These stories can also be heard on Sunday mornings around 10 am on WILD 102’s “Look Back in Time” program. Each week’s radio story will be posted here on our website.
Weekly radio stories are researched, compiled, and read by Sheila Winstead, RCHS Board Member.
February 9, 2025
This article was published seven years ago in the Greenbush Tribune dated February 7, 2018. It was written by
Mavis Gonshorowski and titled, “Reichelts reach 65 th Wedding Anniversary Milestone”. That means they’d now
be celebrating their 72 nd anniversary and it seems like a good time to share it as we get close to Valentine’s Day.
“For sixty-five years Leona and Vernon Reichelt have walked hand-in-hand; side-by-side… The son of Bennie and
Selma (Johnson) Reichelt, Vernon will turn 87 years old in May and has three sisters. The family lived on a farm in
the Duxby area north of Badger. Vernon attended the Duxby school through the eighth grade and commented
that he didn’t like school. “I would have rather hauled hay or wood.”
Eighty-two-year-old Leona was born to Ted and Cecelia (Herling) Sjaaheim who farmed in the Roseau area. Her
first seven years of education took place at the Rindahl school, District 32, and later the Roseau school. Two
brothers and two sisters were also family members.Their first date was on January 28, 1952. They told how they
and three other couples had made plans to attend Luther League at the Duxby church. “My cousin, Marvin
Trangsrud was driving the car; sister Darlene was sitting next to Marvin,” Vernon explained, “and my sister Ivy
and Dan Olson were also in the front. Sitting in the back were Leona’s brother Kenny and Adeline, and Leona and
I.”
“We were supposed to be going to Luther League but we ended up going to show instead.” Leona said with a
laugh. “Will Rogers said it best … ‘Why is youth wasted on dumb kids?’ …that’s my favorite saying. “Vernon
added, “Before we got married we would run around in a 1929 Model A and go Christmas fooling. The car didn’t
have a heater but back then the cold never seemed to bother us!”
Exactly one year from the couple’s first date, Leona and Vernon “tied the knot” on January 28, 1953, at the
Baptist Church parsonage in Roseau. Their attendants were Kenny Sjaaheim and Audrey Reichelt. Did Leona
recall what Vernon said when he proposed to her? “I really don’t remember,” she said. With a chuckle, Vernon
quipped, “She thought I was somebody else … it was dark!”
A wedding reception was given by the bride’s parents at the Duxby school. “Melvin and Orville Johnson and
some others blocked up our back wheels of our car during the reception,” Vernon said, “but they were good –
then they got (the car) down. They were having fun! “
And, as it was back in those days, a swingin’ good old-time wedding dance followed at the Badger Hall. Music
was furnished by Vernon’s dad and Lyda Erickson on fiddles, James Vatnsdal on the guitar, and Mabel Trangsrud,
playing the piano. The newlyweds headed for International Falls and on into Canada for their honeymoon.
“Grandma Johnson had given us smoked venison to take with on the trip but it was taken away when we
crossed the border back into the States. We hardly got a taste of it and it was so good!” they said.
Were they chivareed? “We sure were,” Leona replied, “when we got back from our honeymoon. We were in bed
one night when we woke up to those pots and pans clangin’ all around the house!”
On March 28, 1953, the couple headed for Scobey, Montana, in a 1940 Ford. “Gas was 20 cents a gallon then;
the trip cost us $5.00,” Vernon stated. “I had spent a couple of years working on a ranch out there and we went
back to the same place and worked.”
Six years later the Reichelts moved to Williston, N. D. For a year and a half Vernon worked for the parks and for
another 28 years as a janitor at three schools in Williston – the Senior High, Wilkinson, and lastly the Rickard
school. One day the state inspector paid a visit to the school where I was working and he told me the school was
the cleanest in North Dakota,” Vernon beamed. “I loved the kids and the personnel, too.” Leona worked with
Head Start at an area church and then at the Senior High Library. They both agreed in saying, “We have a lot of
good memories – we had a lot of fun. The people were wonderful.”
Vernon said he “sort of liked metal work” and wanted to move back home. So, on February 10, 1989, that’s just
what he and Leona did. Vernon spent the next four and a half years working at Polaris Industries. Leona worked
there going on nine years. Though they are now retired, Vernon’s love of restoring has kept him as busy as he
has wanted to be. “I have restored several snowmobiles – there’s one of them on display at the Experience
Center at the Brickhouse in Roseau. I get ’em running pretty good and looking good, and then sell ‘em. I’ve also
restored cars and pickups and have shown cars in Greenbush Fourth of July parades.”
Upon entering the couple’s inviting home it is very evident that Leona puts forth much pride and effort in
tending to it. Add to that, she mentions that Danny Dunrud and son Eric were hired to build an addition onto
their home. “Danny said he and Eric though they should work at our place all the time. I fixed meals for them
every day … they loved my food!”
Leona has also enjoyed the art of crocheting, counted cross stitch, and collecting cookie jars with matching salt
and pepper shakers, plus more over the years. The Reichelts have also taken time to do what they have always
loved to do, traveling throughout the western United States and Canada. “I built our first camper – it was like a
cheese box made out of my dad’s old trailer,” said Vernon. “I said I wouldn’t sleep in a tent so that’s what I got!”
Leona added with a laugh. After a few years, they ‘moved on up’ to a more modern-day camper. Their love of
flea markets often would find them traveling to Grand Rapids and Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, with their camper
in tow. Today, one of their favorite summer pastimes is to travel on the Ranger through the back woods and up
to Minnesota Hill. Making the trip with them is their beloved dog, Peppy, and a picnic basket with their lunch.
Vernon mentioned, “People tell me, ‘You look pretty good today.’ I tell them, “Well I’m like an old car – shiny on
the outside and wore out on the inside.’”
Leona and Vernon Reichelt are the parents of three children; daughter, Verna Lee, who passed shortly after
birth; son Earl of Middleberg, Florida, and son Terry who resides with his parents. The family also includes three
grandchildren, Richard, Renee, and Jason, and three great grandchildren, Kaylee and twins Cheyann and
Christopher.
This charming couple is a joy to know. Their love for each other, their upbeat personalities; the sense of humor
they share … “Oh, I do get in hot water every once in a while,” Vernon remarked jokingly. Leona responded,
“There’s been a few times he’s been lucky he’s alive!”
What would they say has been the best part of their 65 years together? Without hesitation, Vernon replied,
“Each other.” In honor of their anniversary, Vernon presented his wife with a beautiful four-piece set of jewelry.
As for Leona, she still knows the way to her man’s heart. Vernon was gifted with a huge three-pound Hershey
candy bar! “Well,” she said, “I know he likes chocolate so that’s what I got him!””
Thank you to 
for letting us share our county’s history with your listeners by donating air time, studio time, and production staff every week.