Tradition Carried On In Retirement

The following article was written by Eleonora McAdam and was published in the February 7, 1975 issue of the Kingman Journal.  With the exception of a few spelling and grammar corrections, the text appears here verbatim.

"We got a real scolding for doing it, but you know, that's about the only part of that three day trip I can remember."  Fred Hampel was telling about his family's covered wagon trip to their new Kingman County Farm home when Fred was just six years old.  The scolding came when he and his brother and sister "snuck" into Yaggy's orchard northwest of Hutchinson and swiped apples.

Fred was telling about the trip that brought Adolph Hampel and his family to live in Kingman County.  And as he told this story, Fred Hampel was in the home in Kingman where his father lived out his years.  Fred had taken over his dad's farm years ago when Adolph retired to live in Kingman; now 53 years later, Fred had moved to the same white frame house at 512 N. Cedar to enjoy his retirement years.  Yes, a son of Fred has taken over the farm to keep this family tradition unbroken.

Fred had been born October 26, 1895, in Olmitz.  He goes back those 120 miles in little over two hours now, but that 1901 trip in three covered wagons took three days and two nights.  He vaguely remembers cooking over a campfire as they stopped for meals, and the bows from those prairie schooners are still in the Hampel barn loft today.

The abstract on the farm where they moved still has today only three names on it.  This quarter section was homesteaded first by James P. Cawthorn who sold it to Adolph Hampel in 1901. Fred's name is the third to be added.

The farm lies near the Lebanon Cemetery, (the old  Lebanon Church was on this land) three miles east, and one south of Varner.  Fred tells of loving to hunt and fish as a boy.  "When I was a kid, I was 'birddog' for some of the old timers who used to like to come out from town and hunt;  once we saw a pure white quail.  Later it was right near our house that Dollie Benefield shot her first quail;  she soon got to be as good a hunter as Doc!"

Came World War I, and Fred went to France to see action on four fronts: Alsace-Lorraine, St. Neil, Argonne, and Verdun, where he joined in the Armistice celebration.  A joyful reunion at the Wichita train station failed to come off when Adolph was in a car accident coming to meet Fred. Any question of Fred's future plans was decided by Adolph's broken leg--Fred became a farmer, eventually taking over the family farm operation on this same Varner farm.

The older Hampels continued to live on the farm until Fred and Helen Emma Beat were married in 1921.  Then Adolph and his wife, Marie (Jenisch), moved to 512 N. Cedar in Kingman.

The huge, six-bedroom, eleven-room house built by Adolph in 1907-08 was soon filled with Fred and Helen's eleven young Hampels--five sons and six daughters including a set of twins.  This house was lighted with a carbide lighting system until 1946 when the coming of REA electricity paved the way to completely modernize it.

The first Mrs. Hampel died in 1947.  In 1959 Fred married Marie Foxworthy, living then in Kingman but from  Cottonwood Falls originally.  She describes her new family as "just beautiful."  Once each year during the holiday season, the clan, numbering about 70 this year, gathered for dinner hosted by Fred and Marie.  Last December, it was held at the Knights of Columbus Hall on West Maple in Wichita, where they had the meal catered.

Reunions hosted by Fred and  Marie come just once a year, but they spend most holidays, anniversaries and such with first one, then another of the kids.  None live too far away, with Gerry Ziegler in Ulysses and Ruth Heithaus in Oklahoma City the farthest.  Alfred, Ernestine Hon, Florence Kelsey, and Paul live in Wichita; John near Kingman; Bernice Bergkamp, Mt. Hope; Norbert at Garden Plain; Martin, Pretty Prairie; and Martha Kerschen, Garden Plain. They have 41 living grandchildren, plus three great-grandchildren.

Farming has not been the sole occupation of Fred Hampel.  For several years in the '50's--or as he says, until retirement age caught up with him--he supervised the plugging of abandoned oil wells for the State Corporation Commission.  He has for years and still sells fire and wind insurance.  He has an additional 160 acres in Reno County which he farmed along with the home place with son, Martin.  He laughingly explained their early farming agreement as, "He worked, I bossed."

During the years he was active in Farm Bureau work,  he was a promoter of civic development that proved to be a little in advance of the times, but he can point to projects popularly accepted here now that were his pet theories a number of years back.  He served for several years on his township board, and also on the church board of St. Louis Catholic Church in Waterloo.

Retirement, or the actual moving away from the farm came only last June.  Then, as he had done 53 years before, he took over his father's home.  However, there was a difference.  This home had been occupied a number of years by Fred's sister, Hattie, who died in November, '73.  But consider it a tradition that Fred, in his two moves during his lifetime, has moved into his father's homes.  The tradition continues as son Martin is now farming the home place.

Since retirement calls for travel to be really "with it," we asked the Hampels where they'd been, and they say, "Everyplace."  Everyplace is within the boundaries of the U.S. plus Mexico and Canada.  Most of this traveling has been with planned tours and is highly recommended by them.  Fred has long been a Farm Bureau worker, so we chided him for not being on the fabulous tours they have offered in recent years such as Spain, Venezuela, Hawaii, etc.  He lamented, "I got old too fast."  This is not exactly  true, but is a concession he makes to slowing down after open heart surgery six years ago.

During this interview, we sat in his sunny office which Marie has turned into a veritable bower of plants.  With her green thumb, they have to fight back the growth.  Peeking out between trailing vines now and then were Cissy and Buffy, the two gorgeous cats that moved to town with them. Marie confesses that they were so tiny when she insisted on bringing them, that in spite of misgivings, Fred, who was no cat-lover, gave in.  Today he says they are "no trouble at all, perfectly mannered, lots of company, etc."  He is a completely converted cat man.

Fred took one flyer into politics.  This was at the urging of quail hunter friend Dollie Benefield (Ewing), who with Arline Branden, urged him to try for State Representative from his district.  He says, "Just missed it by 16 votes.  That's not too bad for a Democrat in this Republican county, is it"?  His wife admits that she talked him out of making another try.  "Who wants to live in Topeka?   I hated to leave that beautiful farm even to move to Kingman."

The Hampel home is filled with gifts from the children and grandchildren, all proudly shown by the couple.  Marie wishes we could have seen the stack of afghans she had crocheted for their Christmas presents;  eleven children, eleven afghans.

There are those who say the world is becoming a mobile society--people move, putting down roots is old fashioned.  Think so?  Ask the Hampels.