Painting the Town

by Sue Orsen
An arc of many colors appeared in the northern sky long ago as a result of the dispersion of light from one particularly active body named Gerald "Jerry" Schmieg.
  The most vivid colors of that spec-trum have been observed in the communi-ty of Victoria, Minnesota, his birthplace, and where he came to paint the town red, as well as yellow and blue.  These primary colors were present at birth.
The spectrum became even more vibrant once Jerry's palette picked up the complementary hues of another active body, Gerda Thiede.  Together they paint-ed the colors of love and perseverance, of good times and bad, of hard work and generous service.  They also painted eight entirely separate bodies in variegated tones of a heritage that reaches back to the earliest of Victoria times.
As the April sky brings spring to the northern canvas, it also brings the 50th wedding anniversary to this colorful couple that came to paint a wide swath with a brush that continues to move across the Victoria landscape.

***

Jerry was born September 19th, 1931, the third of four siblings -- including Madelyn, Herb, and Jim -- to George and Theresa Schmieg.  The home place, a dairy farm on Bavaria Road, is now the Hartman Tree Farm.  It was purchased from "the Heutmakers" in 1926.
What are some childhood memories?  "You got to remember I was born during the Depression," said Jerry.  "There was no electricity until 1937 when REA came through.  These were difficult times.  I learned to work very young. 
"But one thing we always had was a milking machine.  It ran off a vacuum pump.  I started milking when I was six years old.  That's also when I started driving the Model A.  My mom wasn't excited about it.  I even drove for pulling up hay.  That was my favorite vehicle when I was six years old." 
Jerry continued to paint the scene with his smooth and steady brush. 
"When I was ten I was allowed to take the Model A to school so I could get home faster to work.  I went to the St. Victoria Catholic School.  I had Sister Doris for grades one, two, and three, Sister Fidelis for four, five, and six, and Sister Violet for seventh grade. 
"Sister Doris pinched you by the neck or in the earlobe when you read up front.  She did it for no other reason than to inflict pain.  She had a problem, but she didn't beat us up.  Sister Fidelis raised chickens and always had a garden.  At the time Arlene Kaufhold was the only girl who could eat a worm alive on cleanup day.  Sister Violet was okay.  We also had a Sister Cyrilya who was incapable of teaching.  It was a shame.  And then there was Sister Julia, a talented music teacher from fifth grade.  I took music lessons from her until I was 15. 
"I never started high school because my dad was deathly sick at the time.  I never went through that teenager syndrome, for that reason.  I had a great time working with my dad.  We had a ball.  I never had a resentment with my dad or thought he didn't know anything.  Sometimes he'd send me to town to be with other teenagers.  He put a lot of confidence in me.  When your dad has confidence in you, you get confidence in yourself.  I never felt like I didn't know what I was doing, even when I didn't know what I was doing."
Jerry laughed at himself again, then stated in serious tone, "Some kids are lacking that confidence today.  I always say, 'If it can be done, I can do it.'"
At the age of 13, when Jerry had completed his formal education, he shoveled corn for George Yetzer.  At the age of 15 he was employed at the Chaska Sugar Factory.
Also at the age of 13 -- in 1945 -- Jerry started playing in the Victoria Concert Band, and he was a member through 1950.  His Uncle Ben Diethelm had given him a trumpet for Christmas when he was only ten.  The Victoria Concert Band performed outdoors in Victoria every Saturday night during the summer months and attracted crowds of shoppers to Main Street businesses.
It was during this time that the young lad -- who milked cows twice a day, drove a Model A while others his age were riding bicycles, and played a trumpet with adults in a concert band -- found someone with whom to share his palette.  It meant his steadfast colors of work and play were about to take on another hue.

***

Gerda was born October 22nd, 1931, on a farm near Excelsior, across from Chessmar Farms on Highway 41.  Her parents, Karl and Ida Thiede, were born, raised and married in Hamburg, Germany.  She had two brothers, Walt and Carl, both now deceased.
The only daughter did not milk cows.  "We raised fox and mink on our farm," she said.  "And we delivered dog food that my dad made himself.  It was called VonRavenstein.  My dad bought old horses from farmers and turned them into food for the fox and mink and also dogs.  He delivered dog food to people in the Lake Minnetonka area.  Those were the only people who could afford to buy dog food and have it delivered."
What was Gerda's home life like?  "I was the only girl," said she, "plus I was the youngest so I was the brat.  Then Jerry took over and I still got to be the brat - or at least that's what my kids tell me.  I used to help catch the fox and mink that got out.  No, they didn't get out and run across the road.  They would get out of their cages and into the pen."
The little Thiede girl attended the Chaska Public Elementary School for four years and was then enrolled at St. John's Lutheran School in Chaska where she remained through eighth grade.  After she graduated from the Chaska Public High School in 1949, Gerda worked at the butcher shop in Victoria. 

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Sue@VictoriaGazette.com