Bob and Lois Hass

Always tell the truth, and do what you are told. Do that and have faith and you’ll have a happy life.

Bob and Lois Hass

Lois Hass

My name is Lois Hass. I am 76 years old. I was born in the house on the farm where I grew up. It was just across the road from here.

When it came to school I really had to buckle down with my grammar. The first thing I said in school was, “Ain’t it a nice day.” The teacher corrected me and said, “No, isn’t it a nice day.” I learned very quickly not to say ain’t.

One time when I was young, my parents took me to the State Fair in St. Paul. I thought it was amazing. I had never been to a big city. The Ferris wheels were very big.

When the war broke out many of our uncles went to war. When it ended we were all in town hooting and hollering. We were glad the boys came home.

One of my uncles was home for about a month. He worked in the stone quarry. Unfortunately he was killed at the quarry. It seemed like that was another war.

When we were out at my brother’s in San Diego, we got a call that our barn burnt down. There happened to have been a wedding that day and when people were going to the dance they saw the fire and got it put out.

Having gone through so much, Bob and I are just happy to have what we have. Being hard up doesn’t mean you’re desperate. Everything falls into place; you just have to have patience.

Words of Advice: Keep on with your studies, and decide what you want to do in life. It’s good to have a goal and if you have to change it, change it. I think you’ll all do really well.

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Bob Hass

My name is Bob Hass. I am 79 years old. I was born in the hospital in Winona. It was the year of the stock market crash. There was no money for anything.

In 1934, during the Great Depression, we left the farm because we had no money. My brother and I started school in Iowa. They told us we had to buy our books, since we had no money, we didn’t go to school that year.

When we came back, we moved into the farm that the Gilles’s own now. Back then there was no electricity and no running water. The water was pumped by a windmill, and then we carried it.

We both went to school up at Ridgeway; that’s how we met. We only had one teacher for 20 to 30 kids. It was a good education. Sometimes if there was a blizzard, my dad would drive us in a wagon with horses.

I had to help my parents on the farm. We separated the milk with a hand separator. Once the bell rang, you knew you were done. Then we had to put the milk in the cistern to keep it cool. Things have come a long way from then.

I proposed to Lois at the movie theater. I was 21 and she was 18 when we married. We had three daughters together, one daughter and then a set of twins. We will have been married for 58 years this year.

We lived on my family farm. By then we had electricity. We grew hay, milked cows, had pigs, some chickens, and even had ducks once.

When our barn burnt down that was the worst news ever. We rushed back and all of our neighbors came to help us build a new barn, then we had a dance to celebrate when it was finished.