George Bader and I, Irwina Herbig, were married December 24, 1939, at Worms, Nebraska. We have lived on the same farm in Loup Township,four miles south of Palmer, all our married lives.
George is the son of John L. and Elizabeth Bader, also natives of Merrick County. In fact, George has lived within a radius of two and a half miles in Merrick County all his life. He attended school in District #45, Merrick County, the same school that our two sons, Gary and Dean, later attended.
George was baptized and confirmed in Zion Lutheran Church at Worms and presently he and I are members of St. John’s Lutheran Church at Palmer, Nebraska.
I was born to Ralph and Gladys Herbig at Marquette, Nebraska. Later we moved to Howard County where I graduated from St. Paul High School and later from Kearney State Teacher’s College in 1970. Our oldest son, Gary, married Connie Bremer and they farm and own a cow/calf operation. Dean graduated from Manhattan Veterinary College in Kansas in 1968. He and Ida Tuma were married in 1971 and he now owns and operates a small animal hospital in Carson, California.
George and I farmed until 1966. We raised turkeys, cattle, hogs, chickens, sheep, com and small grain. George was a 4-H leader during the years when our boys were active in that club. After Gary took over the farming in 1966, George began working for Farmer’s Co-operative Association in Palmer until 1979 when he retired.
I taught rural schools in Howard County and Merrick County from 1934-1939. In 1963 I began working as a teacher’s aid in District #19, Gage Valley. In 1966 I began teaching full time until 1979. During my teaching years I taught three of our four grandchildren in the fourth grade in Palmer Public School.
George and I love to travel. During the years we took summer vacations throughout many of the forty-eight states. After we retired in 1979, we began travelling quite extensively. In the fall of 1979 we took an oversea’s trip to Europe and Nigeria, Africa. The past two winters we have spent in California and southwestern Arizona.
When spring comes we are anxious to return to our home in Merrick County to see our grandchildren and dear friends once again.
Submitted by George and Irwina Bader