ROBERT JOSEPH THOMPSON WAS BORN ON MARCH 16, 1936 IN FORT WINNEBAGO TOWNSHIP ON HIS UNCLE FRANK GRUBB'S FARM, NORTHEAST OF PORTAGE, NEAR THE NEENAH CREEK, IN COLUMBIA COUNTY, WISCONSIN. MY MOTHER'S ELDEST SISTER, FRANCES, ASSISTED IN THE DELIVERY. ADDITIONAL FAMILY INFORMATION CAN BE OBTAINED IN THE COLUMBIA COUNTY HISTORICAL BOOK, PUBLISHED IN THE EARLY EIGHTIES(?), WHICH CONTAINS THREE PERSONAL ENTRIES OF FAMILY HISTORY, WRITTEN BY ROBERT. THE FIRST IS ABOUT THE FRANK KOEBLER FAMILY (HIS MATERNAL GRANDPARENTS), THE SECOND ABOUT THE CHARLES THOMPSON FAMILY (HIS FATHER), AND THE THIRD ABOUT ROBERT'S HISTORY, UP TO THAT TIME. ROBERT WAS THE OLDEST OF SEVEN CHILDREN, FOLLOWED BY BROTHERS,RAYMOND AND RICHARD, BOTH OF WHOM DIED IN 2001, AND SISTERS ROSE, RUTH, RITA, AND THE YOUNGEST, BROTHER RONALD. EIGHT YEARS WERE SPENT AT SAINT JOHNS LUTHERAN GRADE SCHOOL (TWELVE OF US GRADUATED 8TH GRADE), AT WHICH TIME THE THOMPSON FAMILY LIVED AT 430 WEST CARROLL STREET IN PORTAGE, JUST ACROSS THE STREET FROM BRAUER'S ICE CREAM AND HOME-MADE CHOCOLATES. ROBERT AND RAYMOND SHOVELED SNOW IN THE WINTER TO GET SPENDING MONEY TO OVERDOSE ON 25 CENT CHOCOLATE-MARSHMALLOW SUNDAES COVERED WITH CHOPPED NUTS AT BRAUER'S. THE HOME THEATER IN PORTAGE WAS A MUST TO SEE HOPALONG CASSIDY, TARZAN, AND RED RYDER AND LITTLE BEAVER. FAVORITE RADIO SHOWS WERE THE LONE RANGER AND THE INNER SANCTUM. SUMMERS WRE SPENT IN PAUQUETTE PARK, THE WISCONSIN RIVER (AND SANDBARS), SILVER LAKE, AND THE KOEBLER FARM. DURING SUMMERS ON THE FARM MY TWO STEADY JOBS WERE PULLING THE HAY ROPE BACK AFTER THE HORSES HAD PULLED A GIANT LOAD OF HAY UP INTO THE BARN, AND THEN SCATTERING THE HAY AROUND EVENLY INSIDE THE BARN AFTERWARDS AT THE END OF DAY. MY YEAR ROUND JOB WAS CARRYING WATER FROM AN ARTESIAN WELL HOUSE TO THE HOUSE FOR COOKING, WASHING HANDS, AND BATHING. DURING THE WINTER i CARRIED WOOD FOR THE WOOD COOKSTOVE IN WHICH MY GRANDMOTHER, ELIZABETH KOEBLER, BAKED LARGE ROUND LOAVES OF BREAD, FROM WHICH I RECEIVED A THICK HEEL COVERED WITH CHURNED BUTTER, AND SPRINKED WITH SUGAR AND CINNAMON. IT BECAME MY FIRST ADDICTION. MY GRANDPARENTS TOOK ME TO TOWN ON FRIDAY NIGHT WHEN THEY PURCHASE SUPPLIES AND SOCIALIZED WITH OTHER FARMERS, WHO, LIKE MY GRANDFATHER, HAD PUT ON THEIR NEWEST PAIR OF BIB OVERALLS. GRANDMA FAVORED FLOWERED COTTON DRESSES, AND, SHE ALWAYS GAVE ME A DIME TO SPEND. iN THE EARLY FOURTIES, A NICKLE BOUGHT ALOT, SO A DIME WAS REAL WEALTH. iT WAS MY FIRST, AND MOST INTENSE EXPERIENCE, OF FINANCIAL POWER. MY UNCLE, JOSEPH KOEBLER, TAUGHT ME MUCH ABOUT HUNTING, FISHING, AND NATURE, AND THEN REPEATED ALL THE LESSONS FOR MY YOUNGEST BROTHER, RONALD, SOME TWENTY-ODD YEARS LATER. MY AUNT VERNA MADE ME SCRUB OFF MY SUNTAN BEFORE WE GOT IN THE BACK OF AN OLD PICKUP TRUCK AND WENT TO SEE THE FREE SHOWS AT THE FOX RIVER VALLEY PAVILLION. A BIG WHITE BEDSHEET BETWEEN TWO POLES WAS THE SCREEN. AND THE SPANISH SPOKEN BY THE MIGRANT WORKERS STIMULATED A CURIOSITY THAT EVENTUALLY HAD MULTIPLE IMPACTS ON MY LIFE. SOME OF MY FAVORITE ACTIVITIES WERE HUNTING, FISHING, TREE CLIMBING, AND RUNNING. AS A SMALL CHILD I WAS EXTREMELY ADEPT AT GRABBING FROGS. i REMEMBER FILLING A LARGE PRINCE ALBERT TOBACCO CAN WITH A DOZEN, OR SO, LEOPARD FROGS AND THEN WALKING BAREFOOT DOWN THE SOO LINE RAILROAD TRACKS TO LAIMAN STAI'S TAVERN (ON CO. HWY CM) TO SWAP THEM FOR EDIBLE TREASURES. (HE USED THEM FOR FISHING, BUT LACKED THE EXCEPTIONAL MANUAL DEXTERITY NEEDED TO CATCH FROGS, SO HE GLADLY PAID ME IN CANDY, CHIPS OR GUM). CROSSING THE NEENAH CREEK TRESTLE BRIDGE WAS ALWAYS A TRIAL BY FIRE BECAUSE BOTH THE STEEL RAILS AND THE WOODEN RAILROAD TIES, WERE VERY HOT. IT WAS A CHALLENGE TO RUN AS FAST AS I COULD WITHOUT FALLING OFF THE BRIDGE INTO THE DEEP WATER. I WAS USUALLY SCREAMING QUITE LOUDLY BY THE TIME i CROSSED THE BRIDGE AND RAN OFF INTO THE GRASS TO, LITERALLY, "COOL MY HEELS." MY DAD HAD BEEN GASSED IN FRANCE DURING THE FIRST WORLD WAR AND WAS AN AVID PATRIOT, STIRRED TO TEARS BY MILITARY MARCHES, THE FLAG IN PARADES, AND FOURTH OF JULY FIREWORKS. i REMEMBER HIM AS A VERY GENTLE SOUL, PERHAPS ONE OF THE MOST GENTLE HUMAN BEINGS i HAVE EVER MET. AS A CHILD, I REMEMBER DAD BEING ASKED IF HE WAS IN THE WAR. HIS ANSWER WAS ALWAYS A NOD OF THE HEAD AND THE QUIET BENEDICTION, "Yes, i WENT ACROSS THE POND." THOSE WHO HAD NEVER MADE THAT TRIP ACROSS THE ATLANTIC TO FACE DEATH, ALWAYS, HAD ALOT OF QUESTIONS. BUT, IF SOMEONE ASKED DAD, "BEEN ACROSS THE POND?", ALL DAD DID WAS NOD HIS HEAD, AND IN THAT SILENCE, AN UNSPOKEN BUT STRONG BOND, INSTANTLY LINKED THE TWO MEN WHO HAD SURVIVED THE EUROPEAN MILITARY HOLOCAUST. SOMETIMES, HE TOOK ME TO WORK WITH HIM AND I SLEPT ACROSS THE SEATS OF A MILWAUKEE ROAD PASSENGER CAR. I WATCHED HIM FISHING FOR WALLEYED PIKE OFF THE WISCONSIN RIVER BRIDGE, MANY TIMES. ONE MEMORABLE DAY, HE TOOK RAYMOND AND I OUT IN A BOAT ON DATES' MILL POND TO FISH FOR THE ENTIRE DAY. MY RURAL MAILBOX IS NOW EXACTLY ONE MILE FROM THAT VERY SAME MILLPOND. WE OFTEN WADED UP THE WISCONSIN RIVER FROM SANDBAR TO SANDBAR, EXPLORING THE DIVERSE AQUATIC COMMUNITIES TRAPPED WITHIN THE SHALLOW POOLS IN MANY OF THE SANDBARS. WE NEVER REALIZED HOW DANGEROUS IT WAS UNTIL FLOYD SCHMIDT DROWNED WHERE WE HAD BEEN PLAYING. WHEN THEY BROUGHT FLOYD'S BODY TO SHORE, i REMEMBER HIS FATHER HOLDING HIM AND SOBBING, SOBBING, SOBBING. iT WAS MY FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH PROFOUND GRIEF. MY NEAR DROWNING OCCURRED IN SILVER LAKE WHEN I WAS A CHILD. AS I RECALL, IT WAS A HIGHSCHOOL CLASSMATE, DUANE (BUCKY) ZUNKER, THAT PULLED A SPUTTERING ME FROM THE WATER. I THEN LEARNED TO SWIM, AT THE PLACE THAT i HAD ALMOST DROWNED. EVENTUALLY, WE SWAM ACROSS PARTS OF THE LAKE, AFTER DARK. WE NEVER DID IT DURING THE DAYTIME, BECAUSE, SEEING HOW FAR IT WAS, SCARED US. MY APPENDICTS WERE TAKEN OUT WHEN i WAS SMALL AND I ACQUIRED A DIVERSE COLLECTION OF SCARS FROM VARIOUS MISHAPS WHILE GROWING UP. iT WAS ANOTHER ADDICTION THAT WAS TO FOLLOW ME FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE. MY FOLKS BOUGHT A HOUSE AT 723 WEST WISCONSIN STREET IN PORTAGE WHICH IS ALSO HIGHWAY 16, SO EVERY 4TH OF JULY WE SAT IN THE YARD AND WATCHED THE HOLIDAY TRAFFIC BACK UP ALL THE WAY FROM DOWNTOWN PORTAGE, PAST OUR HOUSE AND BEYOND. I REMEMBER DOING ALOT OF GROCERY SHOPPING WITH MY DAD AT MARACHOWSKI'S AFTER HE HAD BEEN PAID, AND HELPED CARRY THE PAPER BAGS FULL OF FOOD HOME. MANY LATE AFTERNOONS WERE SPENT IN THE PORCH SWING ASKING QUESTIONS OF OUR NEIGHBOR, MR. HOFFMAN, WITH MY FRIEND BUTCH SMITH, AND CHATTING WITH THE BRECHTER SISTERS, WHO TAUGHT ME HOW TO COUNT IN GERMAN. I VISITED ERNEST (BUTCH) SMITH WHEN I WAS HOME ON LEAVE AFTER FINISHING MY INFANTRY AND MILITARY POLICE TRAINING AND INFLUENCED HIM TO DO THE SAME, WHICH HE DID, AND FROM THE MILITARY POLICE, BUTCH WAS RECRUITD BY THE F.B.I. MANY YEARS LATER HE, AND HIS SISTER BONNIE, ATTENDED MY RETIREMENT PARTY FROM WISCONSIN CORRECTIONS. AT THAT TIME HE WAS AN F.B.I. AGENT IN MONTANA FROM WHICH HE LATER RETIRED. MY KOEBLER PARENTS ALSO SPOKE GERMAN, SO BETWEEN THEM AND THE BRECHTER SISTERS, THEY STIMULATED AN INTEREST THAT EVENTUALLY RESULTED IN MY TAKING SEVERAL GERMAN CLASSES, AFTER I HAD MY DEGREE WITH A SPANISH MAJOR. MOM KEPT ME GOING TO SUNDAY SCHOOL AND CHURCH AT ST. JOHN'S LUTHERAN WHERE I FREQUENTLY SAT WITH MY CHILDHOOD FRIEND WALTER BUTZLAFF AND HIS MOTHER. IN GRADE SCHOOL I CHASED MANY A HOME-RUN BALL, HIT BY EITHER NED, OR HIS OLDER BROTHER, LOWELL LOOMANS. IN GRADE SCHOOL, I WAS A BORED DOODLER, NOT REALLY INTERESTED IN SCHOOLWORK BUT I DID LIKE, AND TO THIS DAY STILL ENJOY, PLAYING WITH BOTH WORDS, AND NUMBERS. I FREQUENTLY WENT TO THE CEMETERIES TO CATCH GOPHERS AND CHIPMUNKS BY POURING WATER DOWN THEIR HOLES. THROUGHOUT MY EARLY YEARS I WAS AN AVID BARE-HANDED CATCHER OF TURTLES. HUNTING FOR SNAPPERS, LEATHERBACKS, SAND, MUSK, AND BOX TURTLES WERE FREQUENT PASTIMES IN THE WISCONSIN RIVER, SILVER LAKE, PARK LAKE, AND ALONG THE NEENAH CREEK. PETS INCLUDED A CAT, LOTS OF PIGEONS (WHICH I CRAWLED UP INTO THE RAILROAD COAL TOWER TO CATCH, OR UP UNDER A WATERTOWER, FREQUENTLY WITH MY FISHING FRIEND, HARLIE SIMONSON, WHO NOW LIVES A HALF MILE FROM ME) DEER MICE, GOPHERS, CHIPMUNKS, SQUIRRELS, A HAWK, AN OWL, AND A GREAT VARIETY OF SNAKES, AND ESPECIALLY TURTLES. AND A VARIETY OF FROGS, TOADS AND FISH. MOM'S SCRAPBOOK MOM'S MEALS FAMILY REUNIONS BICYCLES FREEDOM AS A CHILD PAPER ROUTE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL (SUNDAY PAPER) STUFFING PAPERS SWIMMING UNDERWATER AND DIVING DOWN FOR STONES SITTING ON THE KOEBLER PORCH LULLABY OF VOICES WRESTLING TO A GIVE AGAINST MANY BEVERLY KLEIST? GANDI DANCERS