Touched by History

KIM ODE, Star Tribune


There are those who make history and are revered with its names and dates and ticker-tape parades. And then there are those whose impact on history is, at most, a glancing blow, a near-miss, a feebly grasped coattail. This would be most of us.

Still, rubbing shoulders with destiny should count for something. In honor of Minnesota's 150th birthday, we asked you to share accounts of your sideways associations with the glories of the state's past. The idea is that we're all a part of Minnesota's lore, darn it -- if we stretch circumstances far enough.

Here are some of the tangential ways in which citizens have been touched by history:

A bachelor godfather
Andrea Blume Tilke's brother's godfather is Dan Ellison, who came up with the idea of creating career jobs to attract women to Herman and so ignited the "Bachelormania" craze in 1994. Ellison, an eligible bachelor, was on "Oprah," in People magazine and was played by Michael O'Keefe in the movie "Herman USA." Tilke lives in Savage.

A ride with Benny
Leah Barnacle's father, John Benson, was the first person to use the state's first drive-through banking lane in November 1963, when Northwestern National Bank asked if it could use Benson's 1911 Maxwell car for the event. The bank's celebrity pitchman, Jack Benny, also owned a Maxwell and rode along as Benson's passenger. Barnacle lives in Wayzata.

A yummy invention
Jodi Schwen says her husband's grandfather, Walter J. Schwen, invented the process to cover a brick of ice cream with chocolate coating, which later was sold and patented to become the Eskimo Pie. Walter was the founder of Schwen's Ice Cream and Candy Co. in Blue Earth. Jodi lives in Brainerd.

All about safety
Two people claimed this link with history: Stephanie Ehlers' father's cousin -- who also is Karen Hanggi's grandfather's aunt -- was Sister Carmela Hanggi, who started the school safety patrol in 1921 while principal of the St. Paul Cathedral School. The first crossing was at Kellogg Boulevard and Summit Avenue. The concept of the school patrol is used by schools in all 50 states. Ehlers lives in St. Paul and Hanggi in Coon Rapids.

Scene of the crime
Myrna Maikkula's cousin's husband was the pastor whom kidnappers called with the information that Virginia Piper was handcuffed and chained to a tree south of Duluth in Jay Cooke State Park in 1972, after having demanded a $1 million ransom. Maikkula also is the city clerk who swore Jesse Ventura into office as mayor of Brooklyn Park, launching his political career. She lives in Brooklyn Park.

A brush with Lindy
Ron Manger's father, Lawrence, and his brother, Dan Doyle, helped Charles Lindbergh push his plane, the Spirit of St. Louis, into a hangar at Wold-Chamberlain Field in Minneapolis in 1927. Lindbergh was on a national tour after his famous transatlantic flight. The two young men, bored with the long wait, had driven their Model T to the far end of the airfield where, to their shock, Lindbergh landed to avoid the crowds. Manger lives in Minneapolis.

Good to know her
Lizanne Bristol had her ponytail pulled by Dave Lee on the "Popeye and Pete Show," in 1968, which cued the theme song, "So Long, It's Been Good to Know Ya." She lives in Prior Lake.

Prettying up Prince
When Pamela Diamond worked at Pipka's Workshop, a folk-art studio in Minneapolis, in 1984, she took an urgent Saturday afternoon call from a musician who needed his guitar hand-painted with flowers and a monarch butterfly -- by Monday. The movie "Purple Rain" came out two weeks later, and Prince used the guitar on his world tour. Diamond lives in Minneapolis.

Saved by a pro
Steven M. Hansen was yanked from Rainy Lake when he was 5 by Bronko Nagurski, one of the best football players of all time. Nagurski, who grew up in International Falls, was staying in the cabin next to the Hansens' in the early 1950s when Steven was blown offshore while on a float board. When his mother called for help, Nagurski came charging out of his cabin and into the water to pull Hansen back to shore. "What made the incident memorable is that Bronko didn't bother to open the screen door on the way out of his cabin," Hansen wrote. "Scared as I was, I remember seeing it fly into the air. Afterwards, my Dad and some other guys stood around looking at the twisted brackets and discussing how to put it back on." Hansen lives in St. Louis Park.

One cool apple
Corey Gideon Gunderson's fourth great-uncle, Peter Miller Gideon, developed the Wealthy apple in 1868, the first apple to survive North America's cold winters. Gideon's farm, near Excelsior, is on the National Register of Historic Places. Gunderson lives in Lakeville.

Studying with a Miller
Mary J. Jasperson's older brother befriended baseball players who stayed at the hotel where he worked, which is why a Minneapolis Millers rookie named Ted Williams was often seen at the family's kitchen table helping Mary with her homework. She now lives in Richfield.

Little wife on the prairie
Mary Jane Hutchinson Petersen's great-grandmother, Electa, married Royal Wilder, the brother of Laura Ingalls Wilder's husband, Almanzo. Petersen lives in Mankato.

High-flying artwork
Nikki DeGidio Wick's father's sister's husband, Charles (Bud) Morgan, helped design Northwest Airlines red tail in 1948 to make downed planes easier to find. Wick lives in Blaine.

Some photo advice
Iris Pahlberg Peterson's father's best friend, Gordon Haga of the Haga Photography Studio in Minneapolis, took the photo of Abigail Van Buren that ran with her Dear Abby advice columns for many years. Peterson lives in Minneapolis.

Kim Ode • 612-673-7185