Aunt Lou, Uncle Dick document the Ezra Hohulin Family

The Hohulin-Meyer Family Heritage is an excerpt from the Dick Hohulin family history book titled ‘God’s Plan for Our Family: My Memoir – ElmaLou (Anliker) Hohulin with Richard M. Hohulin. It was written for our four sons and their families so the text addresses them.

Hohulin-Meyer Family Heritage

Hohulin Family Heritage

Your Great-Grandpa Hohulin was an ‘inventor’. He and his brothers designed the Hohulin fences. Their first patent was granted in 1901, and there are at least two other patents, maybe more.

Hohulin Brothers Old Office Today’s Hohulin Fence Company office.

Sometime after establishing the business in Goodfield, Illinois, your great-grandpa decided he would prefer being a farmer so he sold his share in the business to his brothers, and bought three farms in three different states. He settled his family in Minnesota. Unfortunately, during the depression, he lost all three farms, and eventually moved back to Illinois. That’s why there is a saying ‘there are rich Hohulins and poor Hohulins’. So, you won’t ever inherit stock in the company, but just remember you had a really smart great-grandpa. 

After moving back to Illinois, your great-grandpa earned his living by mowing lawns and then, he began work at the Caterpillar Tractor Company and continued working there until retirement.

This picture of Tim Hohulin, Ezra Hohulin and Bob Hohulin was taken and appeared in the Company paper to show three generations of Hohulins who all worked at Caterpillar Tractor Company. 2nd photo: Dad and his cousin, Alph with your great-grandpa.

Meyer Family Heritage

This is the Meyer farm outside of Bern, Kansas where Dad’s mother was born. His Aunt Sarah, Aunt Amanda and Uncle Roy stayed on the farm until they went into nursing homes. Dad and his brother, Fred, took turns spending summers working with Uncle Roy on the Farm. 

Although Dad and Fred worked while there, they also enjoyed times of riding horseback, hunting and spending time with their Meyer cousins. Dad showed what a great marksman he was when he shot a skunk…he is proudly holding it up for everyone to see in the photo below.

Dad has frequently talked about how much love his aunts showed to them. But he has also mentioned that he and his cousins sometimes found them irritating when he and his cousins were going out to have fun on Saturday nights. His Aunt Sarah would always stand at the door, and call out “Be good, boys.” One time Dad said to his cousins “They always say ‘be good, boys!’ why can’t they say ‘have fun, boys’, and one of the cousins said to Dad “It ain’t gonna happen, Dick.” To this day, Dad can still hear that voice.

In the first photo below Dad is shown with Grandma Rosina. Aunt Amanda, Uncle Roy, Aunt Sarah, and Aunt Sopha, the oldest in the family, are pictured in the second photo.

Grandma Rosina was born in Bern, Switzerland and moved to Bern, Kansas. Her maiden name was Meier, and she married a Meyer. They had many children and according to Dad, he had cousins by the dozens. His Grandpa Meyer was a horse trader and was killed by a horse that kicked him. 

We usually stopped to visit the aunts and Uncle Roy at the beginning and the end of our furloughs. There were always lots of hugs and kisses…on arrival, before bedtime, before breakfast and when leaving. Lots of visiting relatives, and usually a visit to the cemetery to see the graves of the departed relatives.

Ezra Hohulin Family

Grandpa Hohulin with his brother, Silas 

The meeting of Ezra Hohulin and Marie Meyer

Grandpa and Grandma Hohulin (Marie Meyer) 

Dad wrote the following story about how his parents, your Grandpa and Grandma Hohulin, met.

My Mom was born in a farm-house near Bern, Kansas. She had 5 brothers and 4 sisters. (This explains why I have so many cousins.) Her father was killed when he was kicked by one of his horses.

My grandmother, Rosina Meyer, stayed on the Meyer farm.
Early in the 1920s, my father, Ezra, left his father’s farm in Minnesota to work for a farmer in Kansas. (The Plot Thickens.)

One day, a friend of Dad’s was invited to a party held by the Meyer young adults. So, this friend told Dad to come along. At first, Dad didn’t want to go along, and said, “But I don’t know anyone there.” His friend said, “Oh come on Ezra. You’ll enjoy it.” So, Dad said, “Ok.”

At the party, everyone sat in a huge circle around the parlor as they played games and sang songs. Dad noticed a Very Attractive Young Lady across the room, and he couldn’t keep his eyes off of her. And her responding glances were more than casual.

Then it was time to eat, one of the hosts said to the male guests, “There are 10 of you who are our guests. So, I’m giving each of you a piece of paper with a number on it between 1 and 10.

We’ve given the women hosts and guests one number each. So, you young men, find the young lady who has your matching number. She will be the one you will sit next to during the meal.”

So, my ‘future Dad’ walked across the room and held out his “ticket” to the young lady and said, “My number is 6.” And my ‘future Mom’ said, “That’s my number too.” Then Dad said, “My name is Ezra Hohulin.” And my ‘future Mom’ said, “My name is Marie Meyer.” So, Dad sat down and they shared the meal together. It was “Love at First Bite!”

The Six Children

Six children were born to Ezra and Marie Hohulin: Robert (Bob), Rosemarie, Richard (Dick), Frederick (Fred), James (Jim) and Vera.

Dad’s Mom with Bob, Rosemarie, your Dad, Fred and Jim in Kansas.

Dad’s Mom died in childbirth when his sister, Vera, was born. Dad was nine years old at the time. His Mom’s sister, Sarah Meyer, had come to Illinois to be with his Mom when she gave birth, and she remained to take care of the family of six. After a year, his Aunt Sarah had to return to Kansas to take care of her mother, his grandmother Rosina. Then, Dad’s sister, Dorothy (Aunt Dort), came to live with them.

The photos above were taken when Dad and I visited your Grandpa and Aunt Dort at the Apostolic Assisted Living Home in Peoria, Illinois. The Home was known as the ‘Cadillac of Assisted Living Homes’ – it was very well managed; rooms and shared areas were attractive and well-maintained. Aunt Dort had a tremendous sense of humor, and loved all of her nieces and nephews, but was especially attached to your Dad’s family because of caring for them for a year and half after Aunt Sarah had to return to care for her mother, Grandma Meyer.

Dad tells one funny story about when Aunt Dort was caring for them. She was an immaculate housekeeper, and proud of it. Well, when Grandpa Hohulin was beginning to think about marrying again, it was decided to have a ‘singing’. This was a form of entertainment among Apostolic Christians. People were invited into a home where refreshments were served and they sang hymns all evening. But back to the story, a group had been invited, perhaps with the idea that there might be some single woman among them who would be a suitable marriage partner for Grandpa Hohulin.

At some point during the evening, Aunt Dort’s sister, Jewell, was complimenting Aunt Dort about what a wonderful housekeeper she was, and she reached down and pulled up the corner of a small rug to show how clean the floor was. But lo and behold, there were some kernels of corn under the rug. Everyone burst out laughing. No one, but Dad, knew how they had gotten under that rug. Earlier in the day, after Aunt Dort had carefully cleaned, Dad was sitting in that same chair, and discovered some kernels of corn in the cuff of his pant leg. He removed them and placed them under the rug. I don’t think he confessed, instead, he allowed Aunt Dort to lose her incredible reputation.

Additions to the family

After about two years, Dad’s father met and married Marie Thomas. It’s amazing to me that a single woman of 32 was willing to marry a man with six kids. To me, she seemed to have the gift of managing and organizing. As a step-mother, she provided a comfortable and stable home life for the family. 

Wedding dinner of Grandpa Ezra and Grandma Mary 

Grandma Mary and her sister, Rose, co-owned the house on 312 Frye Ave. in Peoria. After Grandpa and Grandma were married, they bought the sister’s ‘half’ of the house. The photos above were taken in front of the house. Later, Mary Jeanette and Alice Ann joined the family. The older children welcomed these sisters, and they became a close-knit set of siblings.

Mary Jeanette Alice Ann  Mary J and Alice 

Alice and Mary with Dad and Mom 

Aunt Rosemarie

MY SISTER ROSEMARIE

Recently, Lou and I were talking about my sister Rosemarie.
We both said that Rosemarie was beautiful in two ways.
She was beautiful physically and spiritually.

I remember how proud I was of Rosemarie as we walked to high school together. She was a Real Beauty!

My friends who met her for the first time were aware of this too. I remember the time she visited me when I was a student at the American Academy of Art in Chicago. We had spent the weekend together and on Monday, she came with me to school in order to visit one of my classes.

The next day when I returned to class, a classmate of mine, said, “Dick, was that really your sister?” When I said yes, he replied, “Dick! You’re going to be rich!” I asked him, “How do you figure that, John?” He replied, “Your sister is absolutely beautiful! You can paint her and sell reproductions of your painting for advertisements. She’ll become a famous model like the Gibson girls were.

Besides being physically beautiful, Rosemarie was a beautiful Christian. Her enthusiastic commitment to serving God and supporting missions was boundless.

It was a very sad day when Rosemarie was tragically killed when the driver of a stolen vehicle, being chased by the police, raced through a red light and broadsided her car. At her funeral, Rosemary’s son-in-law gave the message, and her son sang a tribute song. Each of us brothers and sisters spoke of her love and spiritual beauty. I remember at the time, I had trouble comprehending the promise of Romans 8:28 that tells us “We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.”

(Since that time, I’ve come to believe that the word “Ultimately” is implied information at the beginning of this verse, i.e. “Ultimately… all things work together for good.)

Family members and relatives were not the only ones who were blessed by Rosemarie’s beautiful faith and love. The day after the funeral, a daily South Bend newspaper featured the testimonies of many friends and former recipients of Rosemarie’s nursing care. They shared the many ways their lives had been blessed by her faith and love. What a wonderful person Rosemarie was, physically and spiritually! What a Legacy she left us!

The Hohulin Men

Grandpa Hohulin and his four sons all had excellent character – men of integrity, kindness, consideration of others, and were and are loving husbands, fathers, and grandfathers. Your Dad exemplified the Christian character that I saw in each of these men. I am happy that I have lived to see these same character traits in you, our sons, and grandsons, and hopefully will be evident in the character of our great grandsons.

Although Dad had close and good relationships with all of his siblings, he was closest to Aunt Rosemarie and Uncle Fred because he was between them in birth order. As a result, they spent more time together in and out of school. Also, Dad and Uncle Fred were together throughout the time of their military service.

Grandpa and Grandma Anliker and Grandpa and Grandma Hohulin on our wedding day, January 8, 1956.

1974-1976 – Furlough years

Visiting Grandpa Hohulin

Renee, Josh, and Renee’s parents, the Fairfields; and Aunt Mary