Henry Nieland's 96th Birthday
Breda, Iowa, January 18, 1948
Breda's Oldest Resident is 96 Today;
Idle Winter Days Give Him 'Fidgets
Breda,
Ia. -- Henry Nieland, oldest resident of Breda and probably of
Carroll County, is 96 years old today.
Right now he's impatiently awaiting the arrival
of spring so he can get his garden planted. The long idle days
of winter make him fidget, he says. He longs for weather ht will
enable him to be out and around.
"There's nothing I like better than working
with the soil, "the pioneer declared.
Just a year ago today Mr. Nieland was released from
St. Anthony Hospital in Carroll where he had undergone major surgery.
It was the only time in his life that he had been ill enough to
go to a hospital.
Only 10 days after the operation, he was back in
Breda with his youngest daughter, Mrs. Jacob Wittry.
I'm just as good as new now," he said last
week. As proof of the statement, he cared for a large vegetable
garden last season.
Mr. Nieland, who retired 20 years ago from his farm
on the Sac County line northwest of Breda, is extremely alert
for his age. He handles his own finances and has an exceptional
memory.
Mar Nieland's hair is almost white, his beard gray.
After coming to the United States from Germany at
17, he bought land near Wall Lake, Ia, when he was 22. Later he
acquired three 80-acre tracts now known as the Nieland farm.
He paid $6 for the land and "had a hard time
doing it."
When the streets are not icy, Mr. Nieland, father
of 12 children, walks downtown. Much of the winter he spends sitting
in his favorite rocking chair reading up on the latest news.
A birthday party is planned by his family today.
Most of the children expect to attend.
Mr. Nieland was born in Westphalen, Germany. His
wife died in 1933
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