August 7, 2024 – Hartford, WI – “I was cute,” said Gertie Werner as she held a long-lost photo of herself as a baby. Gertie was sitting at her kitchen table in Hartford pouring over old wedding photos and recalling memories from the last 100 years.
On Thursday, August 8, 2024, Gertie, who grew up in Huilsburg, Wi, in neighboring Dodge County, Wi, will celebrate birthday No. 101.
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“I was the third child born to Hugo and Alma Hagen,” said Gertie, who was one of 9 kids in the family. Seven girls and two boys.
Born on a farm, Gertie went to Huilsburg and Rubicon school until the 8th grade and at 18 she went to work for the next seven years at the shoe factory in Hartford. “I cut the soles,” she said.
There were many memories about growing up on the farm including getting electricity, using an outdoor toilet and picking mustard weed out of the field. “When they planted grain, they would have mustard weed. So, us girls would go out every morning and we would clean the fields. We finally got rid of the mustard weed. That took a lot of effort…. but we did,” said Gertie.
In June of 1948 Gertie married Herbert Werner. “We met at Dave’s Bowling Alley,” she said. “I was in a bowling league, and he was at the bar.”
Asked to describe the moment she first saw him, Gertie said, “He was appealing to me.”
Gertie and her sister Millie got married in a double wedding. “We got our dresses at Edith’s in Fond du Lac,” she said. Gertie married Herbert and Millie married Clarence Schnorenberg.
The wedding was at St. Kilian Church. The photographer was Krueger Studio in Hartford. The reception… “We had a meal at the school,” she said. “The dance was at the Schwartz (Chandelier) Ballroom.”
Gertie and Herbert bought a house on Main Street in Hartford and had five children. “We had a lot of cookouts on the grill,” she said.
Gertie recalled a blessed life with a big garden. “One year I canned almost 70 quarts of tomatoes,” she said.
She enjoyed trips up north to the cabin, loves to crochet, and can cook enough to feed an army. “I loved to make chili,” said Gertie. “With noodles….”
Shopping was done primarily at the Sentry and on the north side Schwartz’s Meat Market. The department store with everything was JC Penny and frequent stops were made at Rexall Drug Store. “And I never drove,” said Gertie. “Never got my license. Just never had an interest… can you imagine that?”
These days Gertie enjoys a good game of Sheepshead or Solitaire. Her hearing is going but she relishes time spent with family including eight grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
A party will be held at her assisted living facility in Hartford, WI, on Thursday, August 8. Gertie doubts there will be 101 candles on the cake, because “the fire department wouldn’t allow it.”
Please join us in wishing Gertie a Happy Birthday.
