Donald James Naiberg and Evelyn Ann Zimmerman were married June 12 1945 at St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Boyd, Wisconsin, with Rev. Hilary Leuther officiating. Maid of Honor was Alice Lancor with Katherine Meyer and Clarence Zimmerman (Evelyn's brother) attending.1 Donald and Evelyn had seven children: Robert (b.1946), David (b.1948), Dennis (b.1952), Mary Ann (b.1953), Jayne (b.1956), Thomas (b.1959) and Betty (b.1961).
Ma and Dad met June 13 1942 at Albert Zais' barn raising. Later that evening they went dancing at the Maple Hill Tavern. Clarence, Ma's brother accompanied them. Nine months before their marriage, Dad presented Ma with a diamond ring. Ma and Dad were married on Tuesday, June 12 1945 at St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Boyd. On the Friday following their wedding, they boarded the train at Boyd and traveled to Marshalltown, Iowa for their honeymoon. While in Marshalltown, they stayed with Vlasta and Ed Charney, Dad's Aunt and Uncle. After three days of visiting and sightseeing, which included a trip to Dubuque, Iowa, Ma and Dad returned to Boyd to begin their lives together. They settled on a 40-acre farm that Dad had purchased in 1943.2 The farm was located just south of Grandpa Fred's place. For many years Dad and Grandpa jointly farmed the two properties, sharing the milking, planting and harvesting chores.
In 1958, Donald and Evelyn purchased an additional eighty-acre parcel of land in the Town of Colburn for $1,000.3 This land, previously owned by his father, was used primarily for summer young stock grazing and as a source of firewood. Each spring we would herd the young stock from the home place to the "eighty", a distance of about 9 miles. The entire family, except for Ma, helped. As kids, our job on the 3-hour drive was to run ahead of the herd and block the driveways and intersections to prevent strays. Throughout the summer, weekly trips were done to do a head count of the herd, fence repair and to cut an occasional trailer of firewood. In the fall, the young stock was herded back to the home place to winter in the barn.
Donald and Evelyn ran a prosperous dairy until their retirement from farming in 1976. The "eighty" in Colburn was sold to Arthur Langel in 1977 for $5,000. The home place was sold to James Dusick, a neighbor, in May of 1991.
Ma and Dad were members of St. Joseph's Catholic Church. For many years Ma was a member of several church circles, volunteering her time to help prepare and serve funeral dinners in the basement of the church. It was hard work, but she enjoyed helping others. In his later years, Dad was a Eucharistic Minister and lector at Sunday mass.
