Lily Lives

Yikes!! someone needs to care for/preserve that beautiful stained glass! It does not appear to have a "shield layer" over it.

Yikes!! someone needs to care for/preserve that beautiful stained glass! It does not appear to have a "shield layer" over it.

I grew up South of Waubay- two miles North of the "Lily Road." The hard top road went West straight to Lily, S.D. My mother's name was Mildred- and some called her- "Milly" from Lily, which wasn't exactly true! When I ran a trapline in the early 80's I would gas up at that gas station in Lily ran by a Loterbauer. My sister Carolyn when first married lived just West of Lily on a farm with her first husband- the late Ron Reich. Stu Surma, Java, S.D.

From Milbank, I watched our Legion team(bat boy), very good, play Lily and they had a real good pitcher and team. This would have been 1958-1962.

It is sad to see what happens to the rural towns. Maybe everything goes in cycles and eventually the urban areas will become a place to escape from. Community has taken a step backwards.

Jon

I am so sorry to see this happen. This is where my Great Grandfather Bengt Hanson and Great Great Grandfather Goren Hanson and Families settled when they came to America. My Great Uncles Oscar Hanson, Eng Hanson, Bert Hanson and Great Aunt Elna Hanson were all born in Lily. Several years ago my parents and I visited with Carl Nygaard in Lily. He gave us a tour of the Lutheran Church he was so proudly maintaining. Then he took us for a drive out to the St. Ansgar Cemetery where family is buried. Thank you Mary Lohr for passing along this information.

I was raised in Lily, born in 1951. My Fathers name was Carrol Herr. My Mothers maiden name was Veronica Lynch. My Grandparents names were Al and Marion Lynch. They had a farm on the SW side of Lily. My Father was the. Mayor of Lily, and the last person to operate the gas station. My Mother worked for many years in the Lily Drugstore for Edna Grimes. My memories are forever tied to Lily.

I was born and raised near Lily and went to school in Lily. Over the years I have wondered when this would actually happen and I am sad to know that it is finally happening. I have many wonderful memories about Lily and I thought when I retired I would go and live there in the Corbin house on the north end of Lily. The Corbin family were living near Lily when it initially became a town back in the late eighteen hundreds. But when the Grain Elevators burned to the ground is when Lily began to die more quickly. Lily had great possibilities as it existed but the town Board didn't want to spend the money that would make it survive. Look at Bradley which is south of Lily about seven miles. Of course it still has railroads going through it whereof Lily does not. And Butler is headed where Lily will soon be also. When I purchased the Marcus Anderson farm, I had intended to lease it to the State of South Dakota so they could make a Game Preserve out of it, but Brother Clare and my father changed all of that. But how that happened is not the time nor place to go into all of that at this time. If I had had enough money I had intended on moving into the Corbin house and restored it to what it once was and create a Vegetable farm out of the rest of the Estate. But getting financing to do all of what I had planned became more than I could accomplish because persons I mentioned my idea to thought I was crazy. But there aren't many persons who believe what I could have done with all of that. I also intended to build a Truck Terminal in Lily but that too would take more finances than I could accomplish. I wrote a book that included all of these plans but writing a book is one thing but making it happen is another. All of high trees I planted before I left Lily in 1955. Some persons wonder why none of those trees have fallen onto the Corbin house since that time. But now because I am a semi-invalid I will never get a chance to ever see Lily once more before I die.

My grandparents, Martha and Herbert Dean operated a cafe on the left side of the building next to Mr. Christensen's house in the early '50's. The right side of the building was the post office run by Irene Fossum. Larry and Gladys Fossum had the grocery store directly across the street. John Solberg had the creamery just down the street kitty corner from Edna Grimes' drug store. I don't remember Mrs. Solberg's name. I do remember she baked wonderful rolls that she sold from her home. The Roy Grimes family lived in the house Mr. Christensen is living in. I often wondered if there was anything left in Lily. Nice to see the old cafe building is still there.

As a child I remember going to Lily and playing with Roy Grimes children and visiting the store he and his wife ran. We also got our vaccinations in Lily, SD too before starting school. As I get older I now realize that my Great Grandfather Austin Grimes, Great Grandma Martha Kilgore Grimes, my Grandfather Lynn Grimes and his siblings / my Great uncles and Great aunts grew up there. I wish I had more history on my Grimes side of the family. If anyone in the area remembers them I would be happy to hear from you.

My Great Grandfather Andrew Valsvig homesteaded a few miles east of Lily in Highland township 1884. It was later farmed by his sons and then my Uncle Vernon Hanson. Most of the farm is underwater today 2022. I lived a farm close to the homestead farm in 1964-1970. My family went to Church in the Lily Lutheran Church and I was married there in 1972. It was and still is the most beautiful Church with the stain glass windows and tile walls and ceiling. We also attended our 4-H club meetings in Lily. Use to ride with Dad sometimes while he delivered grain to the grain elevator and he would give me money to go to the Drug Store and get us a pop and candy bar. Many fond memories of Lily and I was so sad that it exists no more. I have read stories written by my Grandpa Oscar Hanson and his brother Emil Hanson of was a bustling town Lily and Butler were in the late 1800's-early 1900's. The were very small towns when I lived there so it was hard to imagine. Happy they have restored some of the buildings and the Church is being saved.