Ernest was born to Frederick and Irene LeFevere Schick on August 6, 1914 at Newberg, Oregon.  He was baptized in the First Christian Church in Newberg, attended grade school at Fernwood District and high school at Newberg, Oregon.  Ernie was active playing football and baseball besides helping his father on the farm and with the prune and walnut drying.

    I was born to Gottlieb and Barbara Stahlecker Adolf on January 24, 1917 and was raised on a farm in the so-called "Settlement", north of Bethune.  I attended the first eight grades in a one-room adobe schoolhouse known as "Schaal School, District #22" which was located by the Sam Schaal farm house.

    During the Dust Bowl Days of the '30's, I moved with my parents, along with my brothers Gottlieb, Herman, and George and Leona (who were newly married) to Newberg, Oregon in the spring of 1935.  My parents had a sale and kept some furniture, etc. which we loaded onto a 1929 model Chevrolet truck and our 1932 Chevrolet four-door car.  George and Leona took their 1928 two-door Chevy, pulling a trailer with their belongings.  So away we went: "Oregon or bust!"

    My Dad rented a small acreage at Springbrook, Oregon near Newberg.  We all found jobs picking berries, walnuts, filberts, and prunes, or whatever jobs were available.  I did some housework for $15.00 a month, and later got a raise to$20.00 a month with every other Sunday off.  I also worked in the cannery.  While I was picking walnuts one day, a young fellow came strolling through the orchard.  He stopped and chatted awhile.  That stroll led to dating and later to our marriage.

    In October of 1937, my parents, brothers Gottlieb and Herman, and I moved back to the farm in Colorado.  George and Leona stayed in Oregon a year longer, and then moved back to their farm north of Burlington, Colorado.  George and Leona, her parents Henry and Lilly Fanslau, and Ernie came back for a visit the following Christmas.  Ernie then decided that he wanted to marry and take me back to Oregon with him.  We hustled around to get ready for a wedding in less than two weeks.  In the meantime, Ernie decided to go into farming with Gottlieb.  They rented a farm known as the old Lou Bramier place southwest of Burlington.  I went back to Oregon with George and Leona, her folks, and Ernie, to bring back Ernie's belongings and his 1931 black Graham Coupe.

     On our way back to Oregon, we stopped at Wamsutter, Wyoming for the night.  It was a small place with a gas station, grocery store, and a few cabins.  We rented two cabins.  It was a bitter cold January evening.  The water pipes were frozen up and we had to melt snow in order to clean up.  We had a few groceries with us so that we could do our own cooking.  Leona decided that we would have pancakes for breakfast, but we had no milk.  George then melted some snow and Leona made the pancakes with snow water.  Our Honeymoon?

     After a month's stay with Ernie's family, we came back to our newly rented farm for a year.  Gottlieb got married to Mabel Gramm in July of that summer.  The four of us lived together on that farm for the rest of the Year.
My Dad bought a 160-acre farm for us for $800.00, which at one time belonged to my great grandparents, Christian and Fredericka Adolf.  It was located across the road from the congregational Church, north of Bethune, Colorado.

     We had some very tough times during our first few years of marriage.  Ernie, not being used to the cold Colorado climate, came down with rheumatic fever and was laid up for part of the first winter.

     Barbara was born at the home of her grandparents, Gottlieb and Barbara Adolf, north of Bethune, Colorado on November 14, 1938.  She was delivered by her Great Grandmother Margarette Adolf.  She came down with smallpox at three months and lost all of her black hair.

     The second winter Ernie had an accident while hunting jack rabbits with Gottlieb and Herman one evening after dark.  He was hospitalized for two weeks with cut up knees and legs, due to running through a barbed wire fence while riding on the fender of a car.  Then again, we had lots of cold and snow.  No one could travel with the car until the roads were opened up.  Besides, we had lost all of our hogs from cholera and calves from blackleg, along with crop failures from dust and hail storms.  We managed to hold on with the help of a neighbors who let us have cows milk for the use of pasture and others who let us use their horses to do our farming.  The boys had to break these horses for farming which resulted in some pretty exciting rodeos at times.  We had many runaways.  At one time, the horses ran through the garden fence and ruined our garden.  We also picked cow chips to use as fuel in our potbellied stoves to keep us warm during the cold winter months.  Fortunately, we always had plenty to eat for our family.  Living on the farm, we had our own meat, eggs, milk, cream, and produce from our gardens.

     Marilyn was born on March 20, 1942 at Burlington, Colorado.  Times were beginning to get a little better by then.

     We later bought another farm, known as the Frank Kramer farm, also located in the Settlement.  Dean was born at Burlington, Colorado on June 19, 1947.  We moved onto the Kramer farm shortly thereafter.

     In 1960 we started to build a house on 377 Pomeroy Street in Burlington.  We moved into it in the fall of 1962, still live in it and also still own our farm.

    Our children honored us on our 25th wedding anniversary on January 7, 1963, a bitter cold day, with an open house for relatives and friends at our new home.

    We must admit not all our days were tough luck.  There were many more good and happy days then bad ones, especially with the children.  We enjoyed attending their school activities and taking them on trips.

    After moving to Burlington, Ernie still farmed for a few years.  We then rented the farm out, and Ernie drove a school bus for four years and also worked for a couple of farmers.  He later got his own truck and hauled beets and grain.  After Dean graduated from high school, I worked at the Ben Franklin Store for 13 years. 

    Since our retirement, we have traveled through most of the good old USA, a trip into Canada, and into the Baja of California.  We enjoy camping and fishing in the mountains, and also travel to Oregon more often now to visit Ernie's mother, brother Harry, and sisters Louise, Helen and Rose, and their families along with many old friends.

    Above all, the good Lord has blessed us both with good health and a wonderful and loving family.

These were the "Days of our Lives," thus
far as of July 1, 1986.

Our Family

Barbara and Richard Briggs - Angela and Jennifer Atlanta, Georgia; Marilyn and Fred Tafoya - Lesa and Fred III Denver, Colorado; Dean and Eulalah Schick - Lori, Lindi, and Lacy Cheyenne Wells, Colorado.

Parents and Grandparents

My father, Gottlieb Adolf, was born November 3, 1891 at Anaba, Michaelsfeld, South Russia to Wilhelm and Margarette Adolf.  He arrived in this community, the "Settlement", north of Bethune, Colorado in May of 1908.

My mother, Barbara Stahlecker, was born December 24, 1885 in Tripp, South Dakota to Martin and Katherina Stahlecker.  She moved with her family to north of Bethune, Colorado at the age of eight.

Ernie's father, Frederick Schick, was born November 14,1886 at Baudle, South Dakota.  He moved to Newberg, Oregon at eighteen years.

Ernie's mother, Irene Lefaivre Schick, was born September 5, 1896 in New York to Ernest and Louise Lefaivre.  She moved with her parents to Newberg, Oregon in the year 1900.  Ernest and Louise were both born in Paris, France.