701-231-8416.