A transcription of pages 195-469,
Family Histories from the Verdigre Centennial Book
Thanks to the Verdigre Library and its volunteers for making this available.
 
The index below only includes the husband and wife for each family.
The maiden name for the wife is used if listed.
For other names, use the search on the Home Page.

Index's A-I, J-P, & Q-Z

ARNOLD KRAUSE

Arnold Krause was born August 23, 1911, on a farm owned by his grandparents, August and Anna Mary Krause, near Creston, Nebraska. He was the oldest child of Adolph and Sophia (Dehn) Krause, the others being Elsie (Renter), Walter, and Laura (Filsinger). He and Elsie attended a rural school and later finished their education at the parochial high school in Leigh. He was confirmed in Leigh in 1927.

[pg 306 PHOTO Arnold Krause]

In March of 1930 the Krauses moved to a farm near Brunswick, Nebraska. He left home at the age of 21 and worked for a year at Madison, studying diesel engineering. He finished shop work in Omaha and got his first job as an oiler at Holdrege. Eleven months later he was a diesel operator. He followed oil field work for eight years and then changed to cranes and draglines.

Arnold met his first wife, Madeline Carr, in 1935 in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma, and married her a year later in Bisbee, Arizona. They went to Texas, first to Kilgore and then Houston. Their son Gene Arnold was born in Pasadena in living. They built a home in Houston and then in 1943, a second home. Arnold continued his work into the sixties. He belonged to Engineers Local No. 450.

With war imminent in 1940 and 1941, Arnold was working on defense projects. On December 7, at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor, his brother, Walter, a Technical Sergeant in the army Air Corps and stationed at Wichita Air Base, was visiting him. Shortly thereafter Arnold enlisted in the Navy Sea Bees. He received the rating of Machinist’s Mate First Class because of his work and knowledge of heavy equipment. After a short period of training he embarked at Hueneme, California on June 6, 1944. Following a milkman’s tour of the South Pacific (Coral Sea, Milne Bay, Oro Bay, Lau, Finschaven), they arrived at Seadler Harbor. Three days later they went ashore. For the next 2 ½ years, Manus Island would be their home. After a few exciting incidents, they settled down to building a huge spare parts base in the Admiralties.

After V-J Day, Arnold taught automotive mechanics to young British sailors who would later take over. His last task was to assist a Chief Warrant Officer in dismantling radar units on a mountain 60 miles from his base. With the help of a barge, a crane, a bulldozer, and nearly fifty natives, he got his equipment across marshy terrain and then built a road to the mountain top. The radar equipment was loaded on the barge and then explosive charges were set off.

Arnold returned to the states aboard the John Hancock, then the second largest aircraft carrier, landing at San Diego. For the first time he saw jets flying in to welcome the returning servicemen. At home he was reunited with his parents for the first time in five years.

In 1946 he and a partner built a two-story building in Houston. For 20 years they operated as Krause Lumber Millworks.

Arnold continued to belong to Engineers Local No. 450 while working as a master mechanic and three drum operator on high-rise skyscraper jobs. This was a highly-specialized job. He retired in October of 1966.

Time brought changes. Arnold’s brother-in-law, J. B. Carr, with whom he was closely associated, was killed in a tragic crane accident. His brother Walter died in January of 1965 and Laura, his youngest sister, in January of 1966. Just after he moved to Brunswick, Nebraska, his mother died suddenly of a heart attack on May 17, 1967. This was the most grievous loss of all, difficult also for his ailing father.

On March 27, 1970, Arnold married Mary Ruzicka Knori in Neligh. They had a brief honeymoon in St. Louis and then settled down on a farm near Brunswick.

Arnold’s father, Adolph Krause, died in July of 1976.

Shortly after Thanksgiving of 1978, Arnold suffered a minor stroke and then, a week later, a major one. He spent the next two months in hospitals. The Kruases had sold their livestock and pastureland north of Verdigre. On April 1, 1979, they had a farm sale and on April 15 moved into Verdigre.

Arnold sold his Brunswick land to a relative hoping it would remain in the Krause family long enough to qualify for a pioneer family award. He regained his health in Verdigre and then, reluctant to remain inactive, he began to buy properties and set up mobile homes. He then purchased the McElhose Trailer Court and his business today is called Krause Mobile Homes.

A life-long Lutheran, Arnold has held various church offices, including chairman, elder, and president. He is also a member of VFW Post 1151 of Creighton and of American Legion Post No. 259 of Verdigre, regretful that infirmities and age prevent him from more active participation in these fine organizations.

Recent deaths in his family include that of his sister Elsie and his wife’s grandson Larry who drowned in the Missouri River. They are a sad reminder of the passage of time, but Arnold is busy with various Centennial projects and says, ,”May God bless you all, and may we continue to work for Verdigre.”

Pages 305, 306