William James Kohanek (1883-1974) and Anna Kadlec (1878-1954)

William and Anna	Sitting, Left to Right: William J. Kohanek and Anna Kadlec Kohanek Standing, Left to Right: Unknown, P. Havorka (?), Mary A. Kadlec
Linwood Lake, MN, ~1966 Standing, Left to Right: William James Kohanek and son Leslie Sr. Sitting, Left to Right: Dennis, son Steve; Cleon, son Michael; Leslie Jr., son John
Linwood Lake, MN, ~1966 -- same day -- Standing, Left to Right: (Uknown Woman), Leslie Sr., (unknown Boy) being held by Unknown Woman, Unknown Girl, Unknown Tall Man, Uknown Girl, Auralea (?), William, Uknown Girl in White, Hupp Boy next to William, Diane, Leslie Jr. in back holding Annette (?), Hupp Boy (?), Pat Krier Kohanek, Cleon (holding child?), Unknown Man standing next to Jim, Girl Standing in front of Jim. Sitting in Chairs, Left to Right: Katherine Brinster Kohanek holding Denise (?), Unknown Girl, Jo Rocheleau Kohanek holding Steve (?) Sitting on Ground: Uknown Girl, Uknown Girl, Lisa, Uknown Girl, Uknown Girl, Vicki

By his grandson Jim:

While I was attending graduate school in San Diego (1966-1968), Gramps was already living in San Diego and I would go to Gramps' house every Saturday around 6.30. Gramps would be waiting. Gramps had a big orange tree in the back yard where he would place a couple of stools and table between us. Gramps would bring out two cans of beer, one for me and one for himself, and his bottle of whisky and a shot glass. He would drink his shot and chase it with a beer, and we would speak of the weather and trivialities, and then I would always ask Gramps about his childhood and his life. Gramps would talk about living in Waverly, MN, his family, his life, his experiences. Gramps could be a funny guy and could tell a good joke -- a wry sense of humor seems to be a Kohanek trait -- he could tell wonderful stories and we would just laugh together. This was a great routine. A good time. One night I had a date and couldn't make the Saturday night meeting and couldn't get in touch with Gramps, so I picked up my date and then drove to Gramps' house. When Gramps saw us, he said, 'Oh, I see!' and was fine with postponing our meeting until the following Saturday night. During this time, Gramps, who was in his early seventies, was working part-time cleaning sailboats in the local marina. He liked his work, enjoyed being around the classy yachts and the boats, and liked chatting with the people. After I finished with graduate school and moved on, Gramps eventually became unable to drive because of cataracts and he moved back to Minneapolis to move in with his daughter, my Aunt Auralea. He told me he didn't mind getting old, but he did mind not being able to drive. That was the hardest part. Not being able to drive. Gramps was living with Auralea when he died in 1974. When Gramps was a teenager, in the early 1900's, he delivered whisky barrels by horse-drarwn carriage to the local bars in Waverly, MN. Once, a bar owner asked if he could get rid of a skunk that was hanging around the bar. Gramps chased it and it ran into the woodpile, and when he went to the woodpile to get it, the skunk sprayed him in the face. He ran to the lake and jumped in to wash off the smell, which didn't really do the trick. So the skunk had won. Gramps loved to tell that story and always had a great laugh when he told it. After Gramps was married and had children, he started an auto repair business in Minneapolis and called it Bill's Auto Repair. My dad worked for him for a time, probably starting around the time he maried my mom. In the late thirties or early forties, the union was organizing local businesses and came to Gramps to try to get him to convert to a union shop. Gramps refused, and in the night someone broke in and destroyed all of his equipment. As far as I know he never continued his business, for if he had they would have come back [It is interesting to note that on Gramps' 1941 Social Security Application his employment status was 'unemployed'. This could very well have been the time after he gave up his car repair business.] After Gramps moved from San Diego back to Minneapolis, he joined a printing company in St. Paul [ask Denny about print company, name, and where], where he cleaned and set presses as a maintenance and general helper. Gramps married Anna Kadlec. Together they had a house that was open and full of love, on Bedford Street [what town was this?] at the top of hill. There was a bus stop at the intersection near the house where the city buses was would stop and wait to make sure they were on schedule, maybe a 15 minute break. All the bus drivers knew Grandma. A driver would park his bus to take a break, walk a couple of houses down the street to Grandma's house and knock on the door. They called her 'Grandma', and she always had a pot of coffee ready. She was warm and loving and open. Everyone loved her. For her granchildren she always had treats: toys, chewing gum cigars, and more. She died in 1954, when I was ten years old. I remember seeing my mother crying, and when I asked her what was wrong she said Grandma died. I did not understand death, really, and it didn't have an impact on me until later. My brother Denny, who was twenty years old, was a pallbearer at her funeral, and Les may have been a pallbearer too.

By his grandson Dennis:

We spent many days at my Grandparents' house on Bedford Street on the St. Paul/Minneapolis boundary. It meant a long trolley and bus ride from North to South Mpls. We took the Chicago-Penn streetcar downtown where we transferred to the bus which dropped us off in front of their house at the end of the line.

Grandpa and Grandma had a very large home and a large yard. Grandpa repaired cars in the garage. Toward the end of his working career he found a job at an advertising company in St. Paul. I remember that he brought home many of the first ball point pens. They were called "rockets" and leaked blue ink over everyone and everything. The ad slogan was "Is there a Rocket in your pocket?"

Grandpa drove a Model T Ford. Once he was involved in an accident that bent the frame of the Model T. He removed everything from the frame (yes, everything) and restraightened the frame before he reassembled the entire car back together again.

Grandpa couldn't see very well. He had gloucoma. He would stand us up on the passenger seat in the Model T Ford so that we could help him "see" the road and tell him if he was too close to the curb or an oncoming car. It's good mother never found out about that.

Grandmother kept chickens but the rooster kept waking up the neighbors too early in the morning. The neighbors called the authorities who finally made my Grandpa kill the rooster. The local Star Tribune thought that the story was interesting enough to put in the paper. I remember my brother Les' picture in the paper holding up the axe that killed the rooster. I can't remember the byline though.

The basement was accessible only through a trap door in the kitchen floor. That was how they built those old homes. My Grandmother only had a large ornate wood burning range in the kitchen. The wood was fed into the top of the range top through circular lids that were removed by a handle made of heavy round wire. I am sure you've seen these in museums. In the chilly winter mornings she would fire up the stove before we woke so we could run out to the kitchen, sit in chairs and put our feet in the oven and drink Cambric Tea. The tea was merely condensed milk and sugar in hot water.

The sewing machine had a food treadle and the phone was an old stand up with a hook on the side of the mouthpiece and an ear piece that you held to the side of your head. I'm sure you've seen these in old movies.

For refrigeration they had an Ice Box. The ice man would bring a block of ice when signalled by a green sign on the front window. The green sign had weights noted on each of the 4 sides. The quantity of ice needed was indicated by how the sign was positioned in the window. Also in the window was a hanging blue flag with a star in the middle. It signified that one of the family was in the service. When the color of the star changed, it signified that the family member had been killed.

Since it was where my father grew up there were many of his old projects still in the garage. The biggest was the left overs from an ice vehicle. They mounted part of an automobile on a frame on ice blades. A ford engine and rear facing propeller gave it power. In the family album you can find pictures of this project. Another was the homemade basketball board and ring I mentioned earlier that we put up on our garage.

Since my grandparents lived in a more upscale neighborhood, playing with neighborhood friends gave us the first contact with such expensive toys as Tinker Toys and Gilberts Erector Set. They had toy soldiers, toy automobiles, and everything.

Down in the cellar they had a complete darkroom complete with an enlarger. That gave me my first experience at developing photos. When they sold the house we took the darkroom to our Newton house. I spent many hours in the cellar with that darkroom. Up until a few years ago I had the enlarger with me. Now, only the iris is left over.

By his granddaughter Diane:

Grandpa William and Grandma Anna had a rather big home (at least to a young child's eyes of 6-8 years old, it seemed huge). Grandma Anna was a great cook, and an even better baker. She always had goodies for us when we came for a visit. Laughter filled their home. Grandma Anna always asked about our schools, what they were like, and how we were doing. Grandma was ALWAYS neat in her appearance, and ALWAYS seemed to wear an apron around the house. She welcomed and enjoyed visitors to her home.

Their home did not have wall to wall carpeting as many do now, but more like big throw rugs in each of the rooms, fine wood floors that she would keep polished and dusted around the edges as much as she could. The old-style overstuffed chairs and dark furniture of the day welcomed visitors to come and stay as long as they wanted. One pillar that stood straight supported the ceiling and the entire house all by itself. Squeeky floors did not belong in this home, but belching steam heaters did. The steam heaters accomplished more than what they were originally invented for: not only to deliver heat to a home, but they were very practical and heavily used to dry out wet and snowy hats, scarfs, gloves, and socks. Big bedrooms and fond memories of playing in them with active imaginations made me a happy kid. A big garage toward the back of the house kept grandpa happy as a tinkerer of cars, and any other tasks he enjoyed working on.

There was a huge hill (again from a child's eye) not too far from them where either my dad or grandpa would take us and our cardboard boxes to have some wintertime fun. I believe my brother Dennis might even remember "the white playground" of our youths. The boxes were cut down to accommodate our speed requirements. My mom, of course, worried that with the main road carrying heavy traffic seen at the base of the hill would be a danger for us. Pedestrian traffic, too, would have to move out of our way as we "roared" down our paths to glory! But men don't worry about things like that. They encourage kids to take risks. Besides, our speed never got that fast to warrant a concern about the auto or pedestrian traffic, even though that was our goal.

As we got older, Grandpa's birthday gift to us was a silver dollar coin. One per birthday. I never did ask if any of my brothers or sister got them as gifts. I recall immediately spending mine when I got them. Then, something told me to hang on to them. I still have them.