THE ALBERT RUNTSCH FAMILY
Albert Runtsch (1874-1935) was the third child born to the Franz
Runtsch family. His mother was Clara Hartmann Runtsch, the second
wife of Franz. Albert was a baby when he came to America with his
parents in 1874. His early years were spent in the Dukeville area.
When he was a young man, Albert traveled extensively through the
western part of this country. During this period, he worked as a
cowboy.
[pg 377 PHOTO Wedding picture of Albert and Anna Runtsch in 1911]
For about two years, he was employed at the ML Ranch near Lovell,
Wyoming. Some of the ranch buildings still remain and are part of a
National Preserve. While on a western trip in 1910, Albert witnessed
the Jeffries-Johnson heavyweight boxing championship match in Reno,
Nevada. In 1911 Albert married Anna Marie Czekay, who had immigrated
to the United States from Ayres, East Prussia. They engaged in
farming in the Walnut community. Four children were born to their
union: Albert, Jr. (living), Leona (living), Clarence (living), and
Lawrence (living). After the death of Albert, Sr., Anna, his widow,
continued to work on the family farm with her children and then
later was occupied as a seamstress in Verdigre. In 1941 she moved to
north central Iowa where she was employed in various occupations,
most notably as the manager of the public school lunch program in
St. Ansgar, Iowa. She retired from that position in 1959. Several
years after the death of Albert, Sr., Anna married Albert Voit of
St. Ansgar. He died in 1965. When Anna came to America, it was the
hope of the Czekay family that they would join her in this country.
Due to two major wars and an uncertain economy, that never happened.
However, she did return to Europe after having been away for 45
years to visit with members of her family who had moved to Berlin,
Germany. For a number of years after her retirement, Anna lived in
an apartment complex in Austin, Minnesota, and is now a resident of
the Good Samaritan Center in St. Ansgar, Iowa.
Albert, Jr., the oldest child of Albert, Sr., and Anna Runtsch,
worked on the family farm in the Walnut community while he was a
young man. Later he attended Iowa State University in Ames and
became involved in a dairy cattle testing program. Shortly after the
outbreak of World War II, he volunteered for service in the United
States Navy. Most of his Naval duty was performed on destroyers
where he was involved with early computerized aiming and firing of
big guns aboard ship. He served in both the Atlantic and Pacific
Theaters of war. After the war, he returned to northern Iowa where
he worked at carpentry for a few years. Albert, Jr., then moved to
Hollywood, and later to Costa Mesa, California, where he worked at
producing find cabinetry until his death in 1968. He never married.
Leona spent her girlhood in the Walnut community. In seeking
employment opportunities which were rather lacking in the Verdigre
area, she moved with other Nebraska residents to work in
north-central Iowa. It was there that she met and married Robert W.
Seater, member of a prominent Northwood, Iowa, farming family. Two
children were born to the couple. Carol (Kipp) and James II. After
years of raising prize-winning Black Angus cattle and producing
abundant corn crops, Leona and Bob retired in 1978 and moved to
their home in Northwood. Unfortunately, after a lengthy tragic
illness, Bob died in January of 1986. Leona’s involvements with
antiques, historical preservation at the Northwood museum, and her
three grandchildren are the major interest that fill her very active
life.
Clarence left the Verdigre area shortly after the beginning of World
War II when he volunteered for service in the United States Marine
Corps. He served two tours of overseas duty in the Pacific combat
zone. Following the war, Clarence attended the Cumming School of Art
in Des Moines, Iowa, and the Kansas City Art Institute. After being
employed in major museums for a number of years, he is now occupied
as a free-lance artist and sculptor in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. His
work is in the Smithsonian Institution and private and corporate
collections. Clarence is an active collector of antique American
guns and swords and Indian beadwork. He is divorced and has a
daughter, Teresa Ann (Duffett), and three granddaughters.
Lawrence, now usually known as Larry, was in grade school in
Verdigre when he moved to Iowa with his mother in 1941. After
completing school, he was employed by Geo. A. Hormel & Co., Meat
Packers in Austin, Minnesota, in the transportation department. With
the outbreak of the Korean War, he volunteered and served in the
United States Marine Corps. After his tour of duty, he returned to
employment with Hormel, where soon after he became a transportation
foreman. With the advent of computers, he received training in that
field and helped implement many of their early computer
applications. He has been involved in that activity since then. One
of Lawrence’s avocational interests is in the restoration and
renovation of houses. Lawrence is married to the former Margaret
Duenow. They have five sons: Steven, Joel, Michael, Randall, and
Timothy, and six grandchildren.
Although the members of the former Nebraska Runtsch Family now live
in three different states (Iowa, Minnesota, and Tennessee), “we
always consider Verdigre to be ‘Home’ and always will.”
-Compiled by Clarence F. Runtsch with concurrence from
Leona M. (Runtsch) Seater and Lawrence F. Runtsch.
Pages
376, 377
