Leon Karst - memories of Carl

This letter was given to my sister, Cathy, from our Uncle Leon Karst in December 1991. The letter tells of Leon’s memories of his younger brother Carl. The letter includes references to childhood rickets, ingestion of lye water, Dad’s bout with polio, farm accidents, sibling squabbles, high school success, and more. I was touched by Leon’s parting comment: “We as a family were very proud of his accomplishments and his loss was a great loss to all of us, but we look forward to being reunited with him.”

Leon Karst

My son Brian ran the letter through AI for the text below:

Your dad overcame several serious illnesses and accidents in his life. As a child he had rickets. Grandma was nursing him and the doctor assured her everything was all right though she knew different. She finally went to a different doctor and they got him straightened out. He was very inquisitive as a child. One time he broke a thermometer and sucked that pretty red stuff out and got very sick as a result. Another time Grandma left some lye water setting out for some reason and your Dad drank some. It also made him very sick and burned his throat very bad. I think he was in his early teens when he had polio. He had the Bulbar type which was more likely to be fatal but if you recovered it was more complete. The folks had to take him to Hutchinson because that was the nearest place that used the Kenney treatment. I don't recall how long he was there but it was quite a while. A long time afterward he cocked his head to one side when he swallowed.

One summer Grandpa was working on the combine and had pulled out an auger and laid it on top of the combine. Your Dad was playing behind the machine and somehow it rolled down and hit him right on top of the head. Needless to say it bled terribly and meant another trip to the doctor.

When we were kids Art was pretty bossy. I was six years younger so there wasn’t much I could do about it. I figured if he could boss me around I should be able to boss your Dad. Well, instead of suffering in silence he tattled to Grandma and so I was in trouble again. There just ain’t no justice!

A humorous incident occurred when your Dad was confirmation age. We were between Pastors at Milberger, so Grandpa and Grandma asked Rev. Pohlman at Galatia if he could attend classes there until we again had a pastor. During this time Grandma invited him to Sunday dinner. That afternoon it rained pretty hard. After the rain tapered off, Rev. Pohlman headed home. About 1/4 mile from our place he slipped into the ditch so he came walking back, muddy and soaked to the skin. Grandma dug out some of Grandpa’s clothes and he changed into them. The only problem was Rev. Pohlman weighed I’m guessing 200 to 225 pounds with an ample girth while I doubt that Grandpa ever weighed 150 pounds. When he came out of the bedroom he was laughing till the tears ran down his face. This was before the days of stretch overalls and the sides were about to split out.

Summer activities included farm chores and Sunday afternoons we played ball at home and after we got bigger got together with neighbors and cousins to play ball and other games and later to play on town baseball teams. Every little town had a team.

Winters we ice skated, when possible, or got together and played games. Your Dad was in 4-H and had a steer project one year. We had some clover planted and I thought that would be good for (the steer), so I (thought). Well, instead he bloated and died so that was a very painful experience for both of us.

After Wanda and I were married I farmed some ground near Hoisington and got the flu one time. Grandpa wanted to help me so he sent your Dad to run the tractor. This farm had some real tough soil and he killed the engine. It didn’t have an electric starter and in trying to start it kicked back and the crank gashed his head. A trucker going by on 281 saw him staggering around out in the field, so he stopped and took him to the hospital in Hoisington. Luckily, it wasn’t a serious injury.

Your Dad did well in school and was popular with his classmates. They had a King and Queen (high school) contest and he was elected King. He could’ve got a big head but instead he gave credit to his campaign manager. He also was on the baseball team in High School.

This story was told to me by Don Peterson at the Soil Conservation Convention last year. Don is a SCS supervisor from Washington County and he was at K-State when your Dad was and his wife is from the Gorham-Galatin area. He also was in ROTC, Air Force, and also flew O-1's at Pleiku. At K-State he lived very close to your Dad and although he was not a Beta Sig, they were on the same telephone line. One day Don wanted to use the telephone but the line was busy. It was your Dad and he was sweet talking to a girl. Don didn’t know who she was but it was a pretty lengthy conversation and after several unsuccessful tries he finally said “Carl, when you’re done I’d like to use the phone,” and hung up. The next time he tried the line was clear and not long after that they split the lines.

We as a family were very proud of your Dad’s accomplishments and his loss was a great loss to all of us but we look forward to being reunited with him.