March 23, 1946 was a sad day in the lives of the Hormel family. Lillian Belle Gleason Hormel, aged 78, passed away on that day at her home in Bel Air, California.

In her honor my columns throughout March will tell of her personality, her interests and her contributions to society.

Many newspapers reported of her death including the Minneapolis Sunday Tribune, the Winona Republic, the Duluth News-Tribune, the Chicago Sun, and the New York and Los Angeles Times. One of my favorites was printed a few months following her passing and was printed in the Fergus Falls Daily Journal on Friday, May 10, 1946.

The writer, Mr. Elmer E. Adams, spoke of Mrs. Hormel as if she was a friend. He described her as “an important part in the development of Minnesota activities.” During a visit to the Bel Air estate, he asked her questions about her time as a teacher in Steele County in the 1880’s.

“What were your wages,” he asked her. “Thirty dollars a month” was her reply.

“Was it in your contract to sweep out and build the fire?” “Yes it was but I hired one of the school boys to do it and I paid him out of my wages.”

He also asked her about the site of their California retirement home. She replied that “while looking around, they saw this undeveloped piece of land. Impressed with the view, Mr. Hormel said he thought it would be a good investment to which Mrs. Hormel replied, ‘we will not buy it for a speculation, but if you will make a home here we will buy it.’” Mr. Adams reported that “Mrs. Hormel developed her estate and she knew her flower plants and shrubs intimately.”

The author admired the Hormels and stated his opinion that they had done right to stop working early in life. He wrote that “Mr. and Mrs. Hormel have enjoyed a quiet, restful life, different from so many cases where men have worked and achieved but could not let go and enjoy the results of their toil.” He said Mrs. Hormel busied herself with religious and welfare work in her later years.

Mr. Adams was a Minnesota state politician, editor of the Fergus Falls Journal and a banker, but I do not know how he became a friend to the Hormels. His recollection of them, however, is a common reflection of the couple who shared their lives with so many.

History Happy Hour — Southern MN Railroad

5:30 p.m. Social and 6 p.m. Presentation; Monday, March 13

Railroad enthusiast Paul Spyhalski will discuss the development of the Lyle Gateway. Free for members of the HHH, Friends of the Library, and the Mower County Historical Society. $5 for non-members.

Hearth & Home Series — Drumming for Life and Mind

10 a.m., Tuesday, March 21

Presented by the Austin Drumming Circle

Drumming can be done anywhere, with anyone; it is very universal and utilized by many cultures, intended for community, healing, and increased energy.