Dad, Henry Wagner, came to the USA in 1908 from Europe (Romania). His oldest Brother lived in New York, which was why Dad came over. However, before he came here, he had met a good- looking young miss, Rosa Haider, through his aunt at a delicatessen. He liked what he saw so he asked her for a date. But soon Henry left for the U.S. A few years went by and suddenly Henry appeared at the bakery again. They dated again, he proposed and said he had come back purposely for her. They were married in a month's time and sailed for America. Rosa became seasick on the journey and was glad to get off the ship. They landed at Ellis Island and Brother Julius met them.
They settled in Philadelphia. Dad was a butcher by trade in Europe. He got a job in a packing plant for $15.00 a week. A baby arrived August 29, 1909, which was me. Helen arrived 16 months later, April 26, 1911 and one year later my brother Harry arrived on Feb. 14, 1912. Now Mom had her hands full with three children.
Dad's brother, Richard, arrived in the U.S. and lived with our family for a spell. He didn't stay put very long and decided to go west and ended up in Great Falls, Montana. In time Dad decided to go there too. He saved enough money to send for all of us and Aunt Margaret to come to Montana on the train. How well I remember that trip! Aunt Margaret and Mom had three lively kids on their hands to watch. When we arrived in Chicago we got off the train and were told to get on another, which we did. When the train got to moving the conductor checked our tickets and said we were on the train going east and not west and we would have to get off at the next station. This was at night, so they had to wake up three sleepy kids and put them on the right train and get them settled all over again. I guess it didn't take long for us to fall asleep the second time. In the morning we noticed the country looked different. The land was flat and there were not many trees in sight. There were miles and miles of wheat fields. Finally, we arrived in Great Falls. Dad was there to meet us and we were so happy to see him and he us!
Dad moved us into a house in Black Eagle and got us started in school. Three months later Dad got a job with the Conrad Mercantile Company. He was in charge of the packing plant (slaughterhouse). A house was furnished to us about a mile west of Conrad, Montana, population 2000. We spent 4 or 5 years there. Dad quit his job to move back to Philadelphia. His intentions were to eventually move back to Europe. When I heard what the folks had planned, I was upset. I told them I didn't want to go back to Europe because of the language barrier. It was a disappointment to them, but they decided not to make the trip. Instead, we returned to Great Falls. Dad got a job in a small meat market. His job was to go to the ranchers and buy cattle. The cattle would be sold at market and Dad would butcher the animals and dress them.
One time he fixed a pulley type hanger made of rope, which he attached to a thick tree limb. He hoisted the carcass up to dress it. Somehow, it was crooked so Dad climbed the tree to correct it. He got his foot stuck between the branches. While trying to get his foot loose, he lost his balance and fell headfirst to the ground. He was rushed to the hospital with a concussion where he died in January of 1927. It was a very lonesome, sad time without Dad. We drove to the cemetery every week to visit his grave, always taking fresh flowers. In time our grief became less and we adjusted to our new way of life.
I did not attend high school, but Dad had enrolled me in Great Falls commercial college before he died. I learned typing, bookkeeping, English, etc. I attended for about a year and through them, I got a job in the business office of the Mountain States Telephone and Telegraph Company. I started doing cashier work and walking to the bank each day making deposits. Later I was moved to the main office, learning to wait on customers, answering telephones, etc. I did a little secretary work, which 1 didn't like too well. I put in 26 years with the company, retiring in Cut Bank, Montana on December 31,1966.
After Dad passed away, a Mrs. Worwalski visited us and helped Mom locate a small house to buy. The address was 2117 1st. Avenue South. It was close to the high school which Harry and Helen attended. I was then employed at the Telephone Company and Mom got a job as a cleaning lady, so financially we managed.I got acquainted with Helen Fishback and Ida Bailey. They asked if I knew their cousin, Fred Leistiko. In time, he came into the office to cash a check and that's when I met him. He called for a date and we began going out. In a matter of a year, we became engaged and got married in Spokane, Washington where my sister was living. She and Emery Hynes stood up for us. Our honeymoon was spent traveling from Washington to Colorado and Wyoming then back home to Glasgow to visit his folks and sisters. Then we went to Great Falls, where we were to live.
Aunt Matilda, Fred's mother's sister, introduced her brother, Edward, to my mother. In time, they married and moved to Seattle, Washington. She sold her little house to us. It was too small for us, so we found another place at 26 2nd Avenue South. It had two bedrooms, a nice size basement, a living room with a fireplace, a kitchen with a dinette, plus a bathroom.
I continued to work and Fred was out of town a lot. He was the traveling lineman checking the telephone tines from Great Falls to Lewistown to Bozeman to Helena and back to Great Falls.
My sister, Helen, went to work for a dry cleaning company and met her future husband, James Mitchell there. They were married and had a son, Jimmy, born Nov. 7, 1932. She became a widow when her husband was killed in a plane accident. Eventually, she got a job in Spokane working for a medical supply company. She left her son with us until she became established. Then she decided to go to commercial college to learn to use a comptometer. She got a job with the U.S. Government in Bozeman, Montana. Her son was taken to her and all worked fine for a spell.
She and her girl friend went to Livingston to a club called "The Cave" and she met the Livingston Woolworth manager, A.C. Decker. He made many trips over the Bozeman hill to visit her and finally they got married, she with one boy and he with three boys. At the time I thought she was jumping from the frying pan into the fire. Well, they had their problems with the kids, which, in time eased up. Jim, the victim, was hurt through it all and problems showed up later in life. Through a lot of doctoring and hospitals he was helped and today he is OK, a fine looking man. Both Helen and Al are gone. They are buried at the Gate of Heaven cemetery in Los Altos, California. Mom, our mother, passed away on January 1, 1974. She is buried at Memorial Gardens Cemetery in Bozeman where Fred also is and I will be at future date. Dad is at the cemetery in Great Falls, Montana, and Jim, Helen's first husband, is at the same cemetery.
Our brother, Harry, was stationed in the Philippines during the Second World War in 1942. As near as we know, he died of malaria during the Baatan death march. He was 30 years old and is buried in the National cemetery in the Philippines.
Fred and I moved to Cut Bank, Montana, where he had the job of combination man for the Telephone Company. Then on to Malta, Montana, where he was manager of the Telephone Company. In six years time, he was transferred back to Cut Bank as manager. I was called back to work there, during the changing to dial service and continued until I retired. Fred retired on February 1, 1967. He put in 42 years.
Our daughters, Janet and Carol both attended MSU. Janet graduated in Elementary Education and Carol in art. Janet met Steve Hadnagy at MSU and Carol met David Nims in Phoenix and both got married. Janet lives in Butte and Carol in Andover, Massachusetts.
HAPPENINGS THAT OCCURED DURING MY GROWING UP YEARS
In Philadelphia we lived on a narrow street and the houses were built with no space between them. It was a two-story house and we did have a small space of ground for our back yard. I don't recall if we had a garden or not. The front entrances all had white marble steps. The weekends found many women scrubbing them. Mom informed me, that was my job. I enjoyed doing it, as they looked so nice and clean when finished.
Just before Christmas one year I came down with diphtheria and was taken in an ambulance to a hospital. How well I remember that ride! When I arrived, I was wheeled down the hall to the emergency room. I was undressed, examined and the hair was cut off my head. I was put in a large crib and my hands were tied to keep me from scratching because I had eczema on them. It sure felt horrible! I was there for two weeks. My Dad came to visit me and finally took me home. I looked like a boy with my short bob. Pictures were taken of me, but I don't know where they went.
One time, Helen, Harry and me went to an amusement park. Mom put me in charge of the younger ones. We were trying all the equipment. There was a huge slide. You had to get to the top by climbing about fifty steps. BOY was it fun going down that slide. Helen & I were having such a good time we didn't want to leave. Harry kept saying, "I want to go home." I begged him to be patient and wait until we had one more slide. When we finished there was no Harry around. I was worried he was lost. When we got home I explained what happened to Mom. She called the police station and asked if a small boy had been picked up. Sure enough, they had him. Mom went to get him and that was the last time I was put in charge of my brother and sister.
Another time in school, the teacher had us play a guessing game. Each student was asked to describe someone in the class. All of a sudden I heard this boy describe me. He ended up saying I had a topknot on top of my head. They guessed me in a hurry. I was embarrassed and from then on, no more topknots on my head!