The Moe Years, 1956-1966
The Moe
family wth nine of the ten children.
The
Moe family was living in a house by the Root River
on Cold Spring Road when they were forced to move to make way for the
new Root River Parkway. Gerald and Louise Moe had
ten
children – Eileen, Geraldine, Gerald, Marion, Margie, Cathy, Rich,
Albert, Arthur, and Ken. Eileen was already married and had moved
away, but Gerald and Louise still had nine children to shelter. The need to move and
find a big house, on the income of Gerald's employment at the Milwaukee
Journal, had put them in a
difficult situation.
The
Gutknecht, Kroening and Moe families had been friends and neighbors for
some time. Marie Kroening, who is believed to
have been the executor of the
Kerler Estate after Edward died in 1955, answered the Moes'
prayers by selling them the Kerler House for a steal of a price.
Document
supplied by Sonsheree Kroening.
This
map, superimposed over a current satellite view of the neighborhood,
shows the residences and major farm structures in the mid 1950's, right
before the land was sold to the development company and converted into
a subdivision. In 1948, John Kerler's old 1849 barn (lower right) was
torn down and its wood was used in the building of Louis Kroening's
house.
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The development company soon began
the construction of a new subdivision. The barns and other structures
were razed and the ponds drained and filled to make way for new streets
and houses. 104th Street, which used to run
straight south to Cold Spring Road, was given a slight curve to the
east so
as not to infringe on the parkway. The streets 103rd, 101st, Norwich,
and Plainfield
were put in, and houses began popping up.
The Kerler House retained a parcel
of land about 2/3rds acre in size, and received its own driveway and
address on 103rd Street. Louis and Pearl Kroening remained living in
their
lannon
stone house
at 4000 S. 104th Street, and Marie Kroening at her lannon stone house
next door at 4010. The Gutknechts were living in their new house at
4081 S. 104th Street. Marie Kroening passed away in 1958.
Aerial
photo cir. 1962. You can still see a portion of the old farm lane
running east to west, part of which became the driveway for 4045 S.
103rd Street. You can also make out 104th Street's former route, which
went
straight south to Cold Spring Road.
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Louise Moe was especially taken by
the beauty of the house and put her
own,
special touches into every room. Some of the house's woodwork was very
dark, so
a major DIY project completed by the Moe family, which endures to this
day,
was the sanding and
restaining of the stairwell and the painting of the dining room
woodwork. The stairwell received a medium stain and
the dining room was painted a deep almond color.
The
Moes also made a lot of other improvements and upgrades to the
house during their ownership, including a new septic system. This
statement signed by Martin Herold (1922-1992) is dated 1959. In 2020
dollars, $525 is worth approximately $4,600.
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In the mid 1960's,
Gerald and Louise divorced, prompting the sale of the house. They sold
the house to the Jodarski family who owned it for about a year.
It was then
sold to the Kearney family — Terence (1933-1996) Kathleen (1934-2016)
and their four children. Both the Jodarskis and
the Kearneys made significant home improvements, such as the
installation of storm
windows, new siding, and the connection to the city's sewer system. The Kearneys only owned the house
for about
two years before Terence's job required the family to move. In 1969,
they put the house on the market.
Eileen
Schroeder (Moe) and some of her
wonderful family at the
Oak Creek Lions Fest in 2018, with Tom Brusky in the background. Eileen
passed away in November,
2020, at the age of 88.
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