STORE IN FETTERHOFF FAMILY FOR 58 YEARS CLOSES

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A hardware store on First Street in Marble Hill, Missouri has been in the Fetterhoff family for 58 years. Bill and Carol Fetterhoff have retired after 31 years, having purchased the store from Bill's parents Dorothy and Elmer Fetterhoff.

Bill Fetterhoff is the great, great grandson of Margaret (Bost) and Jacob Fecht.

ELMER C. FETTERHOFF

Elmer C. Fetterhoff and his wife purchased a Western Auto franchise in Lutesville, Missouri in the 1950s. This snapshot was taken of Elmer in February 1999. His son Bill Fetterhoff took over the store, now a True Value Hardware franchise, when his father retired. Lutesville is a village in South Eastern Missouri.

HOW DOROTHY AND ELMER FETTERHOFF MET

James L. Fecht (Jimmie) was an excellent and untrained painter. His best works were images conjured from memories of his childhood and youth. This work is among my favorites, simple and direct. At the bottom of the painting, on the canvas, Jimmie wrote:
"I remember well ow they first met, across our picket gate. His name was Elmer Fetterhoff and she was Dorothy _________.. Some 50 years have come and gone. I still see them in my mind, where they first met and fell in love, in the Spring of '39.
Now, he had this job, I recall, to paint the fence and gate. Well, he made the job last awful long. He asked her for a date.
In 1940 they were wed. Today we celebrate 50 years of love and marriage, that started at our gate."
Years after this painting was given to Dorothy and Elmer, I said to Dorothy, "You know, our family really loved Elmer." She looked into my heart and said, "I did too."

FETTERHOFF FAMILY

The Family of Dorothy and Elmer Fetterhoff
L to R: top
Scott Fetterhoff, Bill Fahrenkrog, Anita Fahrenkrog, Carl Fetterhoff, Mary Catherine Fetterhoff, Linda Fetterhoff and Tom Fetterhoff
front row:
Roger Devault, Tammy Devault, Bill Fetterhoff, Carol Fetterhoff, Dorothy Fetterhoff, Elmer Fetterhoff, and Michael Fetterhoff