Uncle Phil stories from my cousins

 

Uncle Phil was a real Cowboy from the Wild West. He loved to tell Cowboy stories.

One time he was on a cattle -round-up in Montana.  All the Cowboys ate tomatoes except him and another guy. All those Cowboys died.

True story? It could be….

 

Uncle Herman, John and a few of his siblings flew up to Uncle Phil & Aunt Clara’s ranch (the stone house & barn). Uncle Phil rounded up the cows from the pasture so Uncle Herman could land his plane. John said there lots of “cow-pies” squished when they landed.

 

Uncle Phil loved to go squirrel hunting and he would get Aunt Clara to fix the “catch of the day” for dinner. Yum?

 

Uncle Phil never needed a permit or season to shoot a deer. He just hunted right there on his property. Aunt Elaine got her first buck there in 1964. Once Phil was packing up deer meat for Uncle Herman to take home. The police pulled into the yard to bring a phone message. Apparently, they didn’t have a phone. He and Uncle Herman had to dump a bunch of apples on top of the basket of deer meat. They got away with it and had a good chuckle. That Uncle Herman is a troublemaker…

 

Aunt Clara was an angel. Uncle Phil called her “Bun” because she braided her long grey hair and rolled it into a bun. He would kid her all the time and call her “his girl”. There is a story that she was in Montana with him on a cattle-roundup from Texas and she was the cook on the chuck wagon.

 

 

 

 

Aunt Clara would help at Uncle Herman’s every time Aunt Elaine had a baby.  She’d bake her famous cinnamon rolls & twists for the kids.  Aunt Clara kept control of the kids by telling them she would write their name in her “little black book” if they were bad. Margaret Anne claims never did see the little black book.

 

One time, Uncle Phil was tired of sitting around at Aunt Elaine’s with kids so he decided to hitch-hike home. He started walking and it is said that he got a ride to West Branch!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Uncle Phil dismantled a huge barn and moved it to the property with the stone house. As kids we all know about the barn and pond to the left of it. It was a wonderland.  We’d catch frogs and chase snakes. How fun is that! Uncle Phil always kidded that he hid his “hooch” in the barn and would go in to take sip every now & then.

 

Kat remembers being at Uncle Phil’s house in town. The adults must have been trying to entertain the kids, they gave us each 5-cents and let us walk a couple of blocks to the Dairy Queen! What a treat. First time for all of us.

 

 

 

 

 

One time Uncle Herman & gang were headed

Up- North. They got a late start (imagine that). It was very late by the time they reached West Branch. Uncle Phil didn’t know they were coming due to lack of a phone. Herman opened the door and yelled in that he ran out of gas. Uncle Phil answered from the bedroom that he didn’t have gas. Herman said “can I just take your car. Phil replied that he had a gun. Herman said “you wouldn’t shoot your nephew would you?” What did I tell you about Uncle Herman? Troublemaker from the word GO!

 

Aunt Clara introduced Aunt Mary, who lived in West Branch, to Uncle Fred. They would always visit them when they came to Carleton.

Freddie says Uncle Phil had a special Cowboy song he always sang. Freddie knows the song and does a great rendition of it. If you ask - he will gladly sing it for you.

 

 

When Uncle Phil was older, he used a cane. He’d often walk downtown and sit on a bench. When a lady walked by he’d try and lift her skirt with his cane. Good thing it was “the good old days”…

 

Margaret Anne remembers that Uncle Phil and Aunt Clara bought a brand-new blue rambler. She said it was a cute car and wonders if anyone else remembers it.

 

Aunt Clara was quite a woman. She didn’t think twice about climbing the apple tree at age 75 to pick apples for a pie. She gave up ice-cream for lent once and didn’t eat it for practically the rest of her life.

 

 

 

 

This is a memory from Mary Wickenheiser about Uncle Phil in trouble again…God Love him. Uncle Phil left the house to have a few drinks with his buddies. Aunt Clara reminded him what time he should come home to cook the steaks on the grill. He missed his set curfew. Once home, Aunt Clara picked up the steak from the counter, walked to the Living room door and threw the steak at him as he sat in his chair across the room.

 

One summer, Mom and dad had gotten a bay sitter for the evening and went out. At dinner we had a food fight. The babysitter was upset, needless to say. Not only did she halt dinner she had us go outside and locked the door. Uncle Phil happened to be driving by and saw us outside. We told him what happened. He had us climb in the car and drove around the long country block. He thought it was funny that the babysitter didn’t know who we got in the car with. He taught her a good lesson!

 

Another entertaining story from Mary Wick. :Uncle Phil and Aunt Clara stayed our home while in Carleton. For some reason Uncle Phil was asked to babysit me for the day. I was age 4 or 5. We spent the afternoon in a bar in Carleton and I had a blast listening to jokes, pushing pool balls around the pool table as well as being treat to root beer. On our way home he instructed me not to tell a soul where we were. I didn’t keep my promise over the excitement of such a fun day. Aunt Clara was upset and had us say an extra Hail Mary at rosary time.

 

 

 

 

 

Uncle Phil was a real character. He was fun and funny. You couldn’t help but love him. He enjoyed spinning stories of his cowboy adventures and with his personality most of those stories were most likely true with just a smidge of embellishment.

 

He is our very own Harrison Ford -“Indiana Jones”!