ROBERT AND DELORES [SPANGLER] RUZICKA
Robert L. Ruzicka, the first child born to Walter and Alice
(Marshall) Ruzicka, was born living, at Orchard.
When he started school, a country school, he spoke more Bohemian
than English thanks to Grandpa Frank who lived with the family. Bob
attended grade school at School District 46 and graduated from
Verdigre High School in 1966.
On October 12, 1968, he married Delores (Spangler), born living, daughter of Melvin and Mildred Spangler of O’Neill They lived
on a farm two miles south of Verdel for their first four years. Amy
Lynn was born living, but due to her premature arrival, she
passed away on April 4,, 1971, and was buried at the Pischelville
Cemetery.
In December of 1972, Bob, Delores and Scott, who was born living, moved onto the Marshall homestead. This land was homesteaded
by Ignatz Marshall, Jr., the great-great-grandfather of Robert. Two
more boys joined the family, Kent William, born living, and
Adam Lee, born living.
The land that Bob and Delores farm is located about a mile from
Pischelville. A stream is located a short distance north of the
buildings, providing the growing boys with an ideal place for
set-lines in the spring to catch catfish. A wonderful feeling of joy
and pride would show on the boys’ faces when they would return after
catching a fish or shooting a duck or squirrel.
The boys had learned a great deal of compassion for living things
from their grandfathers, Walter Ruzicka and Melvin Spangler. One
time the boys had set traps hoping to catch a coon. The next morning
the boys had caught a coon; however, it was still alive. It took a
lot of deciding and true grit to finally shoot the coon to enable
them to remove it from the trap.
[pg 381 PHOTO Bob and Delores Ruzicka and sons Scott, Kent and
Adam]
In 1973, Delores began a ceramic shop in the old house located on
their farm. Friends, neighbors, and ladies from town would drive out
to make ceramic pieces. Soon the demand moved Delores to start a
shop in Verdigre. The first was in the basement of John and Mary
Jenkinson’s house, soon outgrown; she then moved to the basement of
Marie Chocholousek’s home. The next move was to the small house
beside the movie theater. Ceramics were continued, but much more was
added - flowers, tole painting, etc. The next move was to main
street in a building located next to Misty’s Bar.
Delores was a self-taught artist and began doing free-lance craft
designing for craft magazines. From this, a mail-order business was
started. Craft kits were sent out on a nation-wide basis. Demand was
growing and therefore several people were hired to help produce her
original designs.
On November 5, 1985, Bob met with a farm accident. His right hand
had become entangled in a corn picker while he was picking corn in a
field five miles from home. Being unable to remove his hand and with
the picker still running, he took the picker apart with his left
hand and a pair of pliers. He unhooked the picker, wrapped the
injured hand in his jacket, and drove four miles in his tractor to
the Mark Pischel home for help. He was taken to the Yankton hospital
where part of his hand was amputated and skin grafting was done to
repair the rest of his hand.
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