BioA: Subke, Mr. and Mrs. Fred (Golden - 1973)

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

Surnames: Subke, Weeks, Luck, Donell, Kalina, Genteman

----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) 10/07/1973

Subke, Mr. and Mrs. Fred (Golden - 27 September 1973)

An afternoon open house and an evening dance at the Neillsville American Legion Hall Saturday will honor the golden anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Subke. The Subkes have been Neillsville and Town of Levis residents through all their married years.

The Rev. G. J. Donell officiated at the September 27, 1923, marriage of the former Miss Ella Weeks, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Casper Weeks of Owen, and Fred Subke. Vows were exchanged at what was then the Presbyterian parsonage on Court Street in Neillsville, with the late Mr. and Mrs. Charles Luck as attendants. Mrs. Luck was the former Louise Subke, sister of the groom.

Following the ceremony, a reception was held at the home of the groom’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Subke, in the Town of Levis. The Subke family had moved to Clark County from Chicago, Il., when the groom was five years old.

The newlyweds settled on the Subke home farm and lived there from 1923 until 1953, when they moved to Neillsville and operated the Subke Old Folks Home for the county for 11 years. It was during that time that they sold their farm to the Edward Gentemans. The couple retired from their duties at the Home, where they made life comfortable for 17 residents, in 1964.

As of October 1, Mrs. Subke will have been employed as a social worker at Memorial Home for seven years. Her varied activities there include writing letters and shopping for residents, and working closely with the activity directors. Many times, she lends a sympathetic ear to someone who just wants to talk, or carries on a friendly conversation with someone who is lonely.

‘I’ve always enjoyed working with older people’, Mrs. Subke commented.

Both the Subkes are members of the Neillsville United Church of Christ, and she is a past member of its Sewing Circle and of its formers Ladies Aid Society. She has also been active in the Gray Ladies organization and in the Rebekah Lodge.

In the past, Mr. Subke was a member of the Odd Fellows Lodge. While he farmed in the Town of Levis, he spent sixteen years as a school bus driver, the majority of that time for the Meadowview School, which he attended as a youth. He was also a member of its school board. Presently, he is employed as a maintenance man at Memorial Hospital and Home.

The Subkes have four children, three sons and a daughter. The daughter, Mrs. Martin (Dorothy) Kalina of Merrillan, is assistant postmistress there in addition to being the mother of three daughters and two sons.

On son, John, lives in the Town of Levis and is employed as shop foreman for the Clark County Highway Department. He and his wife are parents of four daughters and a son. Fred Subke, Jr., whose family includes a wife and two daughters, is an administrator in the River Falls School system. The third son, Robert, is a cosmetologist in a beauty salon in Beverly Hills, Ca,.

There are also three great-grandchildren, offspring of two of the John Subke’s children.