BioA: Smith, Mr./Mrs. Bergen O. (Golden - 1973)
Contact: Dolores (Mohr) Kenyon
E-mail:
dolores@wiclarkcountyhistory.org
Surnames: Smith, Hyland, Straube, Parrett, Breitung, Czarnik
----Source: Clark County Press (Neillsville, Clark Co., WI) /1973
Smith, Mr./Mrs. Bergen O. (Golden - 22 October 1973)
It may not be written in that famous book of records, but Mr. and Mrs. Bergen O.
Smith of Neillsville, who are observing their Golden wedding anniversary
Saturday, is an exceptional couple. Now that’s in the past, the Smiths can
recall with a joint sigh of relief the days when their various offspring
attended schools of one sort or another for 40 continuous years!
It is the Smith children who have planned an open house honoring their parents
from 3 to 4 p.m. Satruday at the Wildcat Inn, followed by an evening of dancing
at the Silver Dome. For the convenience of friends and relatives who will not be
able to share in the Saturday observance, the couple will be at home at their
residence on Second St. the afternoon and evening of Monday, October 22, which
is their actual wedding anniversary date.
Bergen O’Pliene Smith, born the son of Mr. and Mrs. Seven A. Douglas (SAD) Smith
of Dancy, northeast of Marshfield, and the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Abe Hyland
of Little Suamico, north of Green Bay, exchanged wedding vows in a civil
ceremony October 22, 1923, in Menominee, Mi. The bride had grown up in the
little Suamico community and attended schools in the town of Brookside.
Her husband, on the other hand, while named after the town of Bergen in which he
was born, and for the nearby Eau Plaine River, moved to Kaukauna as a child and
received his education in schools there. He was employed in the local papermill
up to the time of their marriage.
The newlyweds’ lived in Sturgeon Bay for two years before coming to Neillsville.
They farmed in the area for several years before moving to the city, where Mr.
Smith worked at the Fullerton Lumber Company for many years. He has been
employed as a sales man for Urban Sales and Service for the past 11 years.
In addition to the tasks of raising a large family, Mrs. Smith has held several
part and full time jobs outside her home. Most recently, she worked for two
years at the Shopper in a full time capacity and has been retired from that
position for the past five years. Previously, she worked at Becker’s Café, at
the Gluch Shoe Store for nearly 15 years, and as a nurses’ aid at the old
nursing home and at Memorial Home.
While the Smiths find that their weekdays are busy enough without hobbies, they
do enjoy a Saturday night of dancing regularly and Mrs. Smith also enjoys
reading.
The Bergen Smiths are parents of 13 children. Their oldest, Everett, would have
been 48 in July; he succumbed to an infection arising from appendicitis 28 years
ago, in the days before penicillin. (They lost another child, the twin to their
daughter, Bonnie.) Their youngest is a 21-year-old daughter, Etta Mae.
The other children are, in order of age, Ralph of Detroit, Marie of St. Louis,
Mo., Herbert of Milwaukee, Oakley of Rockford, Il., Arlo of Colorado Springs,
Co., Mrs. Charles (Bonnie) Straube of Milwaukee, Mrs. Gladys Parrett of West
Allis, Mrs. James (Nancy) Breitung of Neillsville, Duane of Racine, Darwin of
Eau Claire and Mrs. Robert (Etta Mae) Czarnik of Chicago, Il.
There are also 23 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren, offspring of two
of Ralph Smith’s daughters.
All eleven children, except for Marie, and most of the grandchildren and
great-grandchildren, plan to be present for the Smiths’ anniversary observance
this weekend.
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