By Julie Huebel, PCHA
ELMWOOD, WI – Along with the rest of Elmwood and Spring Valley communities, I am mourning the loss of Don Blegen. His passing hit me hard (Donald Richard Blegen, 84, died of a sudden stroke on January 7, 2025). He was more than a respected teacher at Elmwood High School, he was a valuable community resource that truly loved this area he called home, and he loved telling its stories and sharing some here in the local papers (the Sun-Argus and at times also in the Woodville Leader).I racked my brain for a way to honor him in a way that seemed proportionate to the impact he had on these communities. While that is too lofty a goal to ever achieve, I will try in my own way to strive for that “A” in his unofficial, Local History class.
There is a group of people that have assembled in hopes of writing a new book on Elmwood’s history in time for the Village’s 125th Anniversary in 2030, this time focusing on the families in the area. As a way to help jumpstart the project and get locals thinking about what information and photos, they have that would be helpful to the project, I decided to do what I am calling the “Elmwood Alphabet Series,” where I highlight a different area surname for each letter of the alphabet. This is something I did in 2020 and 2021 on a county-wide scale on the Facebook page for the Pierce County Historical Association (PCHA) and they were very well received. This encouraged me to do another series.
It is a lot of work, but there are few things I enjoy more than doing ancestry research. I wish for everyone to know the stories of who they came from. When I am talking to someone and find out they don’t know the names of their great-grandparents or don’t know what country their surname comes from, my family knows what is coming next. I reach for my phone or laptop and work immediately to rectify the situation. I get such a feeling of belonging from learning the stories of my ancestors that I want to share this feeling with as many people as I can. Stay tuned to learn the “ABC’s of Elmwood” area families in a series of upcoming articles.
Please note: If you have done research on your family or have old family photos, please reach out to us at the Pierce County Historical Association. We would love copies of your research and early photos, we can help with scanning and return your originals. Contact us: info@PierceCountyHistorical.org or call 715-594-3118.
