Eunice Genevieve Muller

Eunice G. (Moeller) Muller’s life story, as written by Eunice. I was born on June 10, 1925, to Kathryn Dorfmeyer and Emil Moeller in Hooper, Nebraska. My mother, Katie Moeller, passed away while giving birth to my sister Kathryn, just after my fourth birthday. Grandma Dorfmeyer took Kathryn into her home in Hooper and raised her. The only memory I have of my of mother is seeing her lying in her coffin in the front bedroom of the house on our farm about 4 miles east of Scribner. I was baptized on July 1, 1925. I remember that I broke my arm while living on the farm. They say I crawled up on the highchair to get a drink of water and the highchair tipped over. I also remember one time when my brother LaVern had his friends come over. They went hunting, which left my brother Merlin and I to make dinner. This was when I caught, killed, and cleaned my very first chicken. We didn’t know what parts to keep and what parts to throw away. Often, we didn’t have much to eat. I know we took sugar sandwiches to school, and we walked there most of the time. I can recall when our Uncle Henry Moeller gave us a ride with a team of horses and a wagon during a blizzard. Dad had a farm sale in the early 1930s and put his money into a trucking business with Alvin Uehling. They made a few hauls and then lost the money. My sister Helen married Edgar Schulenberg in July of 1935. This was about when the rest of us kids were split up and sent to different homes to go to school and to work. We didn’t see much of each other until after we were all married. Some of the places I stayed were with Henry Moeller, Anna Sass, and Harold Sass. I was staying with Emil Nuburs when I went to parochial school six miles east of Hooper. I was confirmed May 1, 1938 by Ernest Eckhardt at Emmanuel Lutheran church. I graduated eighth grade on May 5, 1938. By the way, it seemed to me like I had already been in an orphanage even before I went to stay with Nuburs, because I had lived in so many places. They had an adopted son my age and we used to hitchhike together those 6 miles to school. I attended Scribner High School for just one semester while staying with Harold Sass but decided to leave school to work full time. I went to work for Adolph Mueller, Henry Mueller and Erwin Mueller. There I worked really hard for them, and my wages were three dollars a week. Then came a chance to go to work in Omaha. The work was easier, and I earned about seven dollars a week. This is where I was when Wilbur Muller came back from California to tell me he was going into the service. We were married on December 28, 1942. I went to see him in Denver, Tuscon, Wichita Falls, and Kansas. I hocked my watch to get the train fare. After Wilbur went overseas, I stayed with Edgar and Helen and at Edgar’s folks. At that time, I was pregnant with Jim. He was born on August 3, 1944 at Fremont Hospital. Edgar and Helen dropped me off at the hospital and I was there for 10 days. I recall that Jim and I slept upstairs at their house, and I heated his formula in a little pan over a lamp. In 1945, Jim and I moved to Bennington to keep house for Herman Knutzen until Wilbur was discharged from the service in 1946. Wilbur, Jim and I lived in an apartment in Scribner for a short time, then moved to Everet Schultz’s house just east of Scribner. Then we moved into a filling station just south of Bennington. Wilbur took over the gas business from Herman Knutzen. We paid fifteen dollars a month rent and had to haul in our water. I also remember that appliances were hard to get. We drove a 1939 Ford at this time. Dianne was born while we lived here, on January 19, 1948. In the spring we moved into a rental house in Bennington and then bought a house on the corner for $4,200. Jim got his kicks by running away from home. Even though I tied a rope from his suspenders to the clothesline, he would slip his pants off and disappear. I also remember having the mumps while we lived there. We received $2,000 from Grandma Dorfmeyer’s estate at this time. A new sewing machine was one of the things we bought. In 1953 we built a new home in Bennington, right next door to the north. I believe we paid $500 for the lot. I was pregnant with Marcia at that time and in February of 1956, Connie was born. Wilbur and I did a lot of bowling in Fremont, Blair, and Elkhorn, and sometimes on the same league. At this time, we took Marcia and Connie to Vegas. We went to see Dean Martin at a $10/person dinner show. Eunice died at the age of 99 years, 8 months, and 17 days. She was preceded in death by her parents, Emil and Kathryn; husband, Wilbur; son, Jim; son-in-law, Bill Grant; and siblings: Helen, Kathryn, LaVern, and Merlin. She is survived by her daughters: Dianne (Curt) Frye, Marcia (Steve) Thiessen, and Connie (Ed) Rockwell; 11 grandchildren and several great and great-great grandchildren. A visitation will be held from 5-7pm on Monday, March 3, 2025 at Reichmuth Funeral Home. A memorial service will be held at 10am on Tuesday, March 4, 2025 at Zion Lutheran Church. Memorials may be directed to American Legion Baseball or Zion Lutheran Church.

Eunice Genevieve Muller

June 10, 1925 - February 27, 2025