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

DEL MLADY

Del Mlady, a rancher, was the youngest son of Edw. and Stazie Pavelka Mlady. He was born July 23, 1919. He has one older brother, Leo, and two sisters, Mrs. Leonard Drobny of Verdigre and Mrs. Henry Chalupnik of Pine City, Minnesota.

Del received his education in School District No. 83 in Verdigre and graduated from high school in 1939. There were nineteen graduates in his class - 10 girls and 9 boys.

While a young boy, Del helped his dad with chores and put up wood in the hard thirties. He started to farm with the help of his dad in the same year he graduated, renting the Frank Ulrich farm, then known as the Frank Butterfield place.

He farmed with his father until January 9, 1945, when his father passed away.

Del farmed with his mother while his brother Leo was in the service from 1942 until 1945. He put in long hours of labor because help was hard to hire during WWII. Farming wasn’t easy during the recovery of the depression of the thirties. There were bills to pay and old horse-drawn machinery to farm with, but as the forties rolled along, Del tried to buy some new machinery each year in order to be able to farm more with his 1942 B John Deere which he was also buying on payments.

After his brother came home from the service in 1945, they farmed the home places together.

[pg 336 PHOTO Delbert [Delbert] Mlady]

In the fall of 1946 Del purchased a 270 acre farm from Mr. Victor Schreier which he had farmed for three years. He later decided to sell his farm to his brother-in-law, Leonard (Red) Drobny.

He loved cattle, so he purchased his uncle’s farm (Pavelka Brothers) in 1947. This place was homesteaded by his great-grandfather Florian Pavelka and owned by his grandad Albert Pavelka. It has been in the family for four generations.

There are still some happy memories of his mother when she lived in the log cabin, which is still standing.

In 1948 Del started to raise Polled Hereford cattle. He purchased the last cows and purebred bull from his uncles, Jim and Albert Pavelka. Del took a lot of pride in his cattle herd. He has been raising cattle for the last 40 years. He always believed in having registered bulls, even though, at times, he did some crossing with the Black Angus and Simmentals, which he liked very much. He always said it was no harder to feed a good cow that to feed a poor cow. Del was very fond of his cattle dogs, they are real company when one lives alone. Del says he had fourteen registered bulls in his life of cattle raising and has all his papers filed away.

In 1953 Del decided to work out and meet different people. Working for others and having bosses was quite an experience for him. Del got himself a job at Minneapolis Moline in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He worked on an assembly line putting out bullets. He worked the graveyard shift when they melted iron and came out of there as black as the ace of spades.

In 1954 and 1955 he came home, farmed, and took on odd jobs working for other farmers. In 1956 Del did construction work for Kemmer Bartelmy Construction of Hasting, Minnesota, working and building schoolhouses and laying bricks for high chimneys.

In 1957 he again went looking for employment and worked on a dairy farm for Art Essens at Cambridge, Minnesota. Then he worked on a gas pipeline for a contractor, Blem Mayer Co., out of Lake Charles, Louisiana. They laid gas pipes between Minneapolis and Duluth. In 1959 Del was employed on a freeway between Minneapolis and Duluth. During these years (from 1948-1959), he continued to operate his ranch and raise polled cattle. He has been working three days a week for the last twelve years for his nephew, Duane Mlady, operator of the Pig Co-op at Bloomfield. Del has cut down on his cattle herd as he feels he would like to retire and move into the Czech Alps Terrace and do some fishing during his spare time. He also enjoys going to mass on Sundays and Holy Days. He is a member of the Catholic Workmen and 3rd Degree Knights of Columbus.

Del usually makes it to town every other day to drink coffee with friends and neighbors at Karen’s Café. He is proud of his nieces and nephews. He has seven nephew and nieces, nine grandnieces, 17 grandnephews, 4 great-grandnieces and one great-great-grandnephew. Del says when he quits there will be enough of them to take over.

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