WALTER FREDERICK

Born: June 20, 1912

Walter is eighteen months older than I am, so we played together as small boys, worked together on the farm and worked together in the sawmill business. Walter and I were business partners from 1936 to 1976. A total of 40 years. A fine partner, a fine brother.

Walt grew up on the farm and married Alice Williams on August 13, 1932. They had five children:

Burnette Walter  Sept. 30, 1935 - March 6, 1937

Janice ArleneJan. 29, 1937

Vernon WendallAug. 13, 1940

Stanley WayneApril 13, 1943

Joseph LeslieFeb.6, 1945

In 1942, Walt purchased a 120 acre farm east of Savanna. After a few years he sold it at a profit and bought a much larger acreage, north of Savanna. Walter's farming programs were always successful.

He then bought land at the east edge of Savanna. Several years later, he developed the Carroll Heights subdivision. Walter is a dealer (franchised) for Wick Homes. He has sold over a hundred homes. This subdivision has great prospects of becoming one of the finest residential areas in Northwest Illinois. There are thirty fine homes there and room for about three hundred.

Walt served on several elected and several appointed positions in the county.

These include the Hospital Board, Farm Bureau Board, School Board and County Planning Commission. Walt has also been very active with church most of his life. He is currently a Deacon at the little Calvary Baptist Church in Savanna. Some believe he should have been a preacher.

Walter and Alice have been one of the most compatible couples I have ever known. They have had their share of heart aches, the tragic death of their first born, and though Alice is doing great now, at one time she had a serious heart attack. They have always shared their problems. Walter and Alice have been great traveling companions. Hazel and I traveled with them many week ends each year.

Alice has been a full partner in all Walt's endeavors. They raised a fine family and have ten grandchildren at this time. They have good health and keep busy with many projects.

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SHELDON LYLE

Born: November 25, 1913

I was born Thanksgiving Day, the 8th child, with 6 older brothers and one older sister. After me, there were 3 more boys and at last were 2 more girls. There was never a dull moment!

We, each and everyone of us, had our job to do, even at a young age. I remember one of the ways in which our folks organized our family work; we had the old-fashioned wood or coal burning stove. Dad always arranged to have a young son get the small pieces of kindling wood to start the fire each morning. This was my job.

One morning Dad woke me up saying, in a very calm voice, "Sheldon, you forgot to get the kindling." I still remember how cold it was at 4:30 on that winter morning. I never let that happen again. I have thought of that morning many times and I know how it must have hurt my Dad to wake his six or eight year old son at that hour of the morning. It was his way of teaching his family to be responsible.

Years later, we realized he was right and we loved and respected him for the way he raised his family. Dad was never harsh, always gentle and kind.

As a small boy of about five, I started helping with the gardening and the milking. The only power we had in those days for those jobs was boy power.

Sunday was a day for church, ball games, fishing, swimming and running through the hills, anything to keep busy and enjoy the day.

I went to a small one-room country school with one teacher for about 20 children, at all ages and grades. I helped with the farming till I was about 14, then I started dragging logs to the sawmill. We used a team of horses on a two-wheeled cart for logs. Then at about 15 it was back to the farming as we had moved to Mineral.

I met Hazel when we were living in Wyoming. We were married May 11, 1935. We had four children:

Lyle Raymond  March 15, 1936 - September 7, 1956

Thelma Louise Sept. 14, 1941

Harley Vincent Oct. 30, 1942

Lorraine Janet March 30, 1946

In July of 1935 Hazel and I moved to Galena, IL. I helped run the lumber business with Delbert and Walter. The sawmill and timber were on the Mississippi River bottoms, twelve miles south of Galena. We eventually moved closer to the sawmill into a cabin.

We moved to Abington, IL, south of Galesburg in March of 1936 where Walter and I started sawing railroad ties.

We moved south of Galena, then to Dubuque and last to Savanna on October 7, 1940 where we have been ever since.

In 1944, we bought a 100 acre farm at the city limits of Savanna. I sold thirty acres to a Nicol Sand Company, and five acres to Helle Brothers which Walt and I established for the Sawmill. Walt and I set up the sawmill and I farmed the rest.

In 1947 we sold three acres for a factory sight, subdivided twenty acres for a residential area, and donated two acres to the city for a swimming pool.

We took fifteen acres and built a Mobile Home Park and called it the "Big Elm Park." Hazel managed the park from the beginning. She had a natural ability to be a good manager.

The farm is now known as "Helle Addition." The swimming pool was used twenty four years then the area became a park and was officially named "Helle Park" by the Park District in honor of our family. We are extremely proud of this.

As my parents, and many of my family, I also have become involved in civic affairs. I served on the Savanna School Board of Education from 1948 to 1962. From 1949 until 1971 I served on the Swimming Pool Board. I also served for fifteen years on the Zoning Board of Appeals for the city of Savanna. At the present time I am on the City Council. It has been an honor and a privilege for me to serve my community. I have always enjoyed it.

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