Larry Wolfe Born and raised in Rugby, N.D., the geographic center of North America, Gerard “Jerry” Giesinger attended Cardinal Muench Seminary for two years prior to transferring to Rugby High where he was a member of the Panthers football and wrestling teams, graduating in 1966. He then earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration at…
Larry Wolfe A proud “farm boy” from Mantador, N.D., Dave Lingen was the third youngest of eight brothers and one sister. It seems that his parents wanted to ensure they had enough workers for their 3,000-plus acres of farmland where they produced wheat, soybeans, and other grains and raised livestock, primarily to feed the family!…
Larry Wolfe A Minnesota native, Ernie Flores grew up in St. Paul where he was a member of the basketball, football, and track teams for the Humboldt Indians (now the politically correct Humboldt Hawks). In fact, he was a member of that school’s last city championship football squad. After high school, Ernie went to a…
Larry Wolfe A native Californian, Manny Verdusco grew up in Norwalk in LA County, graduating from Excelsior High where he played baseball for the Pilots. Baseball and softball have been a big part of Manny’s life since Little League. He’s played on many teams in various city leagues and on several tournament teams, earning a…
Larry Wolfe Jon Hendrikse hails from Badger Country. A native of Madison, Wisc., Jon graduated from nearby Monona Grove High School where he played “some football,” but spent most of his time on the baseball diamond. He played four years for the Silver Eagles while also playing American Legion ball in the summers. Normally playing…
Larry Wolfe From playing stickball in the streets and school parking lots in Queens, N.Y., as a youngster, to playing slow-pitch softball in our Sun Lakes Senior Softball League, Joe Commisto has usually had some type of bat in his hands. He played on many softball teams well into his 50s before taking a brief…
Larry Wolfe Where’s Brad? He’s not here; he went away. I bet Brad Wendt heard a lot of those corny jokes as a youngster. But as an adult, he actually “went” to a lot of places and did a lot of different things. A native of Madison, Wisc., Brad graduated from Monona Grove High where…
Larry Wolfe As a young man, Mark Durben admits that he got in with the “wrong crowd” back in his hometown of Racine, Wis. He worked at jobs in a foundry and snowblower plant after graduating from Horlick High in Racine before deciding at age 23 that he needed to escape. As a self-professed “hippie,”…
Larry Wolfe Susan Rodke (nee Griffin) was born in Billings, Mont., and then lived briefly in California as a young child, before her family settled in Minnesota. She spent most of her childhood in Fergus Falls before the family moved to Barnesville when she was in high school. She was a four-sport athlete for the…
Larry Wolfe Remember the Beach Boys’ 1964 classic, number one hit song “I Get Around”? Well, that phrase could also describe Vern Rodgers’ work career. A native of Quincy, Mich., Vern attended Glen Oaks Community College and Western Michigan University before beginning his vocational odyssey. Vern first joined the Kroger Company in Coldwater, Mich., and…