The Noethe Brothers
Joseph Anton Noethe 1894-1954
The first Noethe to actually live on the farm was Joe Noethe (the oldest brother). When Joseph Anton Noethe was born on January 15th, 1894, in Arcadia, his father, Frank A Noethe, was 24 and his mother, Kate Vaske, was 26. He worked on Frank's farm in Arcadia until the farm in Westside was purchased by his father in 1913, then he went to work the Westside farm. He married Mary Josephine Kotschewar on January 30th, 1923.
They had 6 children, two of which were born at the farm.
Joe served in WWI and was hit with poisonous gas by the Germans while stationed in France. Joe's family lived and worked on the farm for awhile, and then Joe moved to Fonda, Iowa and became a successful farmer.
F. Edward Noethe 1902-1981
Franciskus Edward Noethe was a very bright student. He skipped 5th grade and was promoted from 4th grade to 6th. Although he was an academic, halfway through his freshman year of high school, his dad told him it was time to quit school and start working. He did as he was told, but always enjoyed reading and keeping up with current events.
When Ed was a small child, the family still spoke the German language. It wasn't until WWI when the Germans in the Crawford County area decided they were no longer going to speak German in public. (See Article)
In 1950, Ed married Marcella Lane at St. Rose of Lima Church in Denison. They lived at the farm for awhile and then moved into Westside where they rented a house. After their third child was born, they moved to an acreage just north of town. Later, they purchased the acreage and lived there the rest of their lives. Ed and Marcella had a total of four children: Mary Ellen, Edward Francis, Nancy Lynn, and Rose Marie (Duck).
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Ed and Hans bought the farm in 1946 from their father's (Frank Noethe) estate.
Although Ed had lost most of his German language, there was a song that he would sing from time to time in German to his children. This song was about an cuckoo that was shot by a small boy, and then miraculously came back to life. The lyric translation can be found here.
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Ed delveloped lung cancer and died at Methodist Hospital in Des Moines in 1981. He is buried at St. Ann’s Cemetery in Vail, IA.
John 'Hans' Aphons Noethe 1903-1978
Ed and Hans were co-owners of the farm. The chickens were Hans' responsibility and the hogs were Ed's.
John “Hans” Noethe was a pretty quiet person. However, he enjoyed a bottle of Bud, smoked Winstons and would partake in a game of pool at the local establishments. Hans made sure the farm always had bottles of Bud on hand for when neighbors and friends dropped by. Hans was also an early investor in mutual funds. Certainly, a significant portion of the large donation to Kuemper Catholic High School by the estate of Francis “Lefty” Noethe could be traced to Hans’ investments.
He was a farmer all of his life. He died following surgery
at the Crawford County Memorial Hospital and is buried at St. John’s Cemetery, Arcadia, IA.
In 1937, Hans was involved in a car accident that made the news. He was not seriously injured.
Francis "Lefty" Noethe 1907-2000
Francis “Lefty” Noethe was diminutive in size. His nickname came from being left handed. Francie was a hired man on the farm for many years. When Hans passed away in 1978, Francie became an owner.
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He was noted as an outstanding defensive outfielder for the Arcadia baseball team... he was also the "mascot" for the team in his youth (bottom right corner of picture).
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Lefty was drafted into the US Army for WWII. He served in the 8th Army Airforce in England. On his Enlistment card (Nov 25, 1943) he is listed at 5’ 2.5” tall and 117 pounds. He was 36 at the time. During his time in the Military, he raised through the ranks very fast.
Francis was the last surviving brother. He passed in 2000.
He is buried at St. John’s in Arcadia.
