Meet Becky Weitzel, a native of Withee, WI until age 12 when she moved away in 1970. Becky now lives in Indiana, but to this day, she has retained her Owen-Withee roots and contacts. Had she remained living in Withee, Becky would have graduated with the Owen-Withee Class of 1976. Becky is one of those people one meets in life who touch many souls, mine included. Her stepdad William “Bill” Krause was an important part of my family as a child and was my dad’s best friend. Both her mom Ann, and Bill Krause were well known in the Owen-Withee area. Bill was a prominent auctioneer, farmer and sporting/hunting enthusiast. He was my “boss” in 1968 in my first job away from the Hodnett family farm. I worked at a summer job at the Owen whey drying plant that was then located at the retrofitted old Pea Cannery on Owen’s far north end. Becky’s story could fill a book or two. An accounting and finance major in college, a math tutor, a Spanish tutor, a swimming instructor, a lifeguard, a body builder, a distance running coach, and much more. This is but a single “chapter” of Owen-Withee memories, as told in her own words.
As told by Becky….
“My life began in Stanley, where I was born. I don't know if that is still Clark County, but I believe Mom (Ann Larson) was married and living in Owen. I was born in 1958 as Rebecca Ann Sayyah. While they were expecting me (Ann and my father Michael Anthony Sayyah), they separated and divorced. I have the divorce decree and stipulations. My mother had met Dad in New Jersey and had given birth to my oldest brother Daniel there. After that she was in Owen, when Michael and I were born. I was six when Bill [Krause] and Ann were married in 1964. They arrived at Holy Rosary Grade School, knocked on the first-grade door with my older brothers, and took us to court to adopt us three older children.
A funny wedding story is that Mom dressed us three kids in nice suits and a tiny white gown for me and took us to Martha Krause's (Bill’s mom) home in Thorp, while she hoped to prepare for her wedding with Bill Krause. She ordered us to sit on the sofa in the beautiful living room, and she began to beautify herself, thinking we would not do anything stupid.
While my future Grandma Martha helped Ann prepare herself, we snuck outside and jumped up and down in mud puddles. Mom was horrified and lined us up on the sofa, as she always did when she needed to scold or interrogate us. So, she was forced to clean us all up as best she could and yes, I was the mud-covered flower girl.
I grew up in Withee, with a little over 400 other residents, until age 12, about 1970. I was halfway through 8th grade. I loved my girlfriends and my village, but I understood we needed to move for Bill's job offer. I played piano, for a year or two as a very small child, taking lessons from a kind woman in Owen, Wisconsin, next door to Withee. Bill and Ann were both working at the local Monday Night auction (Mattes Livestock), and soon Bill began to buy me horses, which I loved.
Bill taught us kids a lot of old skills. Including maple syrup making, arrowhead hunting, making jam from wild berries, fishing, hunting, and even yarn spinning. I remember being at our farm home north of Withee in 1963 at our house known by the locals as the ‘white house’ when JFK was assassinated.”
To Be Continued