Did you know in 1918 you could order a house from the Sears Roebuck catalog, and have it shipped to Nebraska by rail? Do you need a recipe for Runzas for your upcoming Super Bowl party? These and other tasty morsels are to be found in Cleo Wolf’s The Fred Bausch Family — Backward and Forward (Tucson, AZ, 2012, 338 pp.).

Cleo Bausch Wolf is a longtime SCVGS member and has served in various roles including Treasurer. She recently completed a family history and donated a copy to our library. It’s available now in the “Memoirs” section.

The first 64 pages of the book narrate the family’s story from its origins in Germany in the 18th century, through emigration to the US in the 19th, to settling in Nebraska in the 20th. This section includes maps, family photos, and public records documenting Cleo’s research. Cleo wrote some of the narrative herself, while other sections are by her father Martin. They paint a vivid picture of farm life in Nebraska from 1920 through the 1940s. The next 230 pages are devoted primarily to family group sheets produced using Legacy Family Tree, but photos, letters, and documentation are interspersed here too. The book concludes with sections on reunions, obituaries, and recipes. Runzas: page 311.