Frank Mader
1923 –

The last child of Dominick Jr. and Edith Mader, Frank was born at 1530 Adams St. of Nov. 2, 1923.

Frank cut ice on the Mississippi River at age 17 for his uncle Gus. Instead of waiting for the draft he enlisted in the service during World War II. After the war Frank came home on September 26, 1945 he married Dorothy Eden. Frank drove a city bus for a short time before his uncle Gus offered him a job making cement blocks by the West Channel bridge.

This led Frank into starting his own pre-cast concrete business with his brother-in-law Frank Weiser. After several years they split up the partnership and started their own companies. Frank moved to his present location in La Crescent and his company is called Crest Concrete Products.

Frank and Dorothy are the parents of three children: Diane, Steven, and Gary. The home they built at 1504 Cedar St. in La Crescent, MN is near Frank’s plant and is connected by a private drive.

1. Diane Mader was born Jan. 21, 1947. She is married to John Morrison who is an insurance man in La Crosse. They have two children:
   1. Matt Morrison is an adopted son born in 1973.
   2. Ryan Morrison was born in 1975.
2. Steven F. Mader born on February 17, 1950 married Linda Kramer. Steven works with his father at Crest Concrete. Steve and Linda are the parents of three boys. [update]
   1. Andrew Mader born in 1979.
   2. Erin Mader born in 1981.
   3. Deke Mader born in 1985.
3. Gary Mader born on July 9, 1954 is married to Mary Bell. He also works at Crest Concrete. Gary and Mary have four children: [update]
   1. Amy Mader born in 1976.
   2. Austin Mader born in 1979.
   3. Lee Mader born in 1981.
   4. Allison Mader born in 1983.

William Mader
1920 –

William was born on August 27, 1920 to Dominick Jr. and Edith Mader. Recollecting boyhood days, Bill said: “We got two pennies every Saturday and we went to Stryemaders on 16th and Jackson St. to spend it there. In the store it always took as half an hour to decide how to make the pennies go farther.”

“We were about the only Maders who weren’t Catholic and whenever I went over to the cousins on 1402 So. 13th St. near the church, the Priest was always after me saying, “I’ll get you sooner or later!” even in later years, long after my sister and brother rejoined the church, Monsignor Plecity still kidded me, “I got two out of three.”

Bill spent some of his childhood on the farm. After his marriage to Katherine Erickson, Bill returned to the farm to help his father and uncle run it. Bill and Kathy set up housekeeping in a big two-story brick house below the farm near the old race track. (The brick house no longer stands.) They became parents of two children, Sherry and Dennis.

Bill drove a city bus for some time before he worked for the Highway Dept. in West Salem. He and his wife Kathy are living in the home they built on 2119 Redfield St. in La Crosse.

1. Sherry Mader was born in 1945 and has a doctorate degree. She married Gary Sackett and they reside in La Crosse. Sherry and Gary are raising his three children from a previous marriage and also their son Jon.
   1. Jon Sackett was born in 1982.
2. Dennis Mader was born in 1950. Dennis is not married. He is employed at Heileman’s Brewery in La Crosse.

Margaret (Mader) Seiler
1917 –

Margaret was the first child and only daughter of Dominick Jr. and Edith Mader born on September 24, 1917.

Promoted to the head of her class because she was such a good student, Margaret graduated from high school at age 16. Because of the depression she couldn’t continue school and was need to help on the farm.

Margaret married Elmer Seiler in 1941, a boy from a neighboring farm. (1) Elmer came from a family of thirteen children whose father had died in his 30’s. He always had to work even as a child and after completing 8th grade, Elmer stayed home to help run the family farm.

Two months after Margaret and Elmer’s first child, Margaret was born in 1942, Elmer went off to war. He served in the Pacific in World War II. Margaret and the baby stayed with her parents on the Mader farm until Elmer returned from the war in 1945.

The young Seiler family moved into a small two room house in the Town of Shelby, where their only son Jim was born in 1946. A few years later Elmer and Margaret build a house together on 2162 Denton St. in La Crosse. Elmer would tell Margaret what needed to be done and how to do it. Like – how to lay a hardwood floor or how to put on laths for the plaster! While they were building the house they lived in the basement.

Elmer was a carpenter by trade and also worked at the Brewery. Both jobs were seasonal so he began working for a fuel company as a technician.

Margaret was interested in the family history and she wrote about it in a letter to her grandchildren so that their great-grandparents would be remembered. All the relatives said Margaret was a lovely woman. Margaret died of cancer at age 58 on October 26, 1975. Elmer is retired and still lives in the home they built on Denton St.

1. Margaret Seiler was born April 16, 1942. She is a high school teacher in Kenosha. Margaret married Robert Conrad who is a lab supervisor and chemist for American Motors Corp. They have three children.
   1. Kevin Conrad born in 1970.
   2. Kerry Conrad born in 1972.
   3. Craig Conrad born in 1975.
2. Jim Seiler born September 2, 1946 is a lawyer in St. Louis, Mo. He is married to Sonia Gonzalez and they are the parents of two girls:
   1. Rebecca Seiler born in 1974.
   2. Christina Seiler born in 1978.

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