Family of Mary Leisz Minnichsoffer

"Looking back - growing up in the 1920s and 1930s would be hard to accept today."

Rosella was the graddaughter of Mary Leisz Minnichsoffer: Rosella's dad was Joseph Minnichsoffer (1889-1968) and her mom was Theodora "Dora" Greene Minnichsoffer (1894-1981). (Scroll down for a photo of Rosella's dad Joseph and more about him, including what brought his family from Turtle Lake, Wisconsin to Minnesota.)

Joe and Dora married in 1915 and lived on a farm near Shafer, Minnesota in a Victorian farmhouse. They bought their farm from the Thalenhorst family in 1915. The farm was their home until 1947, when they sold it to Lawrence. They lived upstairs for a short time, and then, in 1948, moved to a house connected to Bernard's house on his farm near Shafer. In 1953 they bought a home in Lindstrom near St. Bridget's Catholic Church. 

In addition to Rosella, Joe and Dora had four other childre: Mary Elizabeth (b. 1916), Bernard John (1918-1988), Lawrence Anthony, (1922-2005) and Katherine Anna (b. 1923-2017). 

Rosella married John Vincent Lynn on 12 Oct 1946. Together they had five children: Louise Ellen (b. 1947), Jeffrey Michael (b. 1949), Cynthia Ann (b. 1951), Rebecca Veronica (b. 1955) and John Joseph (b. 1960). 

Rosella worked as a cake decorator, and head housekeeper, for Christian Brother Retreat Center for 29 years in St. Paul, Minnesota. 

Rosella attended the 2002 Homeward Bound Leisz Family Reunioni n Turtle Lake, Wisconsin. While there, she shared a comprehensive booklet of family history beginning with her mother and father, and chronicling their descendents. 

I could spend hours watching and playing with the kittens. I had many special ones. Our big tomcat, the father of many kittens in the neighborhood, would sit in this little shelf by the silo room. If you stood in front of it he would rub on your head. Then there was Fluffo. She came to us skinny with matted hair, looked half dead. Mom nursed her back to become a healthy and beautiful mother cat. She would have her kittens in a hiding place in the straw barn. Then when she was ready she would lead us to them and proudly present her litter. 

My first pride and joy was Fuzzball. He grew to be quite a large tomcat. I taught him to ride on my shoulder while I did chores. Boy did I cry the night we found him dead on the side of the road, hit by a car. But later I adopted another kitten who also grew quite large. His name was Pedro (after Pedro Ramos of the Twins). He was black and white with a tail like a long stump due to getting it stomped off by a cow. Since I was older when I had him he used to wait for the school bus to bring me home from school. I never knew what happened to him. He disappeared late in the fall the year I went off to college. Maybe he went to look for me. 

Besides the cats I found many other activities to occupy my time while I was doing chores. I would ride the feed sacks pretending they were horses. I used twine for the reins. In the winter we would haul hay to the young stock on a big sled dad made. Since the barn was on a hill, riding on the hay bales as we went down the hill was an Olympic feat.

The hills in the yard provided great sledding. When the snow was just right we could start up on the west side of the barn, come down past the pump house, go around the bend in the yard and if the gate was open slide right into the cow yard. Otherwise we could go straight out the driveway past the big elm. Sometimes we would take the toboggan down the hill in the front yard or as we got older venture out into the pasture and go down the hill there. 

The milking “parlor” part of the barn consisted of two sides. The cows would come in one of the two doors from the step which led to the cow yard. Each cow would go to their own stanchion. They knew which one was theirs. We closed the stanchions and they would eat while they waited their turn to be milked. Each one also had a name. Mom’s favorite was Big Whitey. She stood right in front of the silo room. Tony had Tootsie who stood on the other side of the barn near the door to the milk house. Tootsie’s milk was high in butterfat so when we needed cream we would take it from the can with her milk in it. We milked with big buckets and then dumped the milk through a strainer into the milk cans. Then the cans were place in the big wooden cooling tank until the milkman came and picked then up to take them to the Shafer Creamery. We had mainly Holstein cattle while I was growing up. 

My favorite part was feeding the new calves. Most of the calves were born in the fall. They were put in a small pen in the lower level of the barn. We would have to train them to drink milk from a bucket. They would want to put their heads up to suck so we would put our fingers in their mouths and pull them down into the bucket until they started to slurp up the milk. Eventually they would figure it out and drink on their own. After a few weeks they would start eating feed and hay. The older ones would get moved to a pen upstairs. Of course one of the less pleasant tasks was cleaning the pens. Shoveling or using a pitchfork to haul it out of the pens was heavy work. Once the pens were clean we would put in fresh straw which made the pens quite cozy.

I really enjoyed working in the barn, doing chores and playing with the animals. Besides the cows we had sheep for a few years. There is nothing sweeter than a baby lamb. Sometimes the mother wouldn’t accept a baby especially when there were twins. So we would have to bottle feed them. One of our bottle lambs was so tame she would follow us around, even into the house. Once when Grandma Shimota was ill we brought her in for a visit. My first lamb, Suzie, played with me like a puppy. 

We also had pigs when I was very little. But for some reason we sold them all. I used to follow my Uncle Joe around when he fed his pigs. So one year he gave me a runt. I named her Snorkel. Sadly she got pretty ornery when she grew up. Later my uncle gave me another little guy. I brought him home in a shoe box and named him Pigga. He was very smart and learned tricks. Tony took a bunch of pictures of him.

We also always had chickens. Mom loved chickens. I did not. I was frightfully scared of the roosters. But each year mom would get baby chicks. They were so cute. Mom would keep them warm with a heat lamp. I still remember the smell of the babies ad their food under the warm lamps. Mom didn’t just get the typical hens but got some more exotic and fancy ones. Some had plumes on their heads. My favorites were big, fluffy ones with feathers down their legs that made them look like cowboys. 

We also had some ducks and geese from time to time. They too were super cute as babies. It was amazing to watch them hatch. They’d slowly peck their way out and wobble around. But they soon could swim, play and suddenly drop their head to the side fast asleep. The last goose I remember was her pet, Goosey. She thought the lamp that kept her warm was her mother. She loved that lamp but eventually pecked the shade apart. She followed mom around the yard. In fact she’s the only one of all our poultry that was allowed out in the yard. 

When I was in high school we sold all the dairy cattle and switched totally to beef. They were easier to care for since they didn’t need to be milked. We had Herefords who are cute as teddy bears. In summer the calves would just be out with their moms but in winter they needed to be in a pen. At chore time we’d open the gate and off they run to their mothers. The calves would nurse until the mother weaned them or we separated them. That was quite a noisy ordeal. The calves would moo until they were hoarse. The mothers would bellow back. 

Of course switching to beef meant we would also start showing beef cattle for 4-H. 

The first Hereford shown was Pat, Tony’s steer. He was beautiful and won grand champion. I was the first to show cattle. Princess was a sweet Holstein. Unfortunately not a perfect specimen but I loved her. She and Pat were friends even with his long horns. Also as luck would have it Princess was in heat on show day which made her quite rowdy and hard for a little girl to handle. 

Prior to showing cattle Tony and Emily showed sheep. I tried it once but here too my very tame little lamb was in heat on show day. I practically rode her into the ring crying all the way. Emily starting showing dairy and was fortunate to have two beauties, Dixie and then Pixie. Both won trips to the State Fair. I struggled boys choosing the cute and friendliest but not always the best in breed. My favorite of all was Pollyanna. She was like a big teddy bear. I won showmanship with her but no State Fair trip. Next I showed a steer and won a trip to the Junior Livestock Show in South St. Paul. But the best was Mincher, a real beautiful steer. We always groomed our Herefords by wetting them down and curling their hair up. To keep him firm and not too fat I would run with him across the field and back morning and evening. He won grand champion! That year Tony was helping the judge. He hid the only purple rosette at the bottom of ribbon basket and pulled it out when Mincher won.

I finally did win a trip to the State Fair with Rosa. She was a twin. Her brother, Rolf, was born with one undeveloped leg. We propped him up on a straw bale to eat and the vet put a cast on his leg. But his leg didn’t improve so we had to ship him. Often with twins the females are sterile. So sadly Rosa also had to go after I showed her. Back to Pollyanna. She had a couple calves. The first was a premie. He was so tiny, no bigger than our dog, Tippy. But the saddest of all was when I was a sophomore in college and got a letter from mom telling me that Pollyanna had a cancerous tumor and had to be shipped. My heart still aches as I think about it. 

We did have other projects and many activities in 4-H.  4-H played a big part of life on the farm. I believe that it was through 4-H that I learned not only about the projects I took but mainly how to be a leader and how to handle my shyness. I did well in cooking, home improvement, gardening and horticulture as well as the animals. Of course mom was a “ master gardener.” I learned so much from her. I won trips to the State Fair with my garden but always came in second in fruit. The family that won still runs a truck farm today. 

Perhaps one of my biggest challenges was giving my first demonstration. I showed the proper way to make a bed using my little doll bed. I cried all the way through it. As much as it hurt mom to watch she insisted that no one go help me. I made it through friends and family watching. My brother, sister and aunt were probably suffering more than I was. But that was the first of many demonstrations and speeches I’d went on to give throughout my life. s.

The view from the back of the barn on the upper level is still one of my favorite images. When you stood there in the evening and looked out over what I called the clover field, you could look down the sloping hill toward the swamp. Now to a lot of folks the idea of a swamp might not seem so beautiful but to me it was and is peaceful and picturesque. I can hear a whippoorwill or a bob white and feel a soft breeze. Whenever asked to find my quiet place I put myself there, in the back of the barn on our beloved farm.

The swamp actually stretched all across our farm from north to south. It took space that would have been better if it provided a nice pasture. Some years especially in the spring, it would fill with water. But usually it was just a bit squishy. The grasses in it were tall and sharp and could cut the cows teats. Not a pleasant situation for the cows or for the person milking them. On the path to the pasture there was a land bridge with a culvert under it. This leads to my next chapter.

After years of praying and pleading for a horse, my dad bought Buck for me one Christmas. Buck was a big, beautiful, buckskin quarter horse. I remember once when riding Buck home from the pasture he decided to jump the water instead of taking the bridge. Wow! Speaking of Buck, he was my first horse and totally had my heart. He was so smart and talented but could be difficult to ride. He could dance and show off. He would wrap his head around me and give me hug. But he would also turn and go back home whenever he felt like it and often I couldn’t control him. He would also boss the cows around. 

Once while he was eating at the manger with the cows he starting nipping the cows in the back so that they would move. Usually they did except for Big Whitey who just kept lowering her back and went right on eating. Buck’s pleasure in rounding up the cattle and bringing them home on a full gallop was his demise. Dad finally said we had to let him go. I was crushed but dad said I could trade him for a mare with foal. That helped me say good bye to Buck. I still tear up though when I remember the look Buck gave me as they loaded him on the truck. I ran up into the hay mow and cried. My brother came to comfort me but that look still haunts me.

My next horse was M’ Lady. She was a small bay pacer. She was blind in one eye and was with foal which made me very excited with the idea of a baby to have as my own. It turned out she wasn’t with foal but she was pretty and gentler than Buck. However being a pacer she was hard to sit. Her gaits would change and I would lose the rhythm. I fell off her quite a few times and finally dad said that I couldn’t ride her without the saddle. I wanted to get a buggy for her but that never happened. She stayed on the farm after I left for college and I eventually moved to Minneapolis. Since I was no longer around to ride her we gave her to a neighbor girl. (I still have my saddle.)

As I said earlier our house started out as two connected homes. You went through our big living room into my grandparents dining room and on into their house. After that part was torn off, dad remodeled the living room adding a big picture window and an open arch to our dining room. 

Grandma‘s dining room became mom and dad’s bedroom. Their old bedroom became a guest Room that grandma Shimota used when she stayed with us. Eventually that room became mom’s sewing room and laundry room. We kids slept upstairs. The stairway was enclosed and very narrow and steep. Emily and I shared a big bedroom. Luckily I had the side with the only heat vent. Tony had a small bedroom next to our huge attic. The hall above the stairs was used as a guest room and storage area. 

The kitchen was very small but mom amazingly could cook food for a whole thrashing crew and for huge family gatherings. One of my favorite meals was on Thanksgiving. We always hd the Rochelle family over. They had eight kids. Steve, the oldest, was a year older than Tony. Then Greg the same age as Tony. Sue next was a year younger than Emily and then Pam a year younger than me. (Pam and I will be soul mates forever). Next came Monica and the three little boys, James, Kevin and Lance. Their dad, Bernard, and our dad, Bernard, had grown up next to each other as had their grandfathers. Our parents and Bernard and Betty were the best of friends. Our families shared many good times and I cherish the lovely memories.

Back to the house. The basement was originally just a dug out with stairs leading down through a trap door. After it was remodeled there was a place for mom to do the washing. There was also a small room o store all the canned goods and a huge garage area to park the car as well as the tractor in the winter. Although we had a new furnace we always heated the basement with an old wood stove in the winter. One of our jobs was to bring in wood from the big woodshed in the back yard. 

It always saddened me that the front porch had to be torn off and we just had stoop. But mom turned the area left into a flower garden. She had flowers all over! 

Our yard was huge. Mowing lawn was often a 2 day job. But oh was it pretty. Mom had flowers in numerous places. Roses, lilacs, pansies, iris, day lilies, etc. There was a big elm in the center of the driveway. Cars could drive in a circle around it. It was also great for biking around. Tony and Emily each had a bike. I had a small bike. But when I out grew it I used Tony’s bike. In the front yard was a beautiful big maple. It was on that tree that dad hung my swing which was a concession for not having my own bike. In the winter we would slide down the hill from the maple to the driveway. We would also slide down the hill from the barn, past the pump house and on into the driveway. Or.....if the cow yard gate was open around into there dodging frozen cow pies.

On the east side of the driveway circle stood the granary. It had a corn crib on one side, a garage in the middle, and a shop area on the other. Next to and above the shop area were three grain bins. The upper ones had a stairway and chutes to let the grain down. We’d attach gunny sacks to the chutes and let the grain fall in to fill them. The dust from the grain could get pretty bad. Mom or I usually pushed it down because the dust bothered us the least. Dad, Emily and Tony all had allergies. On a farm that can pretty miserable. 

Between the granary and the cow yard stood the chicken coop. Although over the years in housed many different animals. Pigs, sheep, young-stock, and my horses. Dad built a special stall for Buck. In the center of the building which by then had been made into two pens. The yard outside the coop was the sandstone until dad hauled it off to the pasture. 

Later dad built a new machine shed up on the hill west of the barn. Then a pole barn and eventually a new garage. He moved his shop stuff and tools there and put in a stove. He kept the tractor and his truck in there and mom put her car in the basement. The old machine shed was still up there but not used for much. Many farms include a variety of out buildings, new and old. I can’t forget to mention the pump house that stood under the old windmill. We kept a tin cup hanging inside and would drink the coldest and most refreshing water directly up from the well. Fantastic!

Our yard surrounded the house. The little woods, as we called it, was just west of the house. It was a wild area with grapes, lilacs and roses. I remember picnicking out there on a blanket with mom. Sandwiches and koolaid on a blanket. The front yard was pretty but we spent more time in the back. Dad built a fireplace and a picnic table. We hosted many events out there. I always dreamed that I wanted to get married in our yard. And....that’s exactly what I did. We had the ceremony in the little woods with family, the dogs and my horse in the nearby field. Then the reception was in the backyard. It was perhaps the most diverse celebration ever held in Chisago County. It was beautiful. I even wore my mother’s wedding dress and my brother in law performed the ceremony. 

I can’t overlook the gardens. Mom had fruit trees (apple, cherry, plum), a large raspberry patch behind the woodshed, strawberries, grapes on the windmill and our huge vegetable garden next to the driveway. I loved helping in the garden. It was not easy keeping it weed-free but it looked so nice after weeding and cultivating. However by late summer it was impossible to keep it looking good. Mom knew that and planted flowers around the edges that grew up and hid the overgrown garden. Harvesting was great! We ate fresh fruit and vegetables and mom froze a lot so we could eat them all winter. In fact berries and cream seemed like a natural part of the meal.