Shawano County’s Brunch on the Farm, being held this Sunday at Nohr’s Cornerstone Dairy in Marion, is owned and operated by Terry and Dianne Nohr and family. I have a vested interest in this particular Brunch on the Farm as Terry and Dianne are my dear brother and sister-in-law, and they work and nurture the farm I grew up on. If you’re at the brunch and happen to see me, stop and say hello and introduce yourself! I’d love to meet you. I’ll be there all day. Whenever I come out to “The Farm” as my sisters and I affectionately call it, my heart swells with pride, bringing me to grateful tears. Generation upon generation worked this farm, and they, in turn, handed it down to my brother and now his children after him. The Nohr farm was purchased by my great-grandparents, August and Augusta Nohr, in 1905. Augusta Johanna S. Geppner married August Michael Herman Nohr on April 24, 1887. They were members of St. John’s Lutheran Church, Marion, establishing a long-standing membership at St. John’s that continued for generations. The couple raised six children. One of their children, (my grandpa) George Herman Nohr, purchased the home farm in 1919. Before farming however, he was a logger and drove a six-horse plow in North Dakota. Coming back to Wisconsin, he purchased a cheese factory in the Phlox area, fell in love and married a pretty, auburn-haired Deerbrook school teacher named Vita E. Young. They sold the cheese factory and consequently took over the Nohr Family Farm, farming until 1961, when their only child, Gordon Lee Nohr (my dad), took over. Gordon married my mom, Doris Laverne Radke, on June 3, 1942. After the wedding they moved into the farm house with my dad’s parents. Together they had five children, Colin Marshal, who passed away shortly after he was born (11/25/48 – 12/48), Beth Ann, Kay Ann (me), and twins Terry Lee and Sherry Lyn. Mom and Dad owned the farm until they sold it to their only son, my brother, in 1984. Terry has since expanded the farm operation. As I walked into the barn one morning to ask my brother yet another question regarding the informational article, I was overwhelmed with nostalgia. Even after all the changes he’s made, the structure of the milking barn is relatively the same. Looking around where I had spent so much of my childhood, I reminisced. Terry had always been one to try to make things easier. When we were just kids we happened to be cleaning out a big calf pen together one day. I started to shake baled straw apart in the pen with a three-tined fork. “Wait, Kay!” he hollered. “Watch this!” And he proceeded to persuade the animals to do the work, making them go round and round the pen, trampling through the straw, spreading it out in no time without a bit of effort from either one of us. That was just the start of my brother seeking ways to simplify the work effort, and he’s taken it far beyond spreading bedding in a pen full of calves. Growing up on the farm I realized my formative years gave me more of an education than any school I attended. We had something solid and sure, parents that loved us and loved each other. After spending close to 67 years together, they went home to Jesus just four short months apart. Through the examples lived by the generations before them, they, in turn, taught us to be respectful and grateful and humble and helpful. We shared the hard work side-by-side, sometimes fighting, many times laughing, but always together. My brother is carrying on that great tradition with his own family, this solid heritage stemming from generation to generation. Terry is a man of his word and works hard, giving God the glory for every breath he takes and every good thing he has been given, respectfully caretaking the land he’s been blessed with, not owning it. He had the foresight to choose the best possible helpmate whom God put in his path to share life, love and raise children together. Our dear Dianne, my sisters’ and my “other” sister, complements our brother perfectly and is precious in our sight. Through my tears I can see Dad with his endearing crooked grin and a spark of admiration and pride shining through his baby-blue eyes, looking down over the wide expanse the farm has evolved into. Thanks, Terry, for all your hard work and dedication. I’m so proud of you. I love you, my brother. (“For in Scripture it says, ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious Cornerstone, and the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame.” 1Peter 2:6)
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