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Added by Judy Beernink

Dorothy Thill Degner

1910-1987
Born: Farmington, Washington, Wisconsin, United States
Died: Kewaskum, Washington, Wisconsin, United States

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  • Story: From The Paul Krell Family Book From Osburg To America 1760-2004

    <div>Taken from the Paul Krell family book&nbsp;from Osburg to&nbsp;America&nbsp;1760-2004</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Dorothy M.5 Thill (Theresa4 Krell, John3, Nicholas2, Paul1) was born February 21, 1910 in the</div><div>Town of Farmington, Washington Co., WI. She was baptized Dorotheam Margaritam Thill on Feb. 27, 1910 at</div><div>St. Michael&rsquo;s Church in the Town of Kewaskum, WI. Her sponsors were Mathias Krell and Margarita Thill.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Dorothy died January 10, 1987 in West Bend, Washington Co., WI. and was buried January 14, 1987,</div><div>Boltonville Union Cemetery, Boltonville, Washington Co., WI.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>She married Ervin August Degner November 30, 1929 in Waukegan, Lake Co., IL, son of August Degner</div><div>and Ida Oeder. He was born August 03, 1905 in West Bend, Washington Co., WI, and died March 24, 1999 in</div><div>West Bend, Washington Co.,WI. Ervin was buried in Boltonville Union Cemetery, Boltonville, Washington</div><div>Co., WI.</div><div>Dorothy ran a store in Boltonville for many years. She opened this store after her daughtes were older and she</div><div>was bored.</div><div>The first time I (Diane Krell Bentfield) met Dorothy was when I started doing genealogy. My dad (Jerome)</div><div>took me over to meet her (in her store in Boltonville) and when dad explained what I was doing, she went to</div><div>the back of her store, and brought back John Krell&rsquo;s obituary (he died in 1908) that she had hanging in the</div><div>back of her store. I was VERY impressed with that. She turned to be a very informative and helpful lady. She</div><div>had TONS of stuff in her possession. This is where I got the picures of John and Wilhelmina.</div><div>(from &ldquo;Back Roads&rdquo; in the West Bend News, dated Oct. 24, 1981, written by Tom Lyons)</div><div>General store to become only a symbol of Boltonville&rsquo;s past</div><div>Dorothy Degner&rsquo;s general store will close its doors permanently next Saturday after serving this crossroads&rsquo;</div><div>community for more than 30 years.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Mrs. Degner&rsquo;s advanced years and fragile health are no longer a match for the demands of running a store,</div><div>even a small one, seven days a week and up to 11 hours a day.</div><div>The store&rsquo;s passing will mark its transition into another symbol of Boltonville&rsquo;s yesteryears, when people</div><div>danced at the Modern Woodmen&rsquo;s Hall, swam in the Boltonville pond, and bought beer at 10 cents a bucket</div><div>from any of the three taverns.</div><div>In the front of the nameless, old, white clapboard store, a Texaco pump that still serves up gas is leaning back</div><div>on its heels and surveying the quiet street called Bolton Road. It used to be the main road through Boltonville</div><div>before State 144 passed by the outskirts of the</div><div>town in the northeastern-most reaches of</div><div>Washington County.</div><div>Inside the store, short narrow aisles leave just</div><div>enough room to walk. The shelves offer canned</div><div>goods, packaged foods and a variety of hardware</div><div>odds and ends. A large, multi-doored, wooden</div><div>icebox in the back has been converted into a</div><div>cooler with a compressor.</div><div>Katherine Dickmann, Mrs. Degner&rsquo;s daughter, is</div><div>running a going-out-of-business sale Boltonville</div><div>style. No big ads, no banners, no balloons. Just a</div><div>small cardboard sign on a glass display case that</div><div>announces Oct. 31 as the last day of business.</div><div>&ldquo;You should see the long faces when they come</div><div>in and see the sign,&rdquo; said Cecilia Herman, 70,</div><div>who helps out at the store occasionally.</div><div>Herman and Dickman, both life-long residents,</div><div>reminisce about the way things used to be. An occasional customer drifts into the store, punctuating the conversation.</div><div>Both women remember a cheese factory that used to stand behind the modern fire station across the street</div><div>from the general store.</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>They remember the dances and school plays at the Modern Woodmen&rsquo;s Hall.</div><div>Herman, who has a couple decades on Dickman, recalls seeing medicine</div><div>shows at the hall in which hawkers would peddle their wares from the stages</div><div>and the aisles. A pull-down curtain carried advertising by the local merchants.</div><div>Herman and Dickman both got their schooling in the two-story cream-colored</div><div>brick building next to the hall.</div><div>In Herman&rsquo;s school days the classes were small, and they were smaller by</div><div>the time Dickman was in school.</div><div>&ldquo;Harold Gilford and I were the only two people in the eighth grade,&rdquo; says</div><div>Dickman. The Gilford she refers to is the son of Edna Gilford who runs</div><div>Edna&rsquo;s Tap, located right near the ballfield and a stone&rsquo;s throw from the firehouse.</div><div>Things have changed a lot since this crossroads along Stony Creek was settled</div><div>in 1854 and named after Harlow Bolton, a pioneer settler in the area. A</div><div>sawmill was built. Then came a gristmill, which Bolton and another early</div><div>settler built on the bank of the creek.</div><div>Next came the church, and the taverns and the blacksmith shop and the other</div><div>buildings and enterprises that make the skeleton of a community.</div><div>But the flesh and blood of a community is its people, and the people in Boltonville have strong roots.</div><div>&ldquo;They move away and get married, and then they come back,&rdquo; says Dickman, gesturing toward a young</div><div>woman who just left the store. Born and raised in Boltonville, Dickman also left for a short time when she</div><div>married and then returned with her husband, Ervin Erwin, who runs the gas station nearby on State 144.</div><div>[Note: Ervin was Dickman&rsquo;s father, Ervin Degner, not her husband]</div><div>The years have changed Boltonville.</div><div>But today, there are still patterns of behavior from a less hectic and more trusting time when Mrs. Degner&rsquo;s</div><div>general store carried everything from clothes to produce and a neighbor&rsquo;s promise to pay was as good as cash.</div><div>&ldquo;There are still people who pay every two weeks,&rdquo; says Dickman.</div><div>Physical reminders of the past are also abundant in Boltonville.</div><div>&nbsp;A bell from the old fire station hangs next to the stations&rsquo; modern replacement.</div><div>&nbsp;A rusty, hand-operated gas pump in front of a boarded-up auto repair shop would still draw up gas if called</div><div>upon to do so.</div><div>The school building houses families instead of students.</div><div>&nbsp;Modern Woodmen&rsquo;s Hall is a storage warehouse.</div><div>Mrs. Degner&rsquo;s general store stands ready to quietly join the other local landmarks in the pages of Boltonville</div><div>history.&nbsp;</div><div>&nbsp;</div><div>Children of Dorothy Thill and Ervin Degner are:</div><div>+ 294 i. June Ann6 Degner, born June 1930 in Boltonville, Washington Co., WI.</div><div>+ 295 ii. Audrey Jane Degner, born August &nbsp;1931 in Boltonville, Washington Co., WI.</div><div>+ 296 iii. Kathleen Mary Degner, born &nbsp;1937 in Boltonville, Washington Co., WI.</div><div>+ 297 iv. Mary Ellen Degner, born October 1940 in Boltonville, WI</div><div><br></div>

 
 
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