Person:Richard Pulver (1)

was born and raised in Kasota, MN. a small rural community in the Minnesota River Valley, off the main highway, between St. Peter and Mankato.The youngest of four children. As a child had scarlet fever which was not uncommon which was sometimes fatal.

  Kasota, noted for its quary of excellent building stone used in the construction of many prominent buildings, i.e. Wells Fargoin Minneapolis. Richard's father, Wilton, worked in the quarry. 
  Their house was originally in town, but when a young boy, the house was moved up over the crest of the valley to a small farm acerage. It was adjacent to the railroad tracks.  As a young man Dick frequently walked the tracks to St. Peter's Gustavus College and when courting Maurine Ludcke. Across the road was the cemetery with the Pulver plot. His ashes are buried there along with his parents and sister Celia. The house was demolished in late 1990s as the quary expanded.
   Dick attended local schools, and upon graduation, enlisted in the US Navy (November 13, 1917-July, 14, 1919) during World War I. He received radio training.  Stationed in San Diego, he served as radioman in dirigibles.  
  After the war returned to Kasota and attended Gustavus Adolphus College (class of 1921). It was during this period that he met Maurine Ludcke of St. Peter, three years his junior and in high school. At Gustavus was active in athletics as baseball pitcher (Maurine's bother Gipp played second base),  captain of the football team, boxed, and was President of the G Club. During the summer played semi-pro baseball with a midwest team. After graduating from Gustavus furthered his educatioin at the University of Minnesota (Minneapolis) receiving a degree in electrical engineering.
   His first job was in Cloquet, MN with the Northwest Paper Co. Shortly thereafter he joined the Minnesota Power & Light Company in Duluth where he worked until his death.
   In 1926 he married Maurine Ludcke of St. Peter. They lived in several apartments before renting a house at 133 Greenwood Lane where son John was born (1932). In 1936 purchased a house at 3645 East Third Street. After Dick's death Maurine continued to live in the house for almost another 40 years until 1992

Richard died November 8, 1952, at age 53, while attending a Father's Day banquet in Minneapolis for John's University of MN college fraternity (ATO). John was the master of ceremonies, and his dad addressed the group representing the fathers. As the banquet ended Dick suffered a fatal heart attack.

  At the time of death Richard was Vice President General Sales Manager of his company, and active in developing the taconite mining industry in northern Minnesota. A golfer, gardener, hunter, and loved to ski. Gardening was probably his favorite pastime. His garden was always ablaze with blooming flowers. His favorite time to work in the garden was in the morning before going to work. At his memorial service a hymn with the words " I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses, and the joy I find as I tarry there, the son of God is calling" was very appropriate. 
   A member of Northland Country Club,  Kitchie Gammi Club, and Duluth Athletic Club. In addition active in professional electrical engineering associations.  Dick was outgoing, well liked, had a keen sense of humor, yet studious in nature. A  devoted husband and father.      
    "I always felt very close to my parents, even now, years after their deaths. Dad and I had a number of very special times together. Growing up in the Minnesota River Valley he always wanted to explore the river. This dream came true when we floated, for several days, down the river in a flat bottomed boat from Mankato to Le Seur. In the Fall we hunted ruffed grouse together and Mother sometimes joined us. Dad and four other men had a duck hunting club on the Nett Lake Indian Reservation, near Orr, in northern MN. White men couldn't own property on the reservation, or hunt without an Indian guide. The club rented a cabin, about a mile from the Indian village, which was reached by canoe. Owned by Joe Big Nose and Sarah Sore Eyes whose father built it in the early 1900s for a group of Twin City men. Early each Fall, club members met with the Tribal Council to arrange payment to hunt without guides. The lake is a large, about half is shallow and filled with wild rice. The rice not only attracted large flocks of ducks but was harvested by the Indians. Only canoes were permitted on the lake.
 "From our home in Duluth we cross country skied through the woods and neary by country club. This was a favorite Sunday afternoon pastime for the family. One Sunday, after we came in from skiing, on the radio we heard  the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor (Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941). We attended St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Duluth, and Dad and I were confirmed at the same time.
  "My thoughts are often of my family and the many wonderful times we had together. Even though, at the time of this writing, I am twenty years older than Dad was when he died, I think of him as having wisdom far greater than I have acquired. In 1950, two years before his death he wrote a short saying that he had framed for in his office: "Do well today the things of today, and the problems of tomorrow will clear away like a morning fog dispersed by the strong heat of a summer sun". I often think of this, and I can vouch for the soundness of the advice, and have tried to make it a part of my life. He is remembered as a wonderful father, and a devoted husband." (John Pulver 2003)

1. ↑ Certificate of Death, Name Of Person: Richard Fillmore Pulver
   Minnesota Department ofHealth Certificate of Death 11/10/1952.
2. ↑ Father Wilton B (45) mother Margaret E. (35).
3. ↑ of a heart attack after giving an address at son's college fraternity dinner at the Radisson Hotel, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Cremated November 11, 1952 Lakewood Cemetary Association, Minneapolis, MN. Memorial Service St. Paul's Episcopal Chruch Duluth, MN. Spring 1953 ashes buried, by son, next to headstone in family plot Kasota, MN . In summer of 2000 John added a footstone.
4. ↑ World War I US Navy 2nd Class Petty Officer in radio avaition. Stationed at San Diego Naval Base