BioA: Lautenbach, Mr. and Mrs. Louie (Golden - 1972)

Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail: dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Lautenbach, Opelt, Reiff, Schultz, Dux, Zimmerman, Martin, Wall, Kuehn

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co, WI) 4/27/1972

Lautenbach, Mr. and Mrs. Louie (Golden- 26 April 1972

Mr. and Mrs. Louie Lautenbach, Clark County natives who have spent nearly all their married years in the Town of Levis, will observed their Golden wedding anniversary on Saturday, April 29. The event will be marked with an open house from 1 to 5 p.m. in the fellowship hall of Calvary Lutheran Church.

Louie Lautenbach, the son of the late Otto and Rosie Lautenbach, was born in the Town of Grant in 1900. Mrs. Lautenbach, the former Martha Opelt is the daughter of the late Max, Sr. and Phoebe Opelt. She was born in the Town of Lynn a year later than her husband.

The Lautenbach’s were married April 26, 1922, at the parsonage of what is now Zion American Lutheran Church in the town of Grant. They recall that the Rev. J. Reiff performed the ceremony entirely in German. The attendants were his sister, Ruth, Mrs. Helmuth Schultz of rural Neillsville, and her brother, Max Opelt, Jr., of Granton.

Mr. and Mrs. Lautenbach operated an 80-acre dairy farm in the Town of Levis from 1925 until 1960. They were employed at the Pineview School from 1960 until 1965, and are now enjoying retirement at their farm home. Both are members of Calvary Lutheran Church. Mrs. Lautenbach is an active member of the church’s ALCW group and has been a member of the Altar circle for several years.

Before their marriage, Mrs. Lautenbach worked in a bakery at Buffalo, N. Y. and Mrs. Lautenbach was employed in local area sawmills. During the 1930’s both were members of the Dux orchestra, which provided music at the Riverside Dance Hall and at other dance spots. For approximately nine years Mr. Lautenbach, who was a violinist, played a saxophone in the orchestra and his wife played the piano. She served a well as pianist for the Women of the Moose, of which she was a member.

The Lautenbach’s are the parents of a son, Leroy, who lives at New Berlin with his family. There are three grandchildren, Linda (Mrs. James Zimmerman) of Milwaukee, Larry of Mississippi and Larraine, at home; and two great-grandchildren, Lisa and Shawn Zimmerman. All plan to attend the anniversary observance Satruday.

Other family members who expect to be present include Mrs. Lautenbach’s sister, Lillian, (Mrs. Paul Martin) of Corvallis, Or, and her three brothers, Carl and Art of rural Neillsville and Max of Granton; and Mr. Lautenbach’s brother, Victor, of Granton and his three sisters, Ruth, (Mrs. Helmuth Schultz) and Laura (Mrs. Fred Wall) of Neillsville and Hilda (Mrs. Harry Kuehn) of rural Granton. The brothers and sisters plan to attend the observance together with members of their families.